Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001? I was in class at SBU. When I came home from my morning classes, I turned on the television (as was my routine) and learned what was happening. The second tower had just fallen. I immediately called my wife, who was at work in a university office. I asked if she was aware of what was happening, and she informed me the whole world was aware. I couldn't believe no one interrupted our class to tell us. They let us sit through some pointless lecture, while our nation was under an historic attack. Unbelievable.
For the next few hours, I just sat there in front of the television alternating between shock, anger, and sadness. I cried. I cursed. I distinctly remember a shaken President Bush trying to address the country from some military base in Louisiana, and they couldn't get the video feed to work. I remember saying out loud, "What in the world is happening? The president of the United States of America can't even communicate to his people, because he's hiding in a hole somewhere?" So many things about 9/11 were surreal.
I was pastoring a little church at that time. What would I preach on? What do you say after something like that? Lifeway took the unusual step of providing a special Sunday School lesson and sermon outline. While I didn't use the outline, I did use the Scripture passage they recommended, which helped. I was also student teaching at Willard High School at that time, in a social studies class no less. When something like 9/11 happens, the curriculum goes out the window. We spent weeks trying to get our minds around what had happened (together) and make sense of it all. What a time to be a social studies teacher! I began my first real teaching job at Ellington High School in January of '02. The nation was still terrified. There was the anthrax scare, and the DC sniper. We watched with fascination that spring, to see how America would respond. I was on a school bus with some students one evening when we started dropping the bombs on Iraq. We turned up the radio, and 17 year-olds listened to the wire reports in silence.
So many images remain from 9/11... The look on President Bush's face when Andy Card whispered in his ear in that Florida elementary classroom, the craziness of flights being grounded, the frightening panic in people's eyes at the gas stations, the man I had never met who came to our church in the middle of the day and sat down in a pew and started praying and crying, the playing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the National Cathedral, the elder President Bush patting his son's leg at the same service, understanding the weight on his son's shoulders as only another president could, President Bush standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center with his megaphone, Jack Buck reading his poem at Busch Stadium the night baseball returned, President Bush throwing out the first pitch of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, the State of the Union address in which we heard our president say "If you're not with us, you're against us." and "Let's roll.", Alan Jackson strolling out on the stage at the CMA awards and singing "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?" And I could go on and on. These are a few of the scenes that made the biggest impact on me. And of course, there are the scenes we would like to forget... The calls made from the passengers of Flight 93 to their spouses and children, the people of New York and Washington fleeing in terror, some covered in dust. Others jumping to their death.
There are still times when the emotions of 9/11 catch up to me, and I weep. It was a day that profoundly changed our country, and impacted me personally. In fact, I don't think I realized how deeply I loved my country, until I saw her under attack. I hope we have learned our lessons from 9/11, but in listening to those on the left, I sometimes wonder. And while we're on the subject of politics, may I say one last thing?... I have respected few men in my life as much as I respected President Bush in the season after 9/11. He led America through those difficult days with strength, confidence, dignity, and faith. I was proud of my president. I made a vow to myself in those days that as long as George W. Bush was our president, he would have my full support. And he still does. I have not forgotten. Say what you want about our 43rd president, but he has protected the homeland. And for that, I believe history will judge him kindly, and the same can be said for Attorney General Ashcroft. There is no doubt in my mind that God raised those men up for "such a time as this."
May God bring a swift end to the demonic religion of Islam, and yet save its followers. May God bring bin Laden to justice sooner rather than later. And may God bless our beloved USA.
