This Day - 13 Years Ago

This day, September 11, thirteen years ago was a solemn day for the whole of the western world. Anyone who was old enough to remember back then experienced a fragment of the horror and tragedy of sin. I remember stopping in at a friend's place on my way back from Perth with Dad and freezing in eight-year-old horror as planes crashed into skyscrapers and smoke rose into the sky. They tried to shield my innocence by sending me out of the room but being Katie, I snuck out and peeked at the TV from behind their backs. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, a heaviness in my heart. Being so young, I had not a clue of the meaning or implications of such an event but I knew that people were hurt and people were dying and that was enough for me. I was a very quiet little girl on the short drive home. My grown-up cousin had flown home from the US the day before. 

On that day, in less then an hour, the lives of thousands, possibly millions were shattered. Besides the 2,753 who lost their lives in the attack and their families and friends who were devastated by their deaths alone, it is estimated that 422,000 individuals suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. And it wasn't just Americans that were directly affected, 115 nations were represented in the tragedy. Samuel from Canberra, Australia was seven and attending a primary school in view of the World Trade Center while his Father was working in America. He said, "Children around me began to cry, some claiming it was a hoax; my teacher stood, her muted weeping barely audible." He spent the whole day fearing for his Father who, thankfully survived the attack. "On that day...the world suddenly became a violent an ugly place."

As I scroll through other remembrances people have shared of the terrible day, my hear crystal out in horror of sin. The stories are heartwrenching, tearjerking, nightmare stuff by I'm glad I sort them out and read them. My perspective shifts. We just don't know tomorrow. One person I read of had been in those towers the day before. She didn't time her visit in order to miss the attack. She was just living her life and thankfully God spared her for His glory. Those who went to work in the early morning didn't know that thir work buildings were about to be run into by a plane. We know not what is before us. This moment may be my last. If I were to perish tonight, would I die without regrets? Or would the way I spoke to my brothers, my failure to help Mum, a word not said or the wrong word said mark my record? Solemn thoughts for such a beautiful spring day but God called us to remember that every moment counts and we need to live it as our last to His glory.