Remembering 9/11

Today is the 10th anniversary of the most terrible act of war ever perpetrated against the United States on her own soil, the day that left the Twin Towers in New York City a pile of toxic rubble and snuffed out the lives of almost 3,000 souls. It was a day that heroes and saints were made, among them the NYC firefighters and policemen who rushed into an inferno, many of them sacrificing their own lives in their efforts to rescue others. Those of us who witnessed the scenes of unimaginable horror on that day--live, as it was happening, on our T.V. sets--will never forget it.

I know that recently there has been, and there will continue to be, a vast amount of media coverage about this tragic event, so I'm going to keep this post brief.

I came across this photo taken at Ground Zero, and it got me thinking about the vital part that faith plays in finding peace and healing after a tragedy such as this. When events like 9/11 happen, many lose their faith in God. Many even stop believing that He exists at all. They ask, "If there is a God, how could He do this? How could He let all those innocent people die like that? Where was He that day?" We have to remember that God doesn't perform acts of evil against those He created and loves; only men, of their own free will, can choose to kill their fellow men, viciously and indiscriminately, through cowardly and heinous acts of terrorism. God was not absent that day, He was anything but; He was there, crying along with the rest of us. And He was there to comfort the injured and the dying who reached out to Him in their agony.

Look at this perfect cross rising up out of the wreckage in the aftermath of the destruction of the Towers. You could say that it was a totally random occurrence--that those metal beams just happened to break apart from the building and land that way. That's true. But when I look at this cross, I get goosebumps. I think of it as a sign from a loving God, that even in our darkest hours--or especially in our darkest hours--He is there.

Today, we pray for all those souls whose lives were lost that fateful day, and for all the grieving loved ones they left behind. We Americans will never forget them. How could we?