A Time For Reflection

I think everyone here in the US remembers where they were on that Fateful Sept 11th day. Even Americans living outside of this country and others who may not be Americans were left silent during those horrible events. We all have a story, mine is one of a normal day, driving like I did every day to look over the equipment I was in charge of inspecting. I was on a lonely stretch of interstate highway when I came upon a car fire and 2 frightened individuals. I stopped, jumped out and grabbed my fire extinguisher and went to work putting out the fire under their dash. After it was all over and no great harm, I got back in my truck to resume my day...then I heard an odd thing, it seemed like a simulcast from NBC news, they were interviewing someone inside the Pentagon and BAM! A loud noise was heard, the reporter was not sure but thought it was a bomb. We find out later it was a hijacked Airliner. Then the rest of the story unfolded bit by bit. I pulled into a truck stop where many people were gathered around a TV, we watched in horror as the second tower was hit. The day became somber as I proceeded through my rounds. My thought turned to the family's of those killed and I felt a horrible emptiness way down in my soul. It was only then that I cried out to God to take control of this madness and put his arms around those affected. I moved on about my day. That afternoon I was standing in an area wide open as far as the eye can see, here in Oklahoma we have an abundance of that. The sky was clear, no airplanes, no contrails, nothing, just clear blue silence, it was eerie. The day went on and like the rest of you I got wrapped up in the events, I saw them played over and over on T.V. (and think they still should be).  I watched as President Bush gave the order to retaliate with force on the group or groups responsible for the horrific murder of 3000 people. I watched in awe as people dug through the ashes for ANY sign of anybody alive, then it turned to any sign of anybody dead. The devastation was so complete when the 2 towers fell that very few remains could be gathered let alone identified. We watched for weeks as the brave workers removed the rubble and began a transformation to the area that to this day continues. We then turned our attention to the people responsible, and to the country for healing. But through all of these events something happened. Something happened that exemplifies where our heart really is and should be as a nation, we turned to God. The churches were full day and night. We are people designed to be a spiritual being , we may not know why we were drawn to God, but as a country we knew we needed to be on our knees and we were. After the drama subsided and some took the visions of that day and hid them from the public, we no longer felt any urgency as a nation to go to God for answers, we once again became an inward looking society, wayward in our actions and flippant about the ongoing war on Terror. On this anniversary of that tragic day, I submit we take pause to remember where we were, but more importantly to remember what we felt. Remember the passion and compassion we felt for the families of the lost. Remember the nation and what it felt like to pull together as one voice in crying out for justice for a nation who was attacked by cowards and people of little principles. Remember the groups of people who perpetrated these acts are Muslim militants bent on the destruction of America in any way they can do it. They are still out there, they are still looking for the soft fleshy areas of our country where they can inflict more pain. So please reflect, be prayerful, but most importantly gather back that feeling from that day, we need not wait for a tragedy to come together as a country, we can do it now. And please remember our troops who are still dying to give us the right to say what we want, and to live freely in the greatest nation ever on Earth. And may God Bless America!