Remembering 9/11

Carol and I had moved to the US in 2000 one year earlier and were adjusting to the lifestyle (sort of).  I have kept a daily journal since 1996 and looking back I see that on Saturday September 8th. Carol and I had taken a packed UA flight to Columbus, Ohio. I was preaching at the large ABC church which strongly supported Northern Seminary, where I taught. Various friends we met, the Hampton Inn where we stayed, and the receptions we enjoyed are all noted, including the fact that the 7.45 pm plane on Sunday was delayed, not  leaving until 9.00 pm because of storms and we arrived home late.  

Reflecting on that weekend it was fairly typical of our lives that first year. Friends had told us that hopping on and off planes was like using buses. It was so easy. I remember one of our friends bringing a traybake of chocolate brownies right up the departure door, to wave us off.  In our first year I lost count of the number of flights we made. And of the freedom to travel all over the states as a new boy speaking at events and seminaries.

9/11 was a Tuesday. My journal reads: 6:30 work on sermon. Carol calls me. TERROR as Twin Towers collapse in front of eyes. Just awful. The President calls and asks me to lead prayer for the community 11.00- 11.35. (He is out of state) Meet for lunch Egg Harbor...try to work. Difficult. Calls from UK. I work on a new sermon. Phone Tony (worship leader) about Sunday service. 

On Thursday I started work on a new sermon on Psalm 46. I remember questioning whether a US preacher should step in at a time of national mourning. No, they wanted me as their current interim preacher, and besides Brits had died in the horror too.  What an extraordinarily sad frightening week it was. Everything seemed to have changed. Hate had shaken foundations. Harrowing personal stories began to emerge from families known to us. Sadness was everywhere.

Today I have been remembering those who died and left loved ones in such a dramatic hate-filled act. Focus remains on them and their families, and on prayers for a world riven by war and hatred. Jesus still reigns with his love and promise of peace, calling us to trust and work with him in his ultimate kingdom. But how tough faith can sometimes be.  Ps 46 is an obvious psalm: God is our refuge...therefore we will not fear though the earth give way...and the mountains quake. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall. Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations.

It's true that life changed in the US from the point on. Certainly, a turning point in our new life in the US and an opportunity to grow in faith.