911 – maggiemarcum

…is is hard not to.

We all have our stories about that horrible morning on September 11, 25 years ago. We all remember where we were when the first plane hit. We remember sitting in front of our TVs when the second plane hit, and then the Pentagon and hearing about Pennsylvania and Flight 93. Even those who were young children that day, can’t seem to forget it either. It was just so overwhelming and unbelievable.

For any of us anywhere near these tragic moments, I think it hits even harder. I remember it was a late morning for me because my daughter’s school had just started and I hadn’t yet gone into work. I was just getting ready to leave, after watching the second plane hit, when my boss called and said our government building was being evacuated and stay home. We weren’t sure if we too were a target following the attack on the Pentagon. We waited the hours to hear about colleagues working at the Pentagon to know if they were safe. Some were physically safe, but never mentally or emotionally safe again after that. And some were forever lost.

Do you remember what it was like around the Washington DC area? The streets were quiet. The stores closed. We walked in the evening looking up as fighter planes flew over. It seemed like it went on forever. We walked around like zombies in full shock. Churches and other places of worship were full as we all sought some sort of understanding and peace about what had happened. Our family would later join others in prayer vigils near the Pentagon.

As the days unfolded, turning to months and now years, September 11 will always be a painful day. Try not to watch too much of the news. It’s easy for us to be re-traumatized. I remember it was one of the first times we all sat glued to the TV watching over and over and over what happened. There’s no need to do that again today. Those memories are wired into our brain, never to be forgotten.

This is a day to reach out to those you love and remind them how much you love them. It is a day to spend some time in quiet prayer, praying for families and friends impacted by this tragedy. It is a day to set aside politics and remember that this was an attack on all of us. And it is a day to remember that The Divine remains The Divine and we are not alone.

We often say our lives were changed for the better following the attacks. Those first few weeks and months, we seem to have been kinder to one another. We needed to be so gentle because the pain was so overwhelming. As we watched the trauma of digging out in New York, the clearing of the Pentagon, and the resolve of those in Pennsylvania, we all tried to stand a little stronger and a little kinder. If nothing else today, let us remember to be those people again. Say hello to your neighbor, nod your head, knowing that together we feel the pain and let us also feel hope.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”– 1 Thessalonians 5:11

A Day of Remembrance: 9/11 Thoughts

This morning I woke with that same somber cloud of quiet sadness that has hung in the air every September 11^th since 2001. I don’t know why, but going to bed last night I thought this morning would feel different from all the other years. Fourteen years has not changed anything. I still want to cry and I still have trouble believing what happened as I, and millions of others, relive the hours and days of that tragedy.

Funny the things I remember most, beyond watching the news unfold around me. I remember wondering if I should go to work only to get the call that we were evacuating to be safe. I wondered how to explain this to our daughter because we would have to tell her. The Pentagon was just a few miles away and well, everything was changed. We called friends and family to make sure they weren’t in the Pentagon that day and we called simply to say, “I love you.” I remember the silence that evening more than anything else. Living outside of Washington, DC the sky was always full of planes flying over and cars rushing between work and home and sports fields. Not that night. All we could hear were fighters flying over for our protection. That night we drove to churches to pray. We walked the streets in dark quietness because all the stores were closed. As a nation, we simply shut down.

In the days following we were changed people. We cried openly at work and in the grocery stores, and people placed their hands on our shoulder because they understood. We let people pull out in front of us and nodded in shared grief. We held onto our children and wondered if it was safe to let them continue to live. We were kind and gentle with each other as we processed what was happening in the places near to us. We came to understand that we had to get back up and live our lives to show the world and the people who wished us harm that we were stronger than them. We had to show we were a nation united and that together we would recover.

As you head out today under the cloud of such enormous loss, I pray that you will remember who we were for those few days after. We are still kind, compassionate, praying people. We can still set aside our political and religious bickering to find a way support each other. We can still let someone pull out in front of us and not blow our horn when someone doesn’t move as quickly as we think they should. We can still help our neighbor if they are struggling. We can still ask a stranger if they are ok. We can still gather together, hold hands, and pray for our country. We can rise up from the ashes of that day and honor the memories of 9/11 by being good to one another. Who knows, maybe today could begin anew a nation where we turn off the TV and turn to our families. Maybe today we will pick up the phone and check to make sure a friend is doing ok. Maybe tonight we will remember to say prayers with our kids and tell them how we love them. And maybe tomorrow we can carry on as if every day is the day after.

Dear Lord, out of the shadows of our grief and sadness may we find new hope and light. Lord, make us a people who care for one another, who help each other, and who pray for our nation. Lord help us to remember out of evil, good will prevail. Make us a people of compassion with giving hearts that change our neighborhoods and that brings renewed joy and hope for the future.