Yahoo! is asking Americans how September 11 changed them. Below is an account from a reader.
September mornings in the small hamlet of Delaware, Ohio, after Labor Day are filled with cool autumn air. School is back in session. People are excited. It is football season in which Ohio State and high-school football reign. My wife, Bonnie, and I are involved in professional ministry and social work. Our children are attending finishing high school and beginning university.
[Your story: How has September 11 changed you?]
The morning of September 11, 2001, began no different for us from any other. We all made our way to work with no idea life was about to change not just for us, but for all America.
Just before 9 a.m., I arrived at the New Salem Baptist Church, where I serve as a member of the senior staff. Half an hour into a the meeting, my daughter Micha called my cell phone. She told me that terrorists had attacked the World Trade Center in New York. I returned to the conference room and turned on the television. We saw smoke coming from both towers.
No one spoke. I sat alone as 11 men and women left without praying. I prayed and then called my family.
Sunday, September 16, 2001. The senior pastor is away; I had to preach. In the morning sermon, I raised the question, "Where is God when men fly planes into buildings to kill people they do not know?" What has happened must now be noted the will of God because it is history. Where was God just before 9 a.m. on September 11, 2001? Why did God allow it to happen?
Ten years later, we are now living in Phoenix and retired from professional ministry and social work. Our children have completed MBAs. We have transformed our careers to become educators, writers, and film makers.
Our work is invested in building and developing human relationship networks that work across the divides of social and cultural difference. We build a better world one loving productive relationship at a time.
The redemptive feature of September 11, 2001, is that people now look to each other for answers to human challenges. People talk, engage each other, and demonstrate care for each other that may not have happened without that dark moment. Hopefully, another September 11 will not be necessary to keep us focused on developing our relationships with each other.
September mornings in Arizona are still hot after Labor Day. School is back in session. People are excited. It is football season, in which Arizona State and high-school football reign. Life does always find a way.
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