September 11, 2021, marks the 20th anniversary of four coordinated terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, against the United States. The attacks began at 8:46 a.m. EST on September 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed a hijacked commercial jet into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. A second hijacked jet crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. A third hijacked plane hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., and a fourth hijacked plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field at 10:03 a.m., after passengers and crew aboard attempted to retake the aircraft from terrorists. In less than two hours, 2,977 innocent people lost their lives, and our country changed forever.
Twenty years ago today, I was with a classroom of kids. In between classes, I went in the bathroom and knelt on the cement floor and prayed for the Lord to guide my actions and words to the children. There was a run on the gas stations. One teacher wanted to go fill her tank. I asked her what she planned to do when that was gone.
Here are some of the headlines from around the world. I was frightened, scared to death, but I felt I needed to project calm and control for the children I was totally responsible for.
Those people on that plane were brave. They had a choice. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A Hero Is No Braver Than an Ordinary Person, But the Hero Is Brave Five Minutes Longer.” Whatever they chose, they knew they were going to die and they chose to crash that plane and save others. True heroes.
If we could only live as the Bible says and love others, we could conquer selfish hate.
Praise my holy Father’s name today. Guide me til I’m home.
No comments:
Post a Comment