9/11 Ten Years Later

So today is Friday.  By the time I finish writing this post it may actually be Saturday but who’s really keeping track.  

Anyway, this Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the events that happened on 9/11/2001. Since this day fell on a Sunday I had (or God gave me) the idea over a year ago to do a video interviewing different members of our church about what they remembered from that day ten years ago.  

Going through the interview process was an interesting one as I was able to listen to five different, however, eerily similar stories about that day.  I was amazed at the clarity and vivid details of the memories and stories from each person.  (I’ll share the completed video with you soon). I felt blessed just to be able to listen to their stories, because as we were all reminded of on that day, life is fragile.  We are never guaranteed tomorrow.  

But as I was putting together this video by reviewing each interview, watching clips on YouTube and reviewing pictures from September 11, 2001, I began to feel wrecked.  So many emotions flying around at once.  I nearly began to weep just watching the video I was creating for our church to use as a remembrance of that day.  I was once again put through the disbelief that somebody would attack us on our own soil.  I felt the pain, sorrow, and grief for the families that lost loved ones on that day.  I was reminded that the world is not safe.  Evil is real, Hatred is destructive, and security is an illusion.  

As I was begin drug through this feeling of being wrecked, I was reminded through a small video clip from my friend Ron, that we can never be sure of anything, but it is the love of Jesus that will always prevail.  Now I never forgot this, but it was amazing to be reminded of that by a friend in a video interview talking about one of the worst acts of terrorism ever in American history.  

I think it’s amazing that through this terrible event we can still find hope.  We saw that heros do still exist.  Courage and Bravery knows no limit.  There is power in Unity and joy in Community.  And as the time continues to pass we will never forget that Faith is our refuge, Hope sustains us, and Love endures all things.  I love this passage from 1 Corinthians 13:6-8 (yea, the love chapter) 

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails …”

  

To close I just want to say thanks to Rose, Ron, Linda, Jennifer, and Jeremy for willing to be a part of this project.  Your stories are what made this project successful and they have had a great impact on me. Also, thanks to the Riverside band for helping write the questions.  It was your input that got this project off the ground.