Ten years ago the world was irrevocably altered.
Yesterday we remembered the event that knocked the wind out of a proud nation and had the rest of us lifting our jaws from the carpet.
There was shock, there was anger and there was fear.
Terrorism became the new buzzword.
Even reading the details of 9/11 now - the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City, the suicide hijackers, nearly 3000 victims, the grimy aftermath, the grief - it is as shocking as if it happened yesterday.
I remember when I first saw those images of the towers on television. Great plumes of black smoke, thick and noxious, was spewing from the buildings. I was on my way out, striding past the box, and did a swift double- take. "Is that for real?" I asked.
If only it was some clever cinematography, a trailer to a new film.
Ha. If only.
An email dropped into my inbox a while back, titled The Little Things.
I don't usually give forwarded emails much more than a cursory glance, but this one served as a reminder that God is there in times of turmoil, including September 11.
It went like this:
As you might remember, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.
Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.
One of them missed his bus.
One spilt food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
One's car wouldn't start.
One couldn't get a taxi.
The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there he developed a blister on his foot.
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band- Aid.
That is why he is alive today.
I can't vouch for the veracity of these, but it's not so hard to imagine is it?
A smattering of small inconveniences that wound up saving their skin.
And I thought, when every traffic light is red, when a concrete truck is parked across my drive and I can't leave all day (yes - it really happened), when everything is going haywire - there just might be a reason.
Whether you believe in God or not, you've got to agree that sometimes we get a peek at a "bigger plan" - generally in retrospect.
But in the moment, it's plain frustrating. Painful. Inconvenient. Tedious. Name your complaint.
God's plan is simply outside our sphere of understanding - it's like trying to explain 3D to stick men.
So believers will be criticised for their "blind faith", but faith is mystery just as life is mystery.
Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it".
It's the unknowing that trips us up, we've just got to know everything. But we don't. Never will.
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father," Mark 13:32 says about Jesus' return.
You might say that a lack of knowing equals weakness. But I know that faith in God flexes an eternal muscle. His strength is mine.
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