Live Each Day with Courage-Getting Back in the Saddle

Where were you when the world stopped turning? Where were you when the world went silent? You know that day. That day in September. That day known as 9/11.

I remember that day with perfect clarity. It began like any other day—normal. Then suddenly everything changed. I sat in my den drinking my morning coffee and watching the news just like normal. The commentators were chatting away just like normal. As I watched the camera switched suddenly to the World Trade Center. To be honest I wasn’t paying attention to the commentators but I just happened to look up and saw one of the towers on fire. I was thinking is this an ad for a new movie? The commentators seemed eerily calm as they reported. “The World Trade Center Tower One seems to have been hit by some explosive.” The coverage continued.

We weren’t prepared for what happened next. A second plane hit Tower Two. The commentators’ voices were no longer calm. Now I heard, “Oh my God Tower Two has been hit.” Minutes later another plane hit the Pentagon. Then United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Reports indicated that plane might be headed for the White House but due to the heroic passengers on Flight 93, it didn’t make its mark.

My stomach turned as I witnessed people falling from the burning towers. Human beings jumping to their death. I’d never seen anything like it before. Even the reporters on T.V. were dumbfounded. There were no words to describe what we all were witnessing.

George W. Bush the president at the time was participating in a reading demonstration that morning at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida when the second plane hit. Andrew Card the White House Chief of Staff had the awful duty of telling Bush about the attack.

I was rocked to my core when a reporter looking up at Tower One describing what he saw stopped reporting when suddenly the tower started to crumble. He screamed, “Get out of the way!” People scattered and began running for their life. You could hear people saying, “Keep going, keep going. Come on!” Ash covered everything in sight. Then it happened again. Tower Two began crumbling. It was like watching a disaster movie of epic proportions. I sat glued to my chair for two days—sobbing.

Now here we are 20 years later and I still sob when I see those videos. The memories of that day and the days that followed are forever etched in my mind. I will never forget. I never see a picture or a video of that day that I don’t cry and mourn the lost lives of that tragic day. I will never forget. The days that followed brought with it an air of silence over our land that haunts me to this day. I will never forget. On September 11, 2001, by dawn’s early light, evil crept in and stole our innocence and the lives of our citizens. I will NEVER forget. (9/11). Reportedly 2,977 people died that day.

What now is the response of people of faith 20 years later? We must choose to live not in fear but in faith.

Fear is real—it touches all our lives. The anxiousness of life makes us vulnerable to terror and hate. But here’s some truth—terrorists win when we give in to fear. When we turn on each other and forget our community terrorists and fear wins. Sure, fear can paralyze us. We get stuck but in faith, we become strong through God’s strength.

Verses 2 and 3 of our scripture tells us that adversity is a given—it’s always “when” not “if” it will befall us. There’s evil in this world. You don’t have to watch Star Wars to see the dark side. Some people hate beyond understanding but we must be confident. These people exist inside and outside of our country.

The day that defines our lives is the day of resurrection. The first Easter is proof positive that evil will not have the last word. Our hope in Jesus helps us to rise above adversity. Our courage and confidence come from the Lord.

We’re told in verses 13 and 14 to wait for the Lord. Waiting means actively participating in what God wants us to do—being strong in our faith. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How do you face evil?

Do you have a game plan?

Do you walk into the evil with whatever you have to fight with?

Going into the world listening to God’s voice and doing all He wants us to do is how we fight evil. Trusting Him and waiting on Him. Yes, it bears repeating—wait for the Lord, because we are placed on this earth to do God’s will.

As we look back at the magnificent Twin Towers we remember.

Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash

And like the Phoenix rising from the ashes;

One World Trade Center officially opened in Manhattan on November 3, 2014.

Photo by Julien DI MAJO on Unsplash

Remembering the words of Esther 4:14,

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

And, this most definitely is such a time.

And that’s what I learned in Church……see ya next time!