"What happened on 9-11?"

I'll NEVER forget every detail, emotion, and nuance of September 11, 2001. I remember the strange phone call from a friend saying "COME HERE NOW." I remember standing shoulder to shoulder with her, heart racing, seeing the first tower aflame and wondering how a pilot could be blind enough to fly into it. I remember seeing the second plane fly into the second tower and instantly understanding that we were under a terrorist attack. I remember going to the hardware store across the street and we two bought the largest American flag in stock, and we hung it up on the front of our offices. I remember going to the bank to get some cash and seeing the bank's television on and all the tellers watching, and we all looked at the smoking remnants of United 93 in the Pennsylvania field, and thinking the world was coming to an end. I remember learning that another plane had stuck the Pentagon and knowing that the world WAS coming to an end. It was horrible. A tragedy that ended the lives of thousands and the residue has burned itself on our hearts forever.

I substituted in a fourth grade today. We were adding homework notes to their calendar-agendas which are yearlong weekly notebooks. One boy looked ahead to this Friday and he pointed to a red, white, and blue ribbon in the corner of the square set aside for that day, 9-11. He asked, "What is that there for?" I replied that it was there to remember the terrible events of September 11, 2001 when all those Americans died.

"Why did they die?"
"Because the terrorists flew planes into buildings and people inside the planes and inside the buildings died from the crash."
"Wh-at??"
"How old are you?"
"Nine."
Ah. He was an infant. He doesn't know.

A whole generation is coming up that doesn't remember pre-and-post 9-11. Who don't know how our country was before, who terrorists are, or that such acts of murder had been carried out on our lands. It is history now, like Pearl Harbor. I wonder if his history book carries a section on 9-11. If it does, I wonder what it says.

It's strange to outlive 9-11.

Peace that Passeth All Understanding

Introducing today's collage:
The Peace that Passeth All Understanding

Philippians 4:7 says "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I was flipping through magazines and saw the cartoon of the girl with her tea. She was not sitting on the chair but the chair was in the ad. It is unusual to see a figure, real or cartoon, looking directly at the reader in that way, and her expression got my attention. I thought, "I am like that girl, with my comfy chair and my tea."

Then I got to thinking how lucky I am that I found Christ at this juncture in time: with the end about to come. Better late than never, I decided. I just made that up. Anyway, I am even more lucky to know Christ and know that His promises are true, because with all the peoples' pensions drying up, and the populace thrown out of work, and food prices tripling, and wars, and bombs, and killings ... no matter what happens around me, I can remain calm. Jesus will take care of me forever.

I can go on about how the execution of the collage was not exactly how I envisioned it, and that it changed even after I laid it out unglued and disassembled it to finalize the piece. But I won't do that ... my collages never come out as good as I want them, but the idea is there: no matter what happens in the world, knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ means a person has a peace that passes all understanding. I have that peace. You can too.

Never Forget

The day the terrorists attacked, and we lost so many people...all heroes. Where were you that day?

Photo courtesy Post Commander Larry Newth, Gray American Legion #86.