That Day

(if you are reading this on Facebook, I ask you to click on the link at the bottom of the page to view the original post in order to see the photos as they're intended to appear.)


Eight years ago to the minute from when this post appears online to you, the world changed. More accurately, it changed well before that with the planning by, and training of the terrorists, but the world received the harshest of wake up calls on that September morning in 2001.

It didn't take me long to recognize the incredible symbolism which represented that day. The terrorists first attacked the symbol of capitalism, the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.


The Twin Towers were not the most beautiful of buildings. I heard someone describe them as looking like the boxes the real towers came in. But they rose high above the skyline of the largest and most famous city in the world. They were a powerful symbol of the American dream.

And they fell that day.

Then, they struck the symbol which represented the power of America. The Pentagon.


This fortress was named literally for its distinctive shape. It is the headquarters for the United States Department of Defense. This is the epicenter of the most powerful military system the world has even known.

And yet it couldn't even defend itself that day.

Finally, United flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, thwarting a similar attack believed to target either the White House or the United States Capitol building.


These buildings are symbols of our freedom and democracy. This is a country of, by and for the people of the United States.

And yet, people fled these buildings in fear for their lives that day.

When you look at each of these buildings, even simple pictures of them, you know exactly what they are. They represent something. They stand for something. They're symbolic of many of the greatest attributes of the American life. Is it any wonder those who hate us targeted these symbols? Was it simply to kill the most people possible? No. They could have crashed a plane into the Super Bowl and killed more people than they did on 9/11. Instead, they targeted monuments to our way of life. Things which symbolized our ideology.

Today, eight years later, I think we've forgotten the impact those planes had not on the buildings, but on our lives as Americans. For months, churches were stuffed beyond capacity. There was no bickering and name calling between conservatives and liberals. We were Americans. We were one nation under God.

As we reflect on the events of this day eight years ago, I pray that we recognize as a country, and as a way of life, that buildings erected by man, can also be destroyed by man. We were reminded of our futility and vulnerability on that day. God has been known to remind us that we are not bullet proof. He said so in Psalm 127:1, which says:

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

For this simple reason, there is only one symbol which can truly stand victorious and impervious to all attack. It's the one upon which I choose to focus. When it's all said and done, I will kneel before Him and be welcomed into the home He has been preparing for me. And that's where I'll be...on that day.