A lesson I learned from September 11, 2001

(This is a picture of the "cross" that was made by the Towers falling down. I took this picture when I was in NY in 2008)

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. Last night, I was asked by Beaconhill NW to share a few words over a few Twitter DM's my reaction to that day. He is doing a Twittumentary on that today. As I shared my thoughts with him last night it definitely brought back a lot of memories for me. I know for myself the image of that plane hitting the second tower of the World Trade Centre will probably never be etched out of my mind. Also it will be very hard to forget watching those incredible edifices crash to the ground.

Lauren and I and the rest of Whitehorse, YT had a very different experience of September 11th than I think the rest of Canada did. I remember we were running late that morning because we had slept in and Lauren’s dad was coming over to fix something. It wasn’t until Lauren’s dad showed up that we found out what had happened in New York. Of course, we turned on the T.V. and to our shock and horror we watched the second plane hit. Eventually, I went off to work at the church. While I was at the church, Lauren’s sister from California called and told us to stay away from the airport because she had heard on CNN that many international flights were being re-routed to Whitehorse because they were not allowed to land in Alaska and that one of these planes was believed to be hi-jacked.

Of course, we wanted to confirm this and we found out that it was true. A flight from Korea that was supposed to land in Alaska, had flipped their hijacked beacon. They were being escorted by two F-16’s to land in Whitehorse because this was as far as their fuel would take them. Now the airport in Whitehorse is very close to the downtown centre. Because the city officials were concerned that this plane was going to crash land in Whitehorse, either on purpose or because it ran out of fuel, they began implementing emergency measures. The city was evacuated and people were sent to “SAFE” zones. Of course, you can imagine there was a bit of panic. Parents were trying to find their kids from school, and they had all been moved, businesses were closing, police roadblocks were being set up to stop people from going near the airport and the city center - it was total mayhem.

I came home immediately. At home, we turned on our radio to the local station and waited patiently to hear what was going to happen. To our relief, we soon found out that the plane had not been hijacked and it was all a big mistake. But for a few hours it sure was tense. Like I said, my experience of September 11th was probably a little different than the rest of Canada’s. Needless to say, I ended up staying home the rest of that day and spent it listening and watching the news closely, like probably many others did.

One of the segments that stood out to me that day was an interview done by the CBC with the firm that designed the World Trade Centre. They were talking about how the buildings were built and the many tests and simulations that were done to insure that these buildings had a sure foundation and were architecturally sound to withstand any forces of nature. Obviously, this firm or anyone else could not predict that planes would crash into the towers of the World Trade Center when they were designing them. The real interesting point that I found as I listened to that interview was that the firm was praising their work because the towers had withstood the initial contact of the planes crashing into them and remained standing for a few hours afterwards. They were marvelling at their ability to design something with such a firm foundation and structure.

Here's the lesson: What foundation is your life built on? Is it strong and firm so that when the "storms" of life come it will withstand them or is it built on a weak foundation that will crumble when the "storms" come?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Matthew 7:24-27