Where Were You?

"Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" is a song written and sung by country super star Alan Jackson. The song and it's writer are asking "where were you on 9/11/2001. That morning terrorists carried out the most evil attack ever on American soil. Four planes were hijacked that morning. Two of them were crashed intentionally into the Twin Towers in New York City. One was crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. The fourth one was thwarted by passengers before it could get anyplace else and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

I remember exactly where I was that morning. I was at work loading a truck when the driver came in and said that one of the towers in New York had been hit by a plane. "No way" I thought. Drivers come in all the time telling tall stories. I went into our shipping office to get paperwork and my boss had WGN news radio on. They were going on and on about what had happened in New York. Okay, so the driver was correct. I could not believe what I was hearing. How is that even possible? Then the unthinkable happens. A second plane hit the other tower. What?? Is this really going on right now?

I make an immediate call home to my wife at the time to see if she had heard. She was home caring for our 3 year old daughter. She said that she had and wanted me to come home as soon as possible. As I was on the phone with her, the one tower fell. We were speechless. Could not even fathom that this was done deliberately. How could someone even think this, let alone do it. And then, the second tower collapsed. Oh my goodness.

The good that came out of this tragedy was that instead of alienating us, it brought all of America together. Everywhere you went the American flag was on display. Flying outside of buildings. Bumper stickers on cars. The little flags that you could hang on your car windows. They were everywhere. Every American was proud to be an American. This tragedy unified us. Bonded U.S. closer together.

For a little while that is.

Fast forward 19 years. It is now 2020 and the people that swore they "would never forget" seemed to have forgotten what happened on that September morning. The police who were some of the first responders to run towards the towers and help people as they were trying to get out, were hailed as heroes. Now, they are seen as the enemy. They are hated and despised by many across this nation. A lot has changed in the last 19 years, and not for the better. Instead of a foreign terrorist attack dividing us, we are divided and fighting against each other.

Oh, how I wish that we could go back to September 12, 2001. We were all one people. Americans. Standing for one and for all.

This attack on our great nation shook us to our core. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. Hopefully it never happens again.

Thankfully we can look forward to what God has in store for us.

Hebrews 12:28 New Living Translation

²⁸ Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is unshakeable. Nothing can come against, neither foreign or domestic. My prayer is that we can become a united nation once again. Quit fighting against each other. We need each other. We need a healed country.

 

2 Chronicles 7:14 New Living Translation

¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.