9/11

The events that happened on September eleventh were almost indescribable. The hardest thing for me to grasp is the attacks, themselves, that scarred American soil on that day, and the people who executed and planned them.

Watching the CNN video, it struck me all over again, the pain and destruction that millions felt, caused by only a handful of evil minds. The heartless men that could brutally butcher in the name of their “god” were an image and icon of hatred that I had never dreamed of. Until 9/11 I had never known or realized that people could hate my country, my land, my people, and my faith so much. I have grown up surrounded by other Christians, sheltered and protected by so many people it was a wake up call for me, a reminder that not everyone has it as good as I do. In the video it showed the blatant denial of Taliban involvement only hours after the first plane struck. First it angered me, then I was almost sympathetic. It was pitiful and cowardly, helping others accomplish a hate crime of such magnitude, and running and hiding in a corner. It is no wonder they found Sadaam Hussein cowering in a hole.

The other thing that hit me hard was the careless abandon of human life. The pictures of the dieing and the dead, the ones that made it through and the ones left behind made my soul ache for the loss. Loved ones, family members, moms, dads, grandparents, children, friends, all of them; they were all someone to someone. Every single person in America suffered some loss that day, we were touched by people we had never met and some that we never would have the chance to meet.

The photos of the hero’s on flight 93 nearly all but broke my heart. One photo in particular was of a father with his newborn child. The photo shows emotion and feeling that plain old pictures can’t. His face was alight with a certain fascination and joy that can only come with a newborn. You could almost imagine what was going through that mans head while he was aboard that plane, memories of moments past, and moments he knew he would never experience. How many birthdays, tears and smiles was he missing? To make that decision with the other men aboard; knowing that they were thinking and remembering the same things, making phone calls and saying good byes that came all to soon for their young lives, would have been enough to break anyone’s spirit, let alone bring down a plane to their inevitable deaths.

September