September 11, 2019 (Wednesday)
Wanda and I had developed separate morning routines. I usually was at my desk and she was always busy with chores. On September 11, 2001, however, for no reason we wandered into the den and started watching the “Today” show on NBC. We were not in the habit of sitting down together in the morning and watching a morning show, but we did so that day.
The scripted program was interrupted and cameras were aimed toward the World Trade Center. Matt and Katie said they had been told a plane of some kind had hit the building. We watched in disbelief as we saw the smoke billowing from the hole in the side of that enormous skyscraper. New York City was having a crystal clear fall day, so the pictures were were watching were flawless. We could see it well, and, as we watched in horror, the second plane appeared to the right of the screen, disappeared behind the burning tower, and smashed into the other building, with an incredible ball of fire and debris. I turned to Wanda and said, “That has to be terrorism.” She nodded agreement and said, “Yes.” We sat in silence, almost paralyzed by shock, watching the television screen and listening to the commentators who were as bewildered as anyone else in those first hours. We just stared and listened to the voices, rarely speaking to each other for a while. Gradually we came to understand that we were watching a tragic scene in which thousands were dying.
What Wanda and I could not have known that day was that in 112 days she would be taken by ambulance to the hospital where for one month she would fight a losing battle for life. It would not happen all in one day as it did for the people who died in those buildings, but it would happen nonetheless.
The pain of losing loved ones is a common thread for all humankind. It is not something we choose; it is a part of what we are. Whether those who leave us are young or old, expecting death or not, sick or suddenly taken, the result for those left behind is the same: shock, numbness, loneliness, pain, and a host of unfamiliar feelings.
I think of the people long ago who wanted Paul to give them a word of hope concerning their loved ones who had died.
Here’s what the great Apostle wrote to them:
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV-UK).
