Sept. 11, 2001

     And so the time had come, the moment the nation, somewhere in its unconscious, had been dreading for so long. Though the U. S. had been bloodied by terrorism in the past, nothing had ever provoked such a sense of crisis before, the feeling that the entire population was at the mercy, even for a moment, of a nameless, faceless threat. For the present generation, it seemed, Tuesday, Sept. 11, might well go down as its own Day of Infamy.
     Indeed, as a result of what many world leaders described as no less than as act of war, the nation came to a virtual standstill. The President and his family were spirited away to safe havens. For the first time ever, all of the nation's airports were closed. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading. Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney World in Florida were evacuated as a safety measure, and the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sept. 16 were postponed. Baseball and Broadway were both canceled until further notice.
     The suicide attacks began when a single passenger plane, hijacked en route to Los Angeles, slammed into New York City's World Trade Center at 8:45 a.m. Within 20 minutes a second plane struck the tower. Another dove into the Pentagon and a fourth plummeted to the earth outside of Somerset, Pa. In the end, the Twin Towers of the Trade Center, the symbol of America's prosperity, had toppled, and the Pentagon, the seat of its military might, was smoldering inviting the instant comparisons to Pearl Harbor.
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"People weekly" magazine, September 24, 2001, page 12

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     The Twin Towers falling was a huge deal. It has been a long while since I actually read anything on it. Every September 11th I think about it, but this article helped me see how real this really was. I had not heard about all those places closing. I find it interesting that Disneyland was evacuated. Can you imagine having a good time on a ride and then the next thing you know you are being evacuated to make sure that you don't die? That is harsh. If you had had family that died at Pearl Harbor, how hard would it be to also have family die in one of those towers? Or in the Pentagon? I cannot even imagine the pain. It makes me become more aware of the people around me. You just never know if the person standing next to you in line at the grocery store had her parents or grandparents die like that. It makes me be a lot more compassionate and sensitive.

Strange Language in the Bible

    2 Samuel 17:15-16 + 21-22;  Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. 16 Now send a message at once and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up...

       21 After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.” 22 So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

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The Bible, 2 Samuel 17:15-16+21-22

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    I am sometimes shocked by the Bible. I cannot help but laugh at them using the words, 'so and so' and 'such and such'.  If I looked this scripture up in a different version instead of NIV they may not say that, but it still made me laugh when I read it. It reminds me that the people in the Old Testament were really people like you and me.  There is another scripture that reminds me of this too. 1 Samuel 15:15; Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”   'But we totally destroyed the rest.' He sounds like a cocky high school boy. I love the Bible. It is full of real stories that can teach us helpful lessons. Sometime it just makes me laugh out loud.