"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that
this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are
hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in
despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed."-2 Corinthians 4:7-9 (NIV)
A tragedy in our time
~Created September 12, 2001~
Last updated January 1, 2002
Where is God in this Tragedy? I know this thought has
crossed many people's minds and so I wanted to share with everyone
this article that a friend of mine that I met online wrote.
click here
Please read this article "Palestinians Grieve Over US Tragedy"
from the International Center of Bethlehem
click here
I am going to be posting my journal entries here on this page as well
as other important things concerning the events in NY and D.C.
Tuesday September 11, 2001 6:23 p.m.
Today, all my problems seem like nothing. Absolutely nothing,
compared to the horrible events that took place today. This
morning at 8:45 a plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.
Ten minutes later another plane crashed into the other tower. Both towers,
more than 100 stories high, collapsed and fell in the middle of New York
City with at the most 50,000 people in them. And, not long after that,
another plane crashed into the Pentagon-yes, the Pentagon in Washington
D.C. Later, another plane was shot out of the sky around Pitsburg, PA.
Not sure if the destination was Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or where.
Apparantly, those four airplanes were highjacked and taken off
course in order to hit important U.S. buildings. They closed all
federal buildings and airports didn't have flights. I watched
the news basically all day. I didn't even know anything happened until
my second class at 9:30 central time. I got there and one of the guys
was talking about it and I was so shocked. When the English professor came
in he said that Hawthorne would be so hard to study at the moment so we
could go watch the news instead. That's when I saw the pictures of the
already collapsed World Trade Center towers and felt utter dispair. Next
to the picture of the no more towers, was a picture of the Pentagon. I have felt
like crying a whole lot today. Personally, I don't know anyone that flew
today or lives in New York or Washington D.C., but just thinking about
all those people trapped under 100 something stories of cement and building
material breaks my heart. How many people died today? How many people
do not know where a loved one is and is scared they are one of the many
that died? I can't imagine how it would have been to have actually been
at the scene when the plane hit the towers/Pentagon and see the buildings collapse
and people dieing all around you. They don't know who did these horrible
acts, and that is scary to me. The whole thing scares me. Whoever did this
planned it all out so well because no one knew what was happening. It is scary that
four planes were highjacked...four With all the percausions and everything, still
four people highjacked four differant planes. And one of the targets was the Pentagon-a
military building. What was wrong with our security that allowed four planes to get highjacked
and crash into important places? If we're not safe in a place with security and
metal detectors, where are we safe? I really hope this does not turn into an all out war and become
WWIII. That scares me really bad. I don't want to have people I love going off to war. That should
never happen to anyone. A few of my friends and I prayed in the chapel earlier today and there
was a meditation service at four in the chapel (I didn't go) and at 9 p.m. IVCF is having a candel light
prayer vigil which I am going to. I wanted to swim tonight...I guess I still can, anyway that's all for now.
Wednesday September 12, 2001
I have to admit...I didn't watch much news today. I know there were probably some pretty interesting things
being talked about, but I really didn't have the desire to watch. I guess that is because I know that they will keep showing the pictures
of the buildings collapsing and I really don't want to watch that over and over. My roommate Jennifer woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to go buy
a bunch of newspapers. I got USA Today and The Dallas Morning News. Both have huge pictures on the cover-USA Today has a color picture of the World Trade Center and
the heading is 'Act of War'; The Dallas Morning News has a color photo of the Pentagon and its heading reads, War on America. I flipped through both
papers and there seemed to be a lot of good articles. Hopefully I will have time to read them soon.
Today I had my education class and we talked about yesterday's events. As a class, we are going to make homemade cards for a third grade class in New York City. I
am glad that she (the professor that is) though up that idea. I hope we will get a responce back
from them, but if not that's alright. I just think about the teachers that had to tell their students about what happened. And what about all the elementary school
children who had parents working in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon and never came to pick them up. I know that had to have happened. I hate to think about this
because it breaks my heart. Who could have done such a horrible thing? Why did they do it? On the other hand, it puts things into perspective. I talked to my mom and dad last
night for a little while and I wanted to be there with them. I miss my family. I don't know what I would do if I lost anyone of the people in my family so suddenly-at the blink of an
eye. So often I take advantage of the fact that I'll see the one's I love again. It's things like yesterday's tragedy that make you realize that you should never take advantage of the gifts
that God has given to you. Too bad it took something this huge and this terrible to make me fully understand that.
Thursday September 20, 2001
Well, I have had a while to think about the events taking place
in this nation, and there are many things that come to mind.
One thing that strikes me as interesting is the amount of pride
in America people are showing these days. Flags are being flown
at half mast, people are wearing red, white, and blue, we are
coming to together as a nation. One nation under God…that’s
what our pledge of allegiance has said for many years… I know
that for some people that phrase does not really hold true, but
it is my prayer that it would be a true statement of our nation.
With all the events of last week, it has made me more aware of
all the suffering that goes on in the world everyday. I think
about those people in other countries that live with the threat
of terrorists everyday. Those people that suffer from malnutrition while people in the United States have an abundance of
food and play games that consist of wasting food for entertainment.
Those people that die of diseases that could have been prevented.
Those people are very real and yet to most of us in the United
States they are not so real. Steve Stell (my Religion professor
last year) talked at IVCF on Tuesday. He talked about “Why bad
things happen to good people?” It was a familiar topic to me
since we discussed that very question in my classes, and yet it
still hit home. One thing that Steve points out is that we as
Christians know that there are starving people all over the world,
and we sit in our houses and complain that the food on our plates
is bad. There are those without homes and our churches debate
about whether to add on to the church building. These kinds of
things lay heavy on my heart. What is it that I can do to help
those people? I want to help them.
