Yahoo! is asking Americans how September 11 changed them. Below is an account from a reader.
It’s the morning of September 11, 2001. It started out as any other morning would. I had just started my 7th grade year and my Aunt was getting me up to eat some cereal and watch some news before walking to school. This morning I wasn’t feeling well so my Aunt said I could stay home. I finished my cereal as the newscasters were live at the twin towers and were reporting on a mysterious fire that had broke out.
I moved to the couch and laid there for what was to become hours as the world changed before my 12 year old eyes. Reports started to come in about about a plane crash, some thought it was an accident, a private plane that had flown too low, a commercial plane perhaps that had gone off course. Suddenly out of the corner of the screen you could see the second plane coming in from the back and BAM…it seemed as though the TV itself shook in my living room 2000 miles away. I could hear people in the street below screaming and the newscaster himself was frantically yelling “OMG, America we are under attack.” As the day progressed reports of a terrorist group from the Middle East seemed all but likely the responsible party for this tragedy.
Terrorist? Terrorism? These words were foreign in my vocabulary. In my 12 years I had lived a very carefree life. I sometimes went to church with my grandma but didn’t understand the full meaning of it. To me my life revolved around going to school, playing with my friends and having as much fun as possible. The chaos unfolding in New York City was also happening in my brain. I struggled to believe this was all real, to understand why someone would do this and to grasp the magnitude of what was happening.
How has my life changed since then? I turned to God to understand everything. A world that is busy living for itself is how we have ended up in this mess. If we are truly living and serving God, then why would we be putting down other people, blowing them up in buildings, questioning authority, coming out with crazy conspiracy theories?
I have also donated both time and money to organization that better the life of others who can’t help themselves. This is not only what Jesus wants but also in appreciation for others who have helped me in times of need, paying it forward as I like to say. The events of 9/11 showed me the real meaning of a hero, from Superman as I used think about heroes to the men and women who put their lives on the line so that I may have religious freedom and the ability to lay my head on my pillow at night and know that there is a good chance I can wake up and do whatever I want all over again.
The passengers on United flight 93, the soldiers who fight for our country; these are the real heroes of this country. Some of my classmates say they were too young to be affected, I don’t see how this is possible. In high school we watched a video on 9/11. It was supposed to be some math video that was going to explain in math terms why the steel melted and caused the collapse of the towers. I couldn’t watch it, seeing it unfold live on TV once was enough to implant images and nightmares in me for the rest of my life.
I don’t need to watch people jump out of windows again or see the towers collapse again to know why this happened. This happened because a crazed group of people thinks this is the way to honor God. Apparently they missed the commandment where thou shall not murder people. I know people who are in the military, who want to serve our country. Before I didn’t care now I know this is one of the most honorable actions a person can do. I went from not even knowing what terrorism was to not going a day without at least thinking about it.
I try not to let terror run my life, in my mind that would bring another victory to the terrorists, but it is hard not to when you have friends that have become the brothers and sisters you never had being shipped over seas. 9/11 has given me a motto to live my life by: God first, country and community second and finally me. My priority in life is to serve and promote God, then I am to serve my country and community. Those two things make me very warm and happy and at the end of the day and am happy to do something little just for me.
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches I pray everyday that we once again become one nation just as we were in the weeks following 9/11, one that is proud to wave our flag and that have citizens who come together and support one another. I prefer one nation under God, but I am aware that America has a growing population of atheists. This is not a religious rant, one of those messages that say believe in God or else…or a message that lifts up Christianity and looks down on everyone else. I strongly believe my job as a Christian is to deliver the gospel and whatever happens after that is between you and God.
With that said, in order for us to become a stronger nation we need to unite together, we need to help each other not put each other down, point out the faults of everybody else as we live our lives in the same faults. Half of this country likes the government and half don’t, half thinks going to war was the right decision and half doesn’t, half doesn’t think race and religion differences matter while the other half live to eradicate people who don’t fit their bill.
I may not necessarily agree with some decision made on behalf of this county, but if I am going to claim to be an American citizen then I will stand behind the country 100%. My heart aches today for a nation that is as divided as it has ever been and so I will continue to pray everyday that we once again become one nation. United we stand and together we will rise!