9/11/11

Ten years ago devastation hit our nation. I was walking to my first class of the day at Elizabethtown College when I heard the news. It didn't sink in. It couldn't be real. Our country was impregnable. It was simply impossible. And yet, instead of discussing Thoreau, I watched, dumbfounded, as the reality of this tragedy played out before my eyes on the television at the front of the classroom. And then one by one, my classmates dismissed themselves or showed up late with streaked faces stained by just the first of many tears--they couldn't get in touch with their families back home. Her uncle worked at the World Trade Center. Their families lived in the City. Somerset, Pennsylvania? That was really close to home! And mercifully, classes were cancelled although students lingered because the silence of being alone with this news was just too noisy. Our security had been breached. We had been violated. Would we recover?



(Photo: 2001 The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) Thomas E. Franklin)

But our nation was built on a love relationship with a most gracious, loving God. And as I watched the touching pre-game ceremony at the Eagles/Rams game just a few minutes ago, I was reminded of the humbling truth: "For God so loved the world..." In just ten years, He has swept up our nation in the most passionate bearhug possible and has just poured out love and peace on broken hearts. He has healed our broken nation. Redeemed it. Because He loves us so!



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What an incredible love that is. I am humbled by it and so thankful for it! And I thank God every day for giving me a son so that I can get a glimpse at just how fierce and unconditional it really is. I love Burke with every fiber of my being. My love for him grows stronger every day. And yet I know that God loves me even more deeply than I love Burke. Amazing!


Go Eagles!