story5723.xml

story5723.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

It was a day off of work for me. At the time of the attacks, I was driving in my car, on my way to the local supermarket. I noticed the cars on the expressway near my house were at a standstill, but I just figured there was a bad accident. Then I put on my radio to a music station (which almost never has any news on it). I heard someone on the station say that one of the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane. I thought at first that it was a terrible accident (and also thought that probably no one - in the building, at least - had been hurt, since they were strong steel buildings). That is, I didn't take it too seriously. I even thought maybe this radio station was playing a sick joke, so I switched to another station, only to hear the same report. This station also said that they would now be going off the air (they never did this before, but they are located in midtown Manhattan). It was about this time I heard that the other Twin Tower was hit, too. Now I understood why the radio station was evacuating the building. I went to my mother's house to find out if she has heard from any family members who worked in the area. She heard from my sister soon after (whose building had been evacuated). My sister had to spend the rest of the day in Brooklyn, because the authorities weren't letting anyone over the bridge to Staten Island. But no one had heard from my sister's husband, who worked one block away from the Twin Towers. At this point we didn't know if his building had been hit, too, but we fould out (after about 4 hours of waiting) that he was okay and had been directed to New Jersey (from what I understand, all the workers in Manhattan - all 10 or 15 million of them - had been evacuated from their buildings, and from most of Manhattan, too). When I first realized how terrible things were over there across the water, I wanted to go over there and help. But, the authorities weren't letting anyone into Manhattan, and besides, I am not a strong or physically fit person, and would probably get in the way more than help. All I could do was pray. For some reason, I felt I should pray specifically that the people who were trying to get out of the Twin Towers would leave the buildings in an orderly fashion (so that the maximum number of people would survive). I remember praying about this for hours, until the ordeal was over (that is, until everyone who could get out was safe). I have heard people say, "Where was God when all this was happening?" (Implying that God should have prevented it.) Why do people forget that the human race was given a free will, which includes being free to kill if they wish. Since Eve first ate the forbidden fruit (God told her specifically not to eat from just that one tree), people have been doing ungodly, unloving things. But God isn't telling them to do these things. He wants us to do His will (love), but won't force us to. I know where God was that day. He was in the firefighters, police officers and others who helped save lives; in the office workers who remained calm and helped their co-workers. I could go on and on but simply stated, he was in millions of people that day and the days that followed. God is spirit, and when he does something, He does it in spirit. He acts through the hearts of people who are acting in love (concern for fellow man). To me, this was more real than if He had come out of the heavens in physical form and fixed our problems. I was more amazed at the grace bestowed on us that day, than the evil that caused it. Like many others, I cried for days about the lives that were lost, but I truly believe they have gone to a better place. New York City has been known as of the coldest, mean-spirited cities in the world, but I think that image is now forever changed.