The September 11 came as a shock to most of the Americans, but it was not a surprise to the United States government. “The attacks shocked the nation, but it shouldn’t have surprised the United States" says CNN. "The United States government was aware that al-Qaeda had had several attacks on the US overseas. The government should have seen some kind of attack coming and should have prepared before the attacks happened.”
I was 16 when I heard the news, it was in one of my classes that I remember watching the television with classmates seeing the scenes that I probably wont forget now. The words “terrorist” “al-Qaeda” moved into our terminology as people were talking about who was behind this attack. I remember the people who were different color of skin and who wear turbans on their heads were bulled by others, people looked down upon them. Let’s just say, what happened on September 11, changed the world in how we view life—this even costed the United States “5 trillion” dollars and still counting.
There are three things that come to my mind as ten years anniversary approached. That there is uncertainty; unpredictability, and hopelessness in faces of the people as they faced this brutal attack.
Uncertainty, we humans love certainty. This is something that our stock market is missing. The people want to know if the company will grow or it will decrease in profit when buying shares. Certainty also plays a huge roll when two people stand before the priest to say “I do” to each other, as to say yes I will love this person till the rest of my life. We love certainty because our whole life depends on it and that brings us the comfort. But the reality says something different. People walking in to their jobs, entering the doors to the twin towers building, (some who were kiss a goodbye by their spouses when leaving to work; some just had grand kids over their house visiting grandparents), but now as they entered the building to work, life changed. Who knew that this day will be a day when a wife or a grandmother to receive a phone call saying that your husbands were part of the people who died when the tower collapsed. James says, “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (4:14).
Unpredictable is similar to uncertainty but has a different part to it. Predicting the weather is why a weather man has his job in the first place. Why listen or watch to someone speak who can’t tell me the information that I need for tomorrow. The questing is who could of predicted that there would be an attack on the United States of America from Osama Bin Laden on this day? After this event eventually it became obvious that there will be more threat coming, and “there have been at least 40 terrorist plots aimed at the United States since 9/11 that have been thwarted” says James Carafano. But still, did we had any idea that this attack was coming? This is an example shows that we can’t predict lot’s of event that are faced in our life. Death, the time when a person leaves this earth, is the reality of September 11. Ether we are on the plane, or sitting in our office, or battling cancer. Christopher Hitchens is an example,“Identified as a champion of the ‘New Atheism’ movement,” is battling cancer, a time when he doesn’t know when he will have his last breath. Job says, “For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow” (8:9).
Hopelessness is another word that came to my mind. Yesterday, American heard the speech from our president of the United States of America (Barak Obama). He gave his plan towards creating new jobs for America, and some desperately are in need of it. People are without work for more then a year or two. Mortgages are needed to be pay for, food that need to be provided on the table; a family of two, five, or six relying on their dad as someone who could work, make money, then buy fresh tomatoes, bread, or milk—but their is no work. “14 million” of people are still “unemployed [in] Americans” says The Washington Post. The Sep 11 also demonstrated people that were without hope. The faces that filled the news mirror hopelessness as they were running for their lives when this terror struck. Where should we go? to whom should we turn for help? Even with all the security now are we still safe? But there is hope, maybe this hope does not come from the world or our government, but it comes from God. The hope that no matter what happens here, ether we die on the plane or in the building, those who believe in Jesus Christ, have inheritance that is kept in heaven for them.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
As for me, a person who believes in Christ (God), this event is a reminder that we can be certain in that there will be a day when all of us have to die; we can predict what will happen to a person who dies without the faith in Christ; and we can have hope in that when we do die, (those who believed in Christ) have their sinned payed for because Christ righteousness was imputing to our life. And we could do this not because we are wiser and smarter then everyone else, but because the word of God is revealed to us. Glory to God for his word.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-670283?ref=feeds%2Flatest
http://blogs.courant.com/susan_campbell/2011/09/how-much-in-dollars-did-911-co.html
http://www.politico.com/arena/archive/why-havent-we-had-another-911-attack.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/political-economy/post/unemployed-offer-advice-to-political-leaders-on-jobs-crisis/2011/09/09/gIQA3l4PFK_blog.html
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