9/11
I was in Washington D.C. on September 11th, 2001.
I was attending a professional meeting of actuaries, accountants and underwriters put on by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for continuing education purposes. Our meeting had sessions and we were in between sessions. There was a vendor who had a computer set up with a TV, used as a display screen to hawk his software product. People had started hearing about the first tower strike and he turned the TV to a network news channel. The reporters were trying to get news on the plane strike and were shooting video of the first tower. Live, as I watched, I saw the second tower get hit.
We tried to go back to our preplanned educational sessions but they started devolving quickly. By this time, the Pentagon had been hit. Our hotel, off DuPont Circle, was close enough to the Pentagon that we could see the smoke rising from the strike. I tried to call my wife but she was driving to a client in the part of the state where cell phone coverage was not complete yet. I called our administrative assistant back at the office and when she answered, I told her that we (there was 4 of us at this meeting) were fine. Her reply was “that’s nice.” She had not heard what had happened by then.
Everything shut down quickly. The hotel provided us a light dinner that evening so we didn’t have to try to find food. The meeting was supposed to have run through Wednesday at noon and we all were catching a flight home that afternoon. Of course, all the airports shut down.
Besides the four of us, our company had four other people in DC at that time for different reasons. One of them, realizing the challenges in getting home, tried renting a couple of rental cars. Luckily, a sister company from Oklahoma had rented a van but because of the number of people they had in town, decided to rent a bus, and let us have their van reservation. One of our expanded contingents was the CEO (in DC for a lobbying trip), who was a hopelessly addicted smoker. He decided to stay in DC and wait for the airports to open rather than make us put up with frequent smoke breaks or try to survive without smoking (supposedly, he knew that we would insist that he be allowed to smoke even though the rest of us didn’t and he didn’t want to temp himself or impose upon us.)
Wednesday morning, we set off on the long drive home. I remember being bothered by seeing military members with automatic weapons standing on the street corner in D.C. as we left the town. Our route took us very close to where the passengers forced one of the planes to crash in an open field in PA (although I don’t know if we knew that at that time). We stopped in Indianapolis for the night and by Thursday afternoon, we drove close enough to the KC airport (people parked their cars there), only to see it without the normal hustle and bustle.
Our CEO flew home Friday.
“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.” - Proverbs 1:20-28 ESV
But what I also remember was how the tragedy brought us together as a nation. We were grieving the loss, but at the same time there was a renewed sense of optimism for the country. Congress put aside their differences and agreed with the President on the direction of a response. We started talking about racial biases but in a positive way of making sure we do not lump people together with the terrorists due to race.
I was thinking about this as the news of the helicopter and plane crash that killed just under 70 people happened some time back. Yes, it was a tragedy and our prayers were lifted for the families of those people that lost their lives. But I also pray that God would every tragedy as part of His plan, and that plan includes a glimmer of the coming together as a nation that I remember after the attacks on 9/11.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” - Ephesians 1:3-10
