Where were you?

I was in my in-law’s living room watching the American Country Music Awards when a husky voice I was used to hearing sing ‘feel-good’ songs stopped me in my tracks and brought me to tears. That was the live premiere of Alan Jackson’s "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)." If you’re like me, that was the cathartic moment you needed to put you over the edge. Weeks of pent-up anxiety, anger, and anguish gushed out.

Where were you when the world stop turning on that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her
Did you dust off that bible at home

I was about to begin Drawing class. The kid who came in and first announced that "they crashed a plane into some building in New York" was nonchalant, as if he was cooler than the rest of us because he knew something we didn’t. He acted as if it was just an exciting scene in a movie or a video game, he wasn’t shocked or horrified at all, he was excited.

At first I assumed that it was a small private plane, either a freak accident or a bizarre suicide. Since I teach Journalism and used to teach History, I felt that it wouldn’t be out of line to take some time from Drawing class to look the news item up on CNN.com. I had been in Journalism class as a Sophomore in high school when the space shuttle Challenger blew up. Our teacher turned the radio on for us all day so we could witness history. Now was my turn to do the same. What I saw on the internet shook me to the core.


Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry
Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know

One thing that struck me was what a beautiful day it was. It was beautiful here, but the sky was just as clear and just as blue over New York City. That made the American Airlines luxury liner even more striking. You see, my father had worked for American Air Freight for 45 years. He wore a blue American Airlines uniform years before he was married, years before I was born. There had never been a time I could remember when the shiny aluminum planes with patriotic red, white, and blue lettering hadn’t been a part of my life. Like John Deere green for many people around here, those planes represented America for me. They symbolized my Dad, family, security, everything right and good and fair. That made it like using a policeman’s own gun to shoot him to death

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
And you close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow…

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I remember driving home that afternoon and thinking, again, about what a remarkable beautiful day it was, and yet I had never known such a terrible, ugly day. I felt claustrophobic under a wide-open sky. I couldn’t escape that fact that there were no planes in the sky- as if there are ever many noticeable over rural Iowa anyway, but it still felt overwhelming. All the cold-war fears of WWIII that I grew up with came back, compounded by all the end-of-the-world fears from TV Evangelist’s false prophesies. That was compounded by a new fear, that I hadn’t ever had as a child or a teen. Fear as a parent for my children.


I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Pastor Gebhardt was at a pastor’s conference, so our Elders and St. John’s asked me to speak at a memorial service. All I could think about was FDR. Not so much what he said after Pearl Harbor, but what he said when he was first inaugurated. He was talking about the Great Depression and essentially he told Americans that if facing this makes us reevaluate our values, if it forces us to come together and help each other, and if it leads us to seek God for His help and His sovereignty, then it will be a good thing, not evil. Sure enough, Romans 8:28 has played itself out in our nation over the past year.

Yesterday, Charter Oak’s American Legion organized our churches to ring their bells in honor of the victims of September 11, 2001.From now on, each time you hear the bells, why not take a moment to pray for our nation and for your neighbors? Next Wednesday (9/18) morning at 7:30, why not join together around the flagpole at Charter Oak-Ute High School and spend a few more minutes praying. The third Wednesday in September is "See You At The Pole Day." (For more information visit www.syatp.org.)This year it comes one week after the first anniversary of what Congress has decided to call "Patriots’ Day." What better way to show our patriotism than to pray for our nation and it’s leaders?

And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love