This afternoon, I got to see a preview of an inspiring Guideposts video commemorating 9/11. And I’m glad I watched it.
I generally don’t like to relive that day, and so many days after, when I was afraid on my bus going over the Tappan Zee Bridge, on my commuter train that rides along the Hudson River, on my subway downtown to the office. I was hyperaware of my seatmates, people I might spend my last moments with, or who I’d be working with to save our lives.
At the time, Guideposts was located right across the street from the Empire State Building. Would that be the next target? I wondered. I didn’t want to leave my family in the morning, worried I might not come home to them at night.
A counselor came to talk to us as a group in the weeks after the attack. We sat around the big conference room table. “I did better while the buildings were falling than I’m doing now,” I confessed. “I can’t bear waiting for the next crisis. The waiting is killing my spirit.”
The counselor had a Bible verse for me: “Be still and know I am God.” I could let go of my anxiousness to control what might happen. I could rely on God, no matter what did happen. I could let my mind be at peace instead of letting my imagination operate in a constant state of fear. Finally I could relax.
There’s one other video I’ll watch again on 9/11, even though it’s 12 minutes long. It’s called “Boatlift: An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience,” narrated by Tom Hanks, on YouTube. I’ve never seen so many earth angels on the water, all coming to rescue those trapped at the edge of the island of Manhattan:
