Fire burning

People falling

Smoke billowing

Voices calling

Heroes respond

Go beyond

Common duty-

What beauty!

Lives lost

Huge cost

Lives given

Never forgotten.

 

9/11 is a date that will never be forgotten by those whose lives were impacted and by anyone who watched the horrific images shown again and again in the media.  The sights shown, knowing that people were dying right before our eyes, left a sick feeling within us.  But the one thing of beauty, the only good I saw at that one awful moment, were the heroes rushing to the aid of all the people facing imminent dome.  Ultimately and sadly, many of them lost their lives as well, as they put the lives of others before the welfare of themselves.  It’s hard for many of us to fathom that kind of courage.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)

I wish to thank and honor those who are in the service, the armed forces, law enforcement, firefighters, medical personnel and all of those who daily put the safety and health of others in the forefront.

We also need to remember that our Lord Jesus laid His life down for us all. None of us deserved it, but yet God loved us so much that He willingly offered His Son to die for our sins.

On the anniversary of that terrible day, I think it very fitting to pause and remember, to pray for the ones who personally were affected by the death of a loved one, and to remember the sacrifices made by those willing to lay down their life for the lives of those they didn’t even know.