What I Was Doing On 11 September 2001
I remember that we were having a meeting. Then someone rushed in and said, "A plane's crashed into the World Trade Center. It's on TV now." The whole thing was just surreal - or at the very least, like one of those magic-realist or Man Who Was Thursday anarchist nightmares.
The meeting was adjourned and I returned to my flat, five minutes away. Switched on the TV (something I hardly ever do, since it tends to rot the brain) - and there it was, the second hit, live. I just couldn't believe it. I sat there watching as the towers collapsed on live TV. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. The dust and smoke filled the city, blossomed like malevolent foliage across the avenues and streets.
I remember that my friend Jason and I had been watching a rock concert just the year before at the WTC plaza. All that was gone now, bare memory all that remained. The worst part, I think, was that I had preached a sermon way back in May 1998 on the relevance of the prophet Jeremiah and his message; its title was A Burning Fire In My Heart (this line taken from Jeremiah 20:9).
In that sermon, I quoted the many verses in Jeremiah's prophecies which referred to a mighty nation struck down by fire in the heart of its military strength and economic prosperity - the images he used were an olive tree kindled by fire (11:16), a fire in the places of trade (17:27) consuming the fortresses, a people secure in their refuge but attacked by fire (21:13-14). (Ezekiel had similar things to say about the great trading and military powers of his time as well.)
Jeremiah's prophecy was specific to his time and his people. Yet, the message is one which warns all generations and peoples of the retribution that accompanies hubris. Any prosperous and militarily secure nation may invite this retribution, unless it seeks to develop the conscience of its people, the willingness to serve justice and mercy equally well, the attitude that what counts is not the pride of knowledge but the humility of wisdom. All it takes is a counter-dream, the hate of a rival or a victim turned into intense heat, and fire will fall from the sky. May it not happen again, we pray; make no mistake though, it will.
The meeting was adjourned and I returned to my flat, five minutes away. Switched on the TV (something I hardly ever do, since it tends to rot the brain) - and there it was, the second hit, live. I just couldn't believe it. I sat there watching as the towers collapsed on live TV. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. The dust and smoke filled the city, blossomed like malevolent foliage across the avenues and streets.
I remember that my friend Jason and I had been watching a rock concert just the year before at the WTC plaza. All that was gone now, bare memory all that remained. The worst part, I think, was that I had preached a sermon way back in May 1998 on the relevance of the prophet Jeremiah and his message; its title was A Burning Fire In My Heart (this line taken from Jeremiah 20:9).
In that sermon, I quoted the many verses in Jeremiah's prophecies which referred to a mighty nation struck down by fire in the heart of its military strength and economic prosperity - the images he used were an olive tree kindled by fire (11:16), a fire in the places of trade (17:27) consuming the fortresses, a people secure in their refuge but attacked by fire (21:13-14). (Ezekiel had similar things to say about the great trading and military powers of his time as well.)
Jeremiah's prophecy was specific to his time and his people. Yet, the message is one which warns all generations and peoples of the retribution that accompanies hubris. Any prosperous and militarily secure nation may invite this retribution, unless it seeks to develop the conscience of its people, the willingness to serve justice and mercy equally well, the attitude that what counts is not the pride of knowledge but the humility of wisdom. All it takes is a counter-dream, the hate of a rival or a victim turned into intense heat, and fire will fall from the sky. May it not happen again, we pray; make no mistake though, it will.
etched with acid at 4:17:00 am
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