A REFLECTION on 9/11

On Thursday, September 10, I left home on my way to work thinking about how the following day would be - September 11. Another anniversary of the 9/11 attacks would be observed. The morning news had already begun airing coverage with pictures and interviews recalling the events.

Like so many others, I too was remembering where I was, what I was doing, and what I felt when I realized that the World Trade Center towers had fallen. There was no means of electronic communication that day in the building where I worked. We learned what was happening as people made their way to midtown from lower Manhattan and the news spread by word of mouth. By the time the severity of the situation was known and it was determined that we should all go home, there was no train or bus service and traffic had come to a halt. I walked home 14 miles that day.

These were my thoughts as I set out on my commute to work on September 10, 2015. I remembered how, on 9/11, I had looked up in the sky and saw smoke billowing upwards. But on this September 10, 2015, I exited the bus to enter the subway and looked up and there was a bright and vibrant rainbow spanning the sky before me. And, it was not just in the sky. It seemed to come from the heavens and touch the earth. It was breathtaking beauty. There was comfort in that rainbow.

I remembered the account of God’s covenant with Noah following the flood and when I arrived at work, I looked up that passage to hear again God’s words. God said, “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between you and all living creatures of every kind.” (Genesis 9:14-15)

It is sometimes said that time heals all wounds. I don’t really think that is true. There are times when the wounds are more poignant in the days and years that follow than they were when we were in the midst of life’s changes. It is not time that heals; only God does that. The psalmist attests, “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
God has a covenant with us and sometimes we just need a little reminder. Two more rainbows appeared in the sky in the week that followed.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1). Amen.

~ Deacon Anthony Jones