September 11, 2001

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34 NASV

Listen to September 11, 2001 – He Said

A little before 9 AM on September 11, 2001, I logged onto the server and began updating one of the IBM websites. For almost a year I had worked remotely from my home with just my dog as co-worker company. That morning, with my RealAudio program streaming live Calypso music, I marveled at the fact that I could listen to a radio station based out of the U.S. Virgin Islands while dressed in shorts and a surf shirt. I gave no thought for tomorrow. Why should I? Life was good.

But then some days, life is not so good.

God knows the weight of tomorrow and the worry it brings. Only His shoulders are broad enough to carry the load of sorry and the storehouse of blessings the day following this brings. Had I known that September 11, 2001 would usher in such a decade of fear, hatred, and bigotry, I might have met that Tuesday with the creased brow of a worried frown.

But I didn’t. I coded away, ignorant of the airplane descending toward the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Christ warns us to refrain from worry. Not that we shouldn’t plan for our future, prepare for success, and practice excellence in all we do. But to worry about the future is to place ourselves on God’s throne and falsely assume we have dominion over our lives. We do not. We are mortals; flawed and foolish in our understanding of His Truth. This is the message of the Gospel and the history of man.

Shortly after 9 AM on September 11, 2001, Brownine Brown announced from St. Thomas that a plane had crashed into a building in New York. I continued coding. Minutes later my IBM Sametime chat box began to blink with co-workers asking if I’d heard the news. For a few minutes I watched the television alone in my living room, unsure if I should go back to my desk.

I returned to work. Nothing I could do from Raleigh, I reasoned, except pray for the people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Tomorrow would arrive and someone, somewhere would expect those web pages to be built. Disasters strike but deadlines scream for our attention. There is never enough time to meet the demands of tomorrow—only moments of reflection for those who have died, suffered loss, and survived the tragedies of yesterday.

On this day, let us take time to remember, forgive, and pray for our enemies. Tomorrow will care for itself. It always does.