I look back in my journal to find the entry for 9/11/01. At the time I was a faculty member at BYU in the Marriott School. I also taught one New Testament class.Here is the entry:
"I sit in my office early preparing for my 8:00 a.m. class when Bill Baker comes by to ask if I've heard the news. Two planes have flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. I turn on CNN and watch. Ah, me. The terribleness of it all.
"Just as I am ready to go to class it develops that another plane has flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Downstairs I enter the classroom and turn on the cable system. We watch until time for class to start, then I give them two options: the value of studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ while under unknown pressures and the value of watching events unfold. They choose the latter.
"We open class with prayer, then we watch. I am mesmerized as we see footage again and again of the second plane hitting the second tower. And then, as we watch, each tower implodes on itself and slowly sinks to the ground, raining ash and debris far and wide. We gasp audibly at the occurrences we witness.
"I am remided of other benchmark days I have known: November 1963 when JFK was killed. January 27, 1967, when the first spaceship blew up (it was the day after I was married). Later when the Challenger blew up with Christa McAuliffe--the teacher--aboard, November 1995 when Rabin was assassinated while I lived in Jerusalem. Other places. Other things.
"I look around the classroom and see strength and amazement. They want to understand, seek for reason, and they are riveted. Now and then someone leaves the room to use a phone. Someone asks how far is the drive from Washington to New York City. Someone else replies, "About four hours." Students who are not in our class come to the doors and lean against the walls, and, finally, sit in an empty seat or two.
"I watch my watch carefully, praying to know what to say as I end this class. Then it is time. I turn off the cable connection and bear my testimony to them. "I know two things for sure. One is that this earth is in the Lord's hands, the other is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ helps and heals." Felicia says the closing prayer and prays for the people who are hurt and their families, for those who are fighting the fires and the debris, and for all of us.
"Back in my office an email message says that the devotional has been canceled for today, but asks if we would gather together at the Marriott Center for prayer. I rush through a bit of work I have to do, all the while with my ear tuned to CNN, then walk over to the Marriott Center amidst a hoard of people.
"I have to sit far at the side and very high up in this vast hall that holds 22,000 people. Ron Staheli of the music department has us stand to sing the opening song, "Come, Come Ye Saints," the song I had scheduled to sing in my classroom today.
"The words are overwhelming, and I weep. Those words with this terrorist backdrop are doubly deep. "We'll find the place which God for us prepared, far away, in the West." Then "Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid. . ." Then, "And should we die before our journey's through. . ." And, as always, "All is well, all is well."
"Tears run down my face. Fred Skousen prays and Alan Wilkins leads us in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Bateman speaks a bit. He tells the students not to be afraid, not to jump to conclusions and blame some country or another when we have students from those countries right here on campus. Respect all people. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only teaching on earth that lets us know the harmed people are all right, we will see them again, and "all is well." He tells the students that the responsibility of peace in the Gospel rests on their shoulders. They can bring it to the world. But even in a crazy world, they can feel peace in themselves. "The news is the GOOD NEWS!" he says.
"Then he prays. His voice changes to a powerful one--I'm amazed how often that happens in priesthood bearers giving blessings. He prays for those who have perpetrated these terrible acts, and for all those who are affected by them. I feel a witness of his leadership, and of the priesthood. And I weep again.
"Then we are finished. I return to my car and drive home where I follow CNN for the rest of the day. Still trying to understand."
"I sit in my office early preparing for my 8:00 a.m. class when Bill Baker comes by to ask if I've heard the news. Two planes have flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. I turn on CNN and watch. Ah, me. The terribleness of it all.
"Just as I am ready to go to class it develops that another plane has flown into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Downstairs I enter the classroom and turn on the cable system. We watch until time for class to start, then I give them two options: the value of studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ while under unknown pressures and the value of watching events unfold. They choose the latter.
"We open class with prayer, then we watch. I am mesmerized as we see footage again and again of the second plane hitting the second tower. And then, as we watch, each tower implodes on itself and slowly sinks to the ground, raining ash and debris far and wide. We gasp audibly at the occurrences we witness.
"I am remided of other benchmark days I have known: November 1963 when JFK was killed. January 27, 1967, when the first spaceship blew up (it was the day after I was married). Later when the Challenger blew up with Christa McAuliffe--the teacher--aboard, November 1995 when Rabin was assassinated while I lived in Jerusalem. Other places. Other things.
"I look around the classroom and see strength and amazement. They want to understand, seek for reason, and they are riveted. Now and then someone leaves the room to use a phone. Someone asks how far is the drive from Washington to New York City. Someone else replies, "About four hours." Students who are not in our class come to the doors and lean against the walls, and, finally, sit in an empty seat or two.
"I watch my watch carefully, praying to know what to say as I end this class. Then it is time. I turn off the cable connection and bear my testimony to them. "I know two things for sure. One is that this earth is in the Lord's hands, the other is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ helps and heals." Felicia says the closing prayer and prays for the people who are hurt and their families, for those who are fighting the fires and the debris, and for all of us.
"Back in my office an email message says that the devotional has been canceled for today, but asks if we would gather together at the Marriott Center for prayer. I rush through a bit of work I have to do, all the while with my ear tuned to CNN, then walk over to the Marriott Center amidst a hoard of people.
"I have to sit far at the side and very high up in this vast hall that holds 22,000 people. Ron Staheli of the music department has us stand to sing the opening song, "Come, Come Ye Saints," the song I had scheduled to sing in my classroom today.
"The words are overwhelming, and I weep. Those words with this terrorist backdrop are doubly deep. "We'll find the place which God for us prepared, far away, in the West." Then "Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid. . ." Then, "And should we die before our journey's through. . ." And, as always, "All is well, all is well."
"Tears run down my face. Fred Skousen prays and Alan Wilkins leads us in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Bateman speaks a bit. He tells the students not to be afraid, not to jump to conclusions and blame some country or another when we have students from those countries right here on campus. Respect all people. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only teaching on earth that lets us know the harmed people are all right, we will see them again, and "all is well." He tells the students that the responsibility of peace in the Gospel rests on their shoulders. They can bring it to the world. But even in a crazy world, they can feel peace in themselves. "The news is the GOOD NEWS!" he says.
"Then he prays. His voice changes to a powerful one--I'm amazed how often that happens in priesthood bearers giving blessings. He prays for those who have perpetrated these terrible acts, and for all those who are affected by them. I feel a witness of his leadership, and of the priesthood. And I weep again.
"Then we are finished. I return to my car and drive home where I follow CNN for the rest of the day. Still trying to understand."
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