My book, Great Events in American History, isn’t just about our country’s milestone achievements, but about painful occurrences that have tested our endurance. Most of the dates happened long ago, but the last one in the book took place just nine years ago. To commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I’d like to share some excerpts from the book.
The first one is taken from the speech that President Bush gave at the National Cathedral a few days after the horror. He told the nation:
“It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true of a nation as well. In this trial, we have been reminded and the world has seen that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave. We see our national character in rescuers working past exhaustion, in long lines of blood donors, in thousands of citizens who have asked to work and serve in any way possible. And we have seen our national character in eloquent acts of sacrifice. Inside the World Trade Center, one man who could have saved himself stayed until the end and at the side of his quadriplegic friend. A beloved priest died giving the last rites to a firefighter. Two office workers, finding a disabled stranger, carried her down 68 floors to safety. . .
“On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come. . . .”
When Todd Beamer kissed his pregnant wife good-bye that morning, he had no way of knowing that the plane he would soon board for a business trip would take him to his sudden death. He and his fellow passengers and flight attendants learned of the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. via cell phones and went down fighting the men who were going to try to take out one more building revered by Americans. Lisa Beamer wrote afterwards:
“My relationship with God through Jesus has been the driving force in my life since my childhood, giving me hope for this life and for eternity. . . God has shown me the reality of eternity in a dynamic way these past few months. When I’m overwhelmed with sadness at what I’ve lost in this life, He is quick to give me His eternal perspective. ‘Lisa, this life is just a blip on the radar screen compared to your future with Me in heaven,’ He says.”
The Beamers’ third child, Morgan, was born four months later.
Our neighbor’s son got married that first weekend after 9.11, but they weren’t sure at first whether to go through with the ceremony with so much heartache all around them. Their priest encouraged them to go forward, however, saying the best thing they could do was to demonstrate to the terrorists who seek to destroy us is that life goes on, and we will prevail. To that I say, “Amen.”
Tags: 2001, Lisa Beamer, President Bush, September 11, Todd Beamer
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