Because I lived in DC during the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks, the anniversary holds special meaning for me. It was my great honor to gather several stories from others who experienced that day in a personal way and include them in Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front. Today I’d like to share with you a short but profound excerpt. It brings me to tears every time I read this letter, but the spiritual parallel is, I believe, equally moving. I hope this book excerpt below encourages you today.
Letter to a New York Police Officer
On the morning of September 11, 2001, four commercial airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and used as weapons against non-combatant American citizens on our own soil. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City, one smashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one crash landed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers rushed the terrorists. On September 12, a New York resident wrote this letter to a man whose name she never knew:
To the Police Officer who helped me on September 11th, You literally picked me up off the sidewalk that day. I was on the east side of City Hall Park and after the second WTC collapse I was running from the wall of dust and flying debris when I fell. I was terrified—people were running over me and past me. You lifted me off the ground and said “run with me.” After a few blocks when I said I didn’t think I could run anymore, you said run just a little further and then if you can’t run I’ll carry you. You got me to a safe place and went back to help others. I didn’t get your badge number or your name but I will never forget you. I pray that you are safe. You and your brother and sister officers are one of the great things about this city. With love and gratitude, Ann (the lady in the gray dress and yellow sweater)
We don’t know if the police officer who helped Ann was a Christian or not, but his actions and words demonstrate God’s attitude toward us. When we stumble in our own lives, our heavenly Father is unwilling to let us stay down. He picks us up and guides us to safety. When we cry out to Him that we just can’t go on, He gently urges to go further—and if we don’t have the strength to carry on, He will carry us through Himself.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your guiding hand, and for carrying me through even the most trying circumstances.
“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” ~Psalm 63:8
*Source: Grunwald, Lisa and Stephen Adler, editors. Women’s Letters: America from the Revolutionary War to the Present, 746.
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