September 11

Aren't we all remembering where we were, and what our life held, 6 years ago?

It was a normal day at the church, right up until I heard the report on the radio that a small plane had hit the WTC.

I mentioned it to the other staff members, and they popped in and out of my office, listening to the news, as the events unfolded. I remember our music director saying that the air traffic control system had gone haywire, and we had to get planes out of the air until it was fixed. That certainly sounded like a more reasonable cause for the situation than what we eventually discovered was accurate.

We had a consultant here visiting us, planning for our new building (currently under construction), and he wasn't able to get home. He had a son in the military, for whom he was justifiably concerned.

The office phones kept ringing, with people calling to find out if we'd heard what was happening. Gas (which was less than $2 that morning when I bought it on my way to work) immediately went up to $4/gallon.

It was also the day I found out that a friend had done something really, really stupid and gotten herself into trouble in Africa. So the horror at what was happening in the world at large was compounded by the knowledge she was in a mess, and I had no way to help her.

I think the thing that still shocks me about 9/11, is how quickly I heard people begin to speculate about why America is hated so ... that someone would do this to us. There comes a time when we need to grow up, and acknowledge that there IS evil in the world, and evil can not be reasoned with, or even understood. Evil does not act rationally, and does not even always care for self-preservation.

I'm pro-Iraq war. I'm pro-Afghanistan war. In fact, I'm pro-any-country-that-harbors-terrorists war. G.W. did NOT lie. Our soldiers are NOT dying in vain - they are protecting our country. They're even protecting the liberals and news media that don't give them credit for doing so.

Nancy Pelosi's flowery words yesterday don't change the fact that her party is trying to strike a great blow to our national security. And we need to remember that (and ignore the media) when elections come up again.