9/11

4 years have come and gone since the towers fell. Even so, I recalled the events of that dreadful day so vividly. I remembered I was at work when it happened, when news of a plane crash was broadcast over the radio. Me and my colleagues didn't pay much attention to it and until when we heard that a second plane had crashed into the other tower. We rushed over to the break room's TV, and there on CNN, reporters were showing us how the both the towers were on fire. Suddenly, one of the towers was engulfed with smoke and dust, and later, reports came in to confirm that the tower has collapsed. And a few moments later, the other tower followed with the same fate.

I recalled standing there in horror. It was only 4 months ago when I was 'touring' New York with my parents. And not too long later, news came stating that these atrocities were carried out by terrorists. Speechless, my mind was confused on what was really happening. All I remembered at that point of time was I needed to make sure that my buddy Vai Seng was doing ok. Vai Seng had left Lincoln for NYC in hope of getting a job there and all. And I knew he was somewhere in the city. Francticlly, I tried dialing his number but the lines were busy. It seemed that I'm among the other few million people trying to call in to that island. Suddenly, after trying for a few times, a dialing tone! I got thru, and better than that, Vai Seng picked up the phone to tell me that he was doing ok. There was never a greater sense of relief.

In days to come, I stuck to the news like glue, trying to find some resolution in all this chaos. Clips of the plane flying into the towers were played over and over again over the news. Funerals and memorial services of victims, firemen, policemen and other rescuers who lost their lives were covered in detail by the networks. TV shows such as 'The Night Show with Jay Leno' and other comedy based productions were halted at least for a couple weeks as I guess it's kinda hard to joke in times like these. And in months to come, we were to hear stories of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and not only that, of more bombings in Spain, Bali, Jakarta, and recently, in London.

What have these 4 years accomplished? Not much. Many still live in fear. Osama is still somewhere around plotting to strike again. If the bombers don't come, then there's the force of nature that we gotta reckon with. By now, Katrina would have taken away few thousand lives. The tsunami in Acheh wiped out more than 300,000 lives in Dec of 2004. And there are also the less covered tragedies in Russia, Philipines, and so on.

For the days that are coming, many of us are wishing to see peace and prosperity to flourish in the world. And yet, in the back of our mind, that seems quite impossible. With fuel prices rising like bread with yeast, and with war so likely to happen, most of us try to find the sense of security either by keeping ourselves busy with our work so that we don't think too much of these things, or by thinking 'less seriously' about the outcome of the events.

All I know is that we can only find security in Jesus. He still remains the peace that's able to take us thru the next calamity. With news flooding in everyday with reports that trouble my soul, Jesus shines out with such peace and calmness and reminds me that all I need is Him.
What's to come? I don't know. I wished the world was a little more predictable.But it's not. And maybe, that's a good thing, for if it was, then I would have trusted in 'that' security. God help us all...