09/11/08

I lift up my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

On this seven-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the opening declaration of Psalm 121 causes me to pause and consider some ‘hills’ from whence cries for help have come.

Heaps of rubble -- piles of broken concrete and the dusting of dirty ashes from two fallen towers -- are the hills impressed upon my mind today.

Some got out in time, only to look back numbly at those hills.

Some ran in, and those hills became the final resting place for heroes.

Some prayed until the end; some never got to say goodbye.

Seven years later, the rest of us remember where we were as the unthinkable unfolded on ‘live’ TV before our eyes.

Today, as we recall the fear that gripped us that morning…let us put into perspective our personal hills – the current problems and present inconveniences that consume us now. Shore up if you can. If you cannot, then faithfully call upon the mercies of our Lord.

Cling tightly to the respite of the Psalmist’s words, “…where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

MaryAnn