September 11: the tragedy of one life

Missing the bus that morning most likely saved her life.

Yet she is still dead.

She should have been on the 110th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. Instead, she was being carried to it in an elevator. She was near the 10th floor when the airplane struck the building and a blast of air rushed through the elevator shaft, stopping it mid-floor.

As she made her way out of the building, she saw the horror around her. She watched others plunge to their death in an effort to escape the searing pain of scorching flames.

Her life was spared, yet she is still dead.

Nightmares plagued her for years, but she was an overcomer and developed a zeal for life.

She lives life to the full, yet she is still dead.

She survived September 11, 2001, but her heart was unchanged. What we think would have been a wake-up call had no effect. She never cried out to God. Even in the rubble, in the miracle of living, she never saw the hand of God. She never saw her need for a Savior.

Though living, in her unbelief, she is still dead.

She is a loved one. And it hurts to remember that day. All that she went through.

But ten years later, it hurts more that she is still dead.

It is for her that I shed tears this day. If tragedy that great cannot make us see, what can? And yet, I know: it is never an event that causes our heart to change. Only God changes our heart. And I pray that He will stir hers, even now.

That she might be born again. And live.

In hope,
Shelli