My thoughts on 9-11

I was in church on Sunday, 9-11.  The ten year anniversary of the tragedy.  Some people said they weren’t going to church that morning because they were afraid that our church might be a target.  
 

NOTE:  If you have to get bombed (not the drinking kind, but the terrorist kind), where better to be than in church, I ask you?

But my mom and I went right on over to HPUMC to the main sanctuary for the 9:30 service.  I ushered – even got to do the collection in the main aisle (for those of you who don’t know, this is prime real estate in the ushering game), took off my carnation and nametag, then found my seat next to mom in our regular seats.

NOTE:  Why do regulars always want to sit in the same spot at church?  Does it have something to with assigned seats in elementary school?  Some people really get their bibles in a wad when someone new is in “their” seat.  Remember, I’m an usher, so I am an expert in all things ush. 

While I was sitting there I started to think about what I would do if the church did get bombed right then.  In the pew in front of us was a small family – mom, dad, and 2 little kids, one boy about 5 and one girl about 3.  Mom and I had already punched each other and remarked about how cute they were, etc.  Anyway, I just knew that if the church was bombed right then, even though my mom was sitting next to me, I would have tried to protect those children.  Covered them and their parents with my body.  Tried to help them out first. 

You know.  You would have done it too, unless you needed to protect your own kids.

Contrast this with the 22 year old mom whose two year old daughter Joselyn was on life support this past week.  On Friday, The Dallas Morning News reported that the little girl’s mother had kicked her in the stomach, hit her with a milk jug, and glued her hands to the wall.  The police record stated that “Glue and paint were stuck to the palms of the hand with skin torn away where the glue is absent.”

How does this happen?  Why would most people I know protect an unknown child over their own life, but Joselyn’s own mother did what she did to her own precious child? 

I don’t have the answers.

When we got in the car to drive home, I told mom what I had been thinking and she said that she had gone through the same exercise that I had in her mind – if the bomb had hit, she was going to stay put in the pew, pray, and let everyone else out first.

And I think I have my answer.

P.S.  Mark Craig, if you are reading this, please know that our minds wandering had nothing to do with your sermon.  You rocked.

P.P.S.  Joselyn was released from the hospital this afternoon!  Read about it here:  http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/091411-beaten-toddler-released-from-hospital