September 11, 2001: If you ask any American, they can tell you where they were and what they were doing on that fateful day. Ten years have gone by… How will you remember? What have we learned?
Wayne Pratt: “I was on my way home after spending an overnight shift at Easton Hospital for CPE. Arrived home in time to see the second plane crash into the towers. It was all so surreal.”
David Edinger: “I was a NY medic, that day I was working as a medic here in VA. We will celebrate the memory of those fallen and those who give of themselves each day of their lives for others.”
Lisa Dibble: “I was at work. Everyone crowded around the TV upstairs to see what had happened. We stayed glued to our computers, watching for news. Left work and went home and watched the news even more, with numbness and grief.”
Rev. Charles Haley of the New Hope/Sharon Charge wrote: I was at work in Brookneal when I first heard a plane hit the World Trade Center. The information was not clear. Later we saw the second plane hit.We also saw the destruction from the plane that hit the Pentagon. All present were shocked that someone could do this to our nation. Some asked if they could gather for prayer. The time was set at 12:00 noon around our flag pole. I called some of the members at New Hope, and a prayer meeting was scheduled and the public was invited. I led the opening and after that we had a time of individual comments and silent prayer and closed with a hymn. Today, I feel we are closer to one another and have grown in our faith and as Christ’s Church.
I have come to realize that our nation and our way of life will never be as it was and that we are not separated from other nations are we have been. The threat is not always from far away, but is from within the towns and cities of our own nation and people.
Our Worship Service Sunday September 11, 2011 will be to Glorify God, to remember ten years ago, and to Pray for God’s continued forgiveness not only for ourselves, but for those who brought destruction and death to so many in our nation. May God lead us to strive to understand our differences and make every attempt to live with one another in peace. Blessing and Peace,Charlie Haley
A Prayer for the Anniversary of 9/11 -By the Rev. Jeremy Pridgeon – From UMC website
O God, our hope and refuge,
in our distress we come quickly to you.
Shock and horror of that tragic day have subsided,
replaced now with an emptiness,
a longing for an innocence lost.
We come remembering those who lost their lives
in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants
who demonstrated the greatest love of all
by laying down their lives for friends.
We commit their souls to your eternal care
and celebrate their gifts to a fallen humanity.
We come remembering
and we come in hope,
not in ourselves, but in you.
As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken,
we are reminded of the illusion of security.
In commemorating this tragedy,
we give you thanks for your presence
in our time of need
and we seek to worship you in Spirit and in truth,
our guide and our guardian. Amen.
http://www.gbod.org/site/c.nhLRJ2PMKsG/b.7536271/k.8D45/Remembering_911.htm
