9/11: One Nation, Under God

One of my favorite bloggers (and fellow political junkie) Lynn Sebourn had an entry today about Todd Beamer and his role in Flight 93's "takeover" by the brave passengers. It reminded me of my own 9/11 story.

We all know Todd Beamer's famous phrase "Let's Roll" before the ultimate crash, but do we remember his other last words with the 911 Operator who stayed with him on the phone before the crash?

I was living in Wheaton Illinois on 9/11. I had just dropped off my children at their schools (both Christian based), and was in front of the building where my first meeting of the day was located when I heard the news on the radio. The next few minutes were a blur, I went to my meeting but we were all too numb to discuss anything...we just sat there listening to the radio.

I called my children's schools and they were prepared and wanted to keep the children all there together. So I went to the one place where I knew I would be around people who were like me, numb. The Wheaton Sport Center, my home away from home. We sat in the lounge watching the events unfold, glued to the screen and thankful we weren't alone, thankful we didn't have a family member on one of those planes or in the World Trade Center.

Then we watched the Flight 93 story unfold and listened to Todd Beamer, one of our own, as he said the Lord's Prayer to the 911 Operator and we knew God was with him.
We couldn't be prouder at that moment. You see he was a Wheaton College graduate, home of another famous alumnus, Billy Graham. This college was one that held it's students to a higher, Christian standard. Todd Beamer was truly one of God's warriors.

So people may say God doesn't have a place in today's society, I say thank God it does...and I hope that we always stay "One Nation, Under God". We certainly need more people like Todd Beamer, honed by a Faith that supercedes self.