20 Years and Counting

It’s been twenty years today. Twenty years and counting

It’s so long ago, yet it’s not. It’s like yesterday, or like last week or like last fall.

But not twenty years ago today!

 But it’s really been twenty years and twenty years and counting

The pile, the horrible stench, the fear, the tears, the funerals, the bagpipes, the reading of the names

They are all etched in our minds like a bad stain, they can become faded with time but they will never be wiped away

But more importantly we still see the faces

The dad, the mom, the son or daughter the Firefighter, the Cop, the EMS worker

We still see them, we still weep for them, they are still precious to us.

Though it’s been twenty years, twenty years and counting.

Our nation lost some good people that day at the Pentagon and at Shanksville and at The Towers

2977 souls that day. Over 1500 souls since then.

Our City lost some good people that day as well.

Officemates who walked down the stairs of the North Tower together but didn’t quite make it

Strangers who grabbed each others hands and jumped into eternity

Volunteers giving their all to save a few, some not saving themselves

We all lost some great people that day, some heroes

People who lived out the words of Jesus who said  “Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”

Heroes who would rather lose their life than to let someone else, even a stranger, lose theirs or lose theirs alone

343 firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers, 8 EMS workers

So many lost some very special people that day. We know them all by their names

They went by Daddy, Mommy, Grandpop, Grandma, Uncle, Auntie, Sis, Brother, Son, Daughter, Neighbor, Friend, New Yorker. They were all irreplaceable yet they are gone.

It still stings to think about them. It’s been twenty years, twenty years and counting.

And with the time the wounds heal but never completely. How can they?

The wound runs too deep. It has left a near eternal scar on our hearts

20 years later an aging parent still says, “I lost my boy”

20 years later a group of retirees in Florida say it would be great if only Jack or Janet were here

20 years later a pregnant daughter says at her shower, “I wish my mom were here”

20 years later a Yankee fan on their couch says, “I miss my Pop Pop”

20 years later a bride on her big day wishes for the steady arms of her dad to walk her down that aisle

Yes, it is hard to believe it’s been 20 years, 20 years and counting

So today we gather. We look together for hope

The Good Book says there is a time for every purpose under heaven. There is a time to laugh and a time to cry and a time to mourn and a time to rejoice and a time to embrace…..so we do that now.

It also says that “He makes everything beautiful in His time”. That is the day we look forward to. When God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more crying or dying because the former things will have passed away. That is the day we are longing for when there will be a great reunion in the sky.

Until then we look back and remember, remember as we should…. 20 years, 20 years and counting until the day He makes us whole.

Pastor Dave Watson  – Senior Pastor- Calvary Chapel