Some Late Night Reflections on 9-11

Well, it is 9-11 again. I thought this morning about writing a post weighing the events of six years ago, after all, it is important to remember. I was not sure what I would say though. I wrote a contemplative post last year for the 5th anniversary, and although it was not exceptionally profound, I did not know what else I could say. So I gave up on the idea.

Tonight however, Scott began watching a MSNBC broadcast of the same exact footage that had been shown as events unfolded that fateful day. We began watching shortly after the second plane had crashed into the 2nd tower of the World Trade Center. It was surreal to view it again and listen to the commentators wondering whether or not it was a terrorist strike. The towers had yet to collapse, the Pentagon had not been attacked yet, and Tom Brokaw spoke of the six confirmed dead and over 1,000 injured. It was hideous knowing that this was just the beginning. As tragic as those six deaths were, what was to come would be exponentially worse. Even though we knew exactly what would happen next, it was horrifying to see it again, especially watching those towers collapse, smoke, dust and rubble billowing everywhere. It is difficult to put into the words the feelings that were evoked by that rebroadcast.

It is too late in the evening for me to construct an elegant segue to Isaiah 40:28, but as I was sorting through feelings about 9-11, this verse was what came to mind. My very favorite part of it is at the end:

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and His understanding no one can fathom.

Recently I made a desktop picture that coupled this verse with one of my father's photographs like the one below. I included one definition of fathom which says, "to plumb the depths of". God does reveal Himself to us in so many wonderful ways through His word and His creation -- He gives us understanding about Himself. But we, like a diver in the deepest part of the ocean, will never reach the bottom and completely fathom, or plumb the depths of, God's understanding.

All that to say, that though I cannot make sense of an event like 9-11, I find great comfort in trusting the wisdom and unfathomable understanding of the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.