Tomorrow a German Will Frisk Me by Gail Purath

Tomorrow a German woman in uniform will frisk me as if I were a criminal.

I'll be forced to walk through metal detectors without my shoes and show complete strangers everything in my purse.

And if that weren't enough, I'll have to wait in long lines in three airports--Charlotte, Munich, and Budapest--for the privilege of being searched!

Ten years ago air travel was so much easier. But that was before the Trade Towers fell and changed our world forever.

Ten years ago today in a matter of minutes:

• 3000 Americans lost their lives.
• 3000 children lost a parent.
• $35 billion in property was damaged or lost.

Evil and suffering rocked our world, exposing our strength--the courage of rescue workers and the patriotism and generosity of the nation as a whole. But it also exposed our weakness:

“…an act of monstrous evil exposed the shallowness of an entire society. Professional sports ground to a halt, television comedians went off the air, as did all commercials. In a flash we saw the comparative meaninglessness of much of our lives. That three thousand people could go to work as part of their daily routine and never come home made us all aware of our fragile mortality.”                Philip Yancy, Rumors of Another World, Page 31

Ten years have passed since the Trade Towers fell, but the cost continues. Since September 11, 2001, America has spent $1.28 trillion on increased security and the war on terrorism.

Tomorrow when I wait in security lines at three airports, I'll be forced to remember that my world was forever changed by 9/11, but I'm determined to remember this as well: my God and His values are unchanged! 

On this tenth anniversary of an event that rocked our world with vicious hatred, let's ask God to help us rock our world with His marvelous, sacrificial, powerful, incomprehensible love!  
copyright Gail Burton Purath, 2011

Statistics sources:  New York Magazine;   Huffington Post;  Institute for the Analysis of Global Security

Gail at the Trade Towers 1991

Gail and her husband Michael are traveling to Budapest, Hungary tomorrow. Please pray for them as they travel, live and do ministry in Budapest for the next three months. Read Gail's daily one-minute devotions on Bible Love Notes.