I can still hear her say, 
Are you up?  An airplane just flew into a building in New York.
No way, my head said.
Please, God.  How is that even possible?
Mechanical difficulties?  Was an aileron stuck?  Did a wing fall off?

Throw the clothes on.  Drive across campus to the closest TV, 
Stomach churning, heart chanting, Please, God, No!

I sat on a recumbent bike in the Fitness Center surrounded by my students
Watching the same video over and over on CNN.
And then there was a new video.

The horror.
The confusion.  
Men sobbing.  Women fleeing.
Are those people falling from the roof?  
Please God, make it stop.

Wait.  Where did the building go?
Maybe its just behind all that smoke.

Twenty years later?  
The horror.
The confusion.  
Men sobbing.  Women fleeing.

Please God!  Christ have mercy.  Make it stop.


He does.  He will.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:1-5