“On the eleventh day…”
Numbers 7:72
Today was an interesting day. Sort of dichotomous. I don’t think that’s a word, though.
Oh, hey, look at that! It is a word! I thought I was making it up, and frankly it sounded to me like something you’d see in a zoo.
But yes, today was a day of dichotomy. Feelings that wouldn’t seem to go together, existing side by side.
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First of all, the date. September 11. It’s a day to be pensive and prayerful. It’s a day of remembering, with not a little bit of sadness, the September 11th of thirteen years ago.
I’d forgotten, when I first got up, what the date was. I don’t always know from day to day what the date is. Being mostly concerned with home and kids, I don’t need to know it a lot of the time. But before I’d gotten too far into my day, I was reminded. They are sobering memories, to be sure. My son asked me just the other day what that day was like for me. What was I doing when I heard, how did I react, etc. He was a one-year-old at the time (my daughter was four) so it’s history for my kids more than a part of their lives.
And of course I remember everything about that morning, and a lot about that day. And in the years since, I’ve been to the Pentagon and seen the memorial there, and I’ve been to the field in Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down and visited the memorial there. I haven’t been to Ground Zero in New York, but my hubby and kids have been, so I’ve seen their photos and talked to them about what that was like.
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But this day was something else for me, too. Today was the first day of Bible study. I’ve been a part of the same study ~ Community Bible Study ~ for 14 years, but this year is different. I’m attending a new class this year (there are a few in our area) and it was a little hard to get used to. There were a couple faces there that I new from years ago, but mostly it was new people, new host church, really very little familiar. But you know what was the most important thing about being there? The Bible. That’s what we were all there for, and I’m excited to get back into a regular study after a summer studying on my own. (Which is good, but somehow not as fulfilling as discussing it with others who are studying the same thing.)
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So all day, while my thoughts occasionally returned to the fact that it was September 11th, and my prayers went to our country, and our president, and peace-loving people all over the world… where my thoughts were mostly, was on God. And how, really, I have nothing to fear, even in this world that gives us plenty of reason. It was a day of sadness and joy, and trepidation and excitement. But more than anything, this day, like all days, was a day when I was thankful for His peace in my heart.
Light Expectations 