I Sit a Queen, and Am No Widow

2021-09-11

Where were you on September 11, 2001?

Being a Tuesday, I was off from work, which was normal for that job I worked while in Bible college. I woke up, and the summer weather was still present. Cicadas were sounding alarm that morning, as was their custom in the late summer.

I had to get moving that morning, since I had my first meeting for my biblical anthropology class that evening, and I had a pre-course assignment due. My mother called that morning and told me about what had happened in New York. I did not really remember why the World Trade Center was important, but I thought I had remembered it being a terrorist target years before.

I had not been in church for several weeks at that time. The reason was dissatisfaction over a certain event, that matters rather little now. I had even begun training as a competitive swimmer again to redeem myself from a failed career two years before.

I began preparing my class assignment. While I was typing, I had CNN on. The events unfolded rather quickly. The second building of the World Trade Center was hit, as was the Pentagon. The World Trade Center buildings eventually collapsed. A plane crashed in western Pennsylvania. There was an anthrax scare in many places. What was going on? What was next?

That evening, some phone calls would not go through, as the phone system was inundated. My cousin eventually called about a special prayer meeting that was happening in church. My school called to tell me classes were cancelled. I went to the prayer meeting that night.

On the way to church, I looked over the fields. A strange feeling came over me. We had always assumed this land was the haven from the world’s wars. The World Wars were in Europe and Asia. We always fought wars “over there” to keep the wars from coming here. All of that was gone now. We were vulnerable, and very suddenly so.

People at church lamented the fallen people that day, especially the Christians. But what about the people that were not Christians, which were more numerous? Their opportunity to be saved was suddenly snuffed out.

In the days, weeks, months, and years that followed, a War on Terror emerged. In Afghanistan, the government was accused of harboring the presumed perpetrators of the attacks, and a war ensued. Sometime in 2003, the war in Iraq began, though it was unclear why. There was a feeling that enemies were everywhere. Those enemies were not necessarily nation-states, but groups and even inspired individuals. The Patriot Act was passed, as we were willing to pay any price necessary to maintain the illusion of safety so we could continue to say, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Please understand the full implication of what I said in this last thought.

Twenty years later, we need to reflect on lessons we can learn.

Continue being a part of church. I was out for weeks for foolish reasons. The congregation of the Lord is where we should be “exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
It could happen to us. We could be victims of such an attack in the future. We could be the ones killed. “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5).
There will be an end someday. America will not always be a nation. Maybe it will see its demise in our lifetime? We do not know. Our faith must be wholly on the Lord so that when the time comes, we are ready for it.
Do not hope for anything in this life. Nothing is for certain. We take so much for granted. Anything can change at a moment’s notice. My would-be revived swimming career ceased forever at that time because my spiritual life became far more pressing.

The alarm of the cicadas has ever since reminded me of the end of summer, but also what the end of summer may bring.