We Will Never Forget

​This weekend we remember the atrocities of September 11, 2001. Where were you when you heard the news that our beloved country was under attack, with more questions than answers and filled with fear? I think we all have memories of where we were that horrific day and if our family members were safe. I was at the Delta gate in the San Francisco airport when the announcement came over the loudspeaker that all air travel had been halted. I was determined to just wait it out, anxious to get home to my family. It was three days later before I was able to return, on a totally silent flight, until the applause broke out when the wheels hit the ground, so grateful to have safely landed.
 
On that day, in a tiny town in Newfoundland, 6,500 international travelers (and a few pets) were sitting in planes on the tarmac, the closest landing strip for all planes flying over the Atlantic Ocean, when the call to land immediately was made. Gander residents immediately went into action, identifying places for these travelers to go, and sleep, and eat, so that they could disembark from their aircraft. Residents opened their small homes. Community buildings and churches were converted to dormitories. Bonds were formed. Cooks began amassing ingredients to feed all these travelers for 5 days, many who had loved ones who lived or worked in NYC and had no idea if they were safe. Many were not.
 
This true story is told in the 9/11 Memorial Museum. A book and a Broadway play also capture the beauty of this tiny town’s response during a time of such sorrow. The Mayor of Gander said “It was a community effort; there’s no question about it. It was the right thing to do in a time of need.”
 
May it be so, for you and for me.
 
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.    
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
 
With gratitude,
 
Christy Merritt
Godly Play Coordinator