At 08:30 on the morning of September the 11th 2001 I was nervously getting ready for day two of my new job at the headquarters of American Airlines in Texas. I was over for a time from the UK to take up my position as a personality profiler and was anxious to do well in my new role, so was dressed early and caught the first shuttle to the HQ building whereupon I sat at my desk in a briefing room and awaited my colleagues who were due in at nine-ish.
At 08:50 a security guard burst into the room and shouted at me to follow him. I knew this was no drill by the look in his face, his posture and the urgency in his voice, you can’t mimic that kind of response. So I followed him down the hall, it was then I heard the first screams…
Much later in the day as a vast number of us gathered in the training facility lecture room watching live feeds of the unfolding events, we had instinctively gathered into small groups and dotted ourselves around. Some were silently sitting together, some were crying, hugging and many were praying. Praying for the people dying in the buildings, the colleagues and passengers we knew on the planes, and praying that there would be no more attacks to happen that day.
Being one of three people from the UK in the building at that moment I myself felt very alone and in quite a state of fear and shock. My selfish mind took over and all I could think of was getting back home to my wife and two year old son, everyone else was at the back of my mind. It’s a feeling I still remember with some bitterness that in that moment my usual compassionate nature flew out of the window to be replaced with self-preservation and getting home.
Many hours later when we were allowed to leave, I sat in the hotel restaurant listening to people angrily demanding war and retribution, vengeance and more death. I later chatted to a man in the hotel who wanted immediate nuclear strikes at the middle east, I questioned him “where”? He replied “Anywhere”. This vile act of hatred had spread its poison and had begat reciprocal hatred amid horror, death and confusion.
Such is the response of grief and anger, a swell of feelings that range from despair to hatred in a single moment and we can all fall into this, none of us can escape such feelings, we are hard-wired to experience them. It’s how we cope with them that is the key. I found that my feelings were best handed to God, that my anger was laid at the foot of cross as I swapped it for a mantle of compassion and prayer, James 1:19-20 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”. (ESV)
I spoke earlier that I had felt selfish and ashamed with my thoughts and prayers of “just get me home”, well God gave me the opportunity to redeem myself, not in his eyes but in mine. On the plane home, the first out of Texas once the flight ban had lifted, I was sat next to a young lady who was terrified of the flight. I was still in semi-official capacity on the plane and I spent the next seven hours consoling her, reassuring her and being a prayerful support in her time of need, and I think I needed that as much as she did.
Where was God in all this? It’s easy for us to point the finger at Him when horrible things happen. I grew up in London in the 70’s where you would hear IRA car bombs going off not far from where I lived, you would go to school and worry whether you would get blown up on the way. Where is God in all that? Did he fly the planes into the buildings? Did he set the bombs in London? No.
God did not create evil or evil doers Gen 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (ESV), he created all that is good in the world with love but he also gave us choice and free will. We can choose to accept his love and act accordingly or to reject love. In Romans 8:28 God tells us that He works for the good of those who love Him, which for me shows that God was there with us alright. He was working through the rescue teams, the fire fighters and police, the compassionate, the strong and the ordinary. Good works came from them, comforting, rebuilding, trusting and prayer. People were brought together despite the vile acts meant to separate us, but Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (ESV)
So where was God in this? He was there and he is at work Rev 21:5 “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (ESV). We are still a work in progress and while we call on God to ask where is he when horrible things happen he says he is coming when the time is right and Rev 21:4 “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.” (ESV)
At the site of the World Trade Centre now stands a memorial to all who died there, including their names carved thereon. I have not been back to America since that terrible day but I would like to return and visit the memorial to pay my respects to those there. The memorial is a fitting thing as these events and the people involved should never be forgotten.
I myself could have been a name on that memorial for I was due to be in the World Trade Centre on that morning. I was due to meet my brother there, who lives and works in Kentucky, as we had not seen each other for some years, but for a few reasons we put off the meet-up. I thank God regularly for that.
Prayer: Almighty God. You have promised us that in this world we shall see trouble, suffering and strife, but we thank you that you are there to help us through it and to see the future promise of your kingdom. “Blessed are the peace makers” are your words and so we pray for those who work and strive for peace and love, unity and protection. We pray the hardest prayer of all that you commanded “to love our enemies and pray for them” (Matt 5:44) in order to let love overcome hate. Amen
This week, our part of the world is experiencing another major hurricane that has devastated parts of the Caribbean and is on it’s way to Florida. My friends on the West Coast of the US are experiencing massive forest fires caused by the extreme heat of the summer. And last night a major earthquake hit the coast of Mexico! When you add all of this to political unrest, bombings and terrorism, IT IS A LOT! And thanks to social media and 24 hour news, we get all of this thrown at us ALL THE TIME! We need to be reminded that God is not far off, God is still here and in the midst of this with us.
The image above is what I drew in response to the one of our journaling prompts at thinplaceNASHVILLE Sunday Night. The original journaling prompt was:
It’s been another stressful news week, the terrible flooding in Southern Texas and Louisiana, and even in Nashville. And then there is the news from N. Korea…
Take some time and process this with Jesus.
Allow Jesus to carry this for you.
The image below is one of my favorites created by my friend artist Scott Erickson.
Look at the two images. Take some time to ponder and consider them.
Invite Jesus to speak to you through these images.
Am I allowing Jesus to hold all of the stuff? Or am I trying to control or fix it? or am I just being overwhelmed by it all? Talk to Jesus about where you are and how you are feeling.
Allow Jesus to CARRY the stuff and the craziness for you!
Allow Jesus to HOLD the stress, and the fear, the hatred and the anxiety.
Draw your own image, or find one in a magazine or on line that will help you remember that God is holding all things together.
Lord God we are overwhelmed by the devastation and the abundance of suffering.
Help us to Love Anyway.
We are living in uncertain times that we cannot control.
Help us to trust you and remember that you are in charge not us!
Help us to seek you Anyway.
Help us to let go and let you carry our fear and our anxiety.
In the midst of it all, help us to Love Anyway.
Help us to serve anyway.
Help us to start small and and start with love!
One day at a time. One moment at a time. In your name! AMEN
(Prayer inspired by Mother Teresa’s quote)
Today’s prayer by Thomas A Kempis is another that I like to repost as I contemplate my journey towards the love of God. Then watch the video below and take time to reflect on Thomas A Kempis words on love. What does the love of God mean for you and the way you live your life?
By Trevor Horn —
Two weeks ago we welcomed into the world our second son, Abram Lynn Horn. Words cannot fully describe how this little one has changed our lives in such a short time and I am not sure any parent fully has the words when a new little one comes into this world but I will do my best to give it a shot.
Days before Abram was born it finally hit me that we were having a baby. I know this may sound dumb, but those who know me know that I am extremely focused and move quickly when making transitions. So days before I finally had the space after months of intense work and the mind to finally start to prepare. And all sorts of questions started to jump into my head but one main one….how will I have the capacity to love two kids as much as I did one? The math in my head didn’t seem to add up as at times I felt like one was a lot to love but I left the matter until we met little Abram for the first time.
The day of the birth (Sunday, August 6th) came and we woke up with a mix of nervousness and excitement. In a weird way it felt like the feeling before the first game of a new football season as you can imagine all of the good and bad possibilities this season could go. Yet the second baby was different then the first. We had been here before and done this before but under much different circumstances. Our first baby (Ephraim) had come after a long 48 hour labor process and an unplanned c-section. Abram had been on the calendar for weeks as a scheduled c-section and we knew what to expect going in with him.
Finally the decisive moment had come as Hilary laid on the operating table awaiting our little one’s arrival into the world. Rather quickly they made quick work and Abram was with us. I remember when the nurse asked me, “Would you like to hold him dad?” With all the excitement and nervousness I held little Abram in my arms for the first time. And that question how can I love two babies the same melted away as I realized that I absolutely couldn’t. Abram was completely and totally different than his older brother and in no way could I love them the same. It hit me me as I looked upon his little hands and feet that this love would be a new love, a different love with different challenges and difficulties but still love nonetheless emanating from the goodness of God, our creator and sustainer.
So, no I cannot love Ephraim and Abram the same because they are two completely different people but God in his goodness has helped me a find a new stream of love that will daily overflow to help me to love Abram in a unique and wholly different way. With this I have found solace in David’s reflection in Psalm 139:
“13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.”
Trevor Horn is the lead pastor of Kardia Church, a new faith community in urban Seattle. His main roles are as a visionary, communicator, bible teacher and disciple-maker. He is equally sought after to teach on the main stage from megachurches to church plants as well as teaching in classroom settings. Through his ministry experiences he has had the opportunity to pioneer in several new church starts and ministries in various contexts from the inner city, suburban, country and urban environments. He is close to graduation with a Master’s degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary. Trevor also holds two bachelors degrees from the University of Puget Sound in Business & Leadership and Religious Studies. You kind find out more about Trevor and his family, here.
This prayer is one that I always like to repost when facilitating a series about the love of God. Recognizing the depth of God’s love as it is expressed in the story of Jesus as he plays with kids, celebrates with friends and weeps over the broken, falling in love with this God whose love has no limits, really does change everything in a way that totally transforms our lives. And it very definitely transforms hate into love.
The prayer is attributed to Father Pedro Arrupe (1903- 1991) from the Basque region of Spain who became the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus. I was first given this prayer on a card several years ago but have recently also come across it on Ignatian Spirituality.com
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is,
than falling in love in a quite absolute final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekend,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love,
stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
For Labor Day this year, I invite you to ponder the pattern of your life – looking at the hours you spend doing things – and the ways you pray for the various components of the pattern. I’ll use my own life as an example of what I’m inviting you to do.
Each week has 168 hours, and I sleep an average of 8 hours a night. I wake up really slowly, and of course I do things to get ready for bed. So I’m going to allow about 9.5 hours per day for sleep and the activities that surround sleep. That’s 66.5 hours, the biggest allotment of hours in my week.
Illustration by Dave Baab
I work about 35 hours per week on paid work and volunteer work. I work from home, so I don’t have commuting time like so many people do.
My husband and I babysit our granddaughter one afternoon each week for about 5 hours. Plus we host a weekly dinner for our kids and granddaughter. I usually do the cooking for that dinner. That dinner takes up about 5 hours per week total, so I spend about 10 hours a week with our kids and granddaughter.
I work from home, and my husband and I don’t eat out too often, so I plan and prepare 6 or 7 lunches and dinners each week, including a lot of leftovers. Leaving out the cooking time for the family dinner, I estimate I spend 6 hours per week shopping for food and preparing meals. But I don’t do any dishes! My husband and I eat those lunches and dinners together, which totals maybe 8 hours a week.
Here are my totals so far:
sleeping – 66.5 hours
work – 35 hours
kids and granddaughter – 10 hours
preparing and eating meals – 8 hours
That’s only 119.5 out of 168 hours in the week. That leaves 48.5 hours for exercise, time with friends, conversations with my husband, my women’s prayer group, church, household tasks, prayer times, lots of reading, and other miscellaneous things.
I’ve been comparing how I spend the hours of the week with how I spend my time praying. I read the news for 30 minutes or less every day, which represents only 3.5 hours per week, 2% of the time in the week. Yet my prayers for things happening in the world occupy much more than 2% of the things I pray for. Is that good? In my view, yes, for sure.
My kids and granddaughter occupy roughly 10 hours per week, 6% of my week. They occupy more than 10% of my prayer time. Again, that seems very right.
For me, work takes up 21% of my time. For many people, that figure would be much higher, when taking into account commuting, emails after work hours, and thinking about strategies for work when not working. I suspect that for most people, work is underrepresented in their prayer times. Yet many of us spend more time working than anything else we do except sleeping.
If you’d like to pray for your work more systematically, here are some ideas:
- God’s help on a daily basis. “Help me” prayers are my most common form of prayers for my work. I often ask for guidance.
- People. God is always concerned about relationships. We can pray for many aspects of relationships at work, both for our relationship with others, and for their well being.
- Tasks. Many specific tasks at work are worthy of prayer. We can ask that the tasks we do would serve God and people.
- Fruit. One of my favorite words is “fruitfulness,” the notion that our job is to stay grounded in God, and God will bring fruit from what we do. Fruit is long term, and we can pray for long term good things to come from our work.
- Placement. Am I in the right place in my work? Should I look for another job?
- Thankfulness. Don’t forget to thank God for the aspects of your work that you enjoy, and for the fruit that you can see.
These areas of prayer work well as we pray for others in their work life as well. For Labor Day this year, I encourage you to think creatively about how you pray for your work and for the work of the people you love.
For Labor Day this year, I invite you to ponder the pattern of your life – looking at the hours you spend doing things – and the ways you pray for the various components of the pattern. I’ll use my own life as an example of what I’m inviting you to do.
Each week has 168 hours, and I sleep an average of 8 hours a night. I wake up really slowly, and of course I do things to get ready for bed. So I’m going to allow about 9.5 hours per day for sleep and the activities that surround sleep. That’s 66.5 hours, the biggest allotment of hours in my week.
Illustration by Dave Baab
I work about 35 hours per week on paid work and volunteer work. I work from home, so I don’t have commuting time like so many people do.
My husband and I babysit our granddaughter one afternoon each week for about 5 hours. Plus we host a weekly dinner for our kids and granddaughter. I usually do the cooking for that dinner. That dinner takes up about 5 hours per week total, so I spend about 10 hours a week with our kids and granddaughter.
I work from home, and my husband and I don’t eat out too often, so I plan and prepare 6 or 7 lunches and dinners each week, including a lot of leftovers. Leaving out the cooking time for the family dinner, I estimate I spend 6 hours per week shopping for food and preparing meals. But I don’t do any dishes! My husband and I eat those lunches and dinners together, which totals maybe 8 hours a week.
Here are my totals so far:
sleeping – 66.5 hours
work – 35 hours
kids and granddaughter – 10 hours
preparing and eating meals – 8 hours
That’s only 119.5 out of 168 hours in the week. That leaves 48.5 hours for exercise, time with friends, conversations with my husband, my women’s prayer group, church, household tasks, prayer times, lots of reading, and other miscellaneous things.
I’ve been comparing how I spend the hours of the week with how I spend my time praying. I read the news for 30 minutes or less every day, which represents only 3.5 hours per week, 2% of the time in the week. Yet my prayers for things happening in the world occupy much more than 2% of the things I pray for. Is that good? In my view, yes, for sure.
My kids and granddaughter occupy roughly 10 hours per week, 6% of my week. They occupy more than 10% of my prayer time. Again, that seems very right.
For me, work takes up 21% of my time. For many people, that figure would be much higher, when taking into account commuting, emails after work hours, and thinking about strategies for work when not working. I suspect that for most people, work is underrepresented in their prayer times. Yet many of us spend more time working than anything else we do except sleeping.
If you’d like to pray for your work more systematically, here are some ideas:
- God’s help on a daily basis. “Help me” prayers are my most common form of prayers for my work. I often ask for guidance.
- People. God is always concerned about relationships. We can pray for many aspects of relationships at work, both for our relationship with others, and for their well being.
- Tasks. Many specific tasks at work are worthy of prayer. We can ask that the tasks we do would serve God and people.
- Fruit. One of my favorite words is “fruitfulness,” the notion that our job is to stay grounded in God, and God will bring fruit from what we do. Fruit is long term, and we can pray for long term good things to come from our work.
- Placement. Am I in the right place in my work? Should I look for another job?
- Thankfulness. Don’t forget to thank God for the aspects of your work that you enjoy, and for the fruit that you can see.
These areas of prayer work well as we pray for others in their work life as well. For Labor Day this year, I encourage you to think creatively about how you pray for your work and for the work of the people you love.
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