Remembering the Sound at Ground Zero
Habakkuk 2:1
“I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And how I may reply when I am reprimanded.”
Today we mark the 24th Anniversary of 9/11, and on this day it’s appropriate to share this riveting account written by one of the Ground Zero chaplains, Jim Jenkins. In his book, From Rubble to Redemption,* he has included this haunting reflection from the first days of the tragedy which is entitled,
The Sound
“I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen as the news coverage opened a 24-hour window into everything that took place at Ground Zero. And there was that eerie sound that continued throughout the coverage.
What is it?
It reminds me of something, yet I can’t quite place it.
It sounded like the smoke alarm in your house when there is a power outage. It also sounded a lot like crickets on a sultry summer night. Commentators on that early aerial footage at Ground Zero call it “chirping.” As it turned out, what I saw that first night on TV and—more to the point—when I heard, was the sound of firefighters buried in the rubble.
Firefighters wear a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) device that sounds an alarm to notify others when they are in trouble. If the firefighter in question still has the ability, they can trigger it themselves. But the alarm can also be triggered automatically when a firefighter has not moved for a certain amount of time.
That haunting sound from the pile as I watched news coverage was the chirping of PASS alarms from 300 heroic souls who were trapped.
They are alone…
They are unable to move…
Their supply of oxygen is running out…
Twenty (one) years after the 9/11 attacks, there is another type of rubble and a whole lot of noise taking place in our nation. But, still, if you listen carefully, there are other sounds. Warning sounds. Distress calls.
We must not become accustomed to rubble; reconciled with ruin. There are clear warning signs in history as well as prophetic warnings of impending disaster.
We ignore the chirps at our peril. “
Father in heaven, how could it be that we are twenty-four years beyond that horrible day, and yet we have learned so little? We promised to “never forget” and yet as a nation we have done just that. Please, O God, forgive our indifference, our lack of diligence, our forgetfulness to remember the lessons from that day. Just as surely as those brave souls who wore the alarm devices needed rescuing, we, too, need rescuing. Let us not ignore the signals You are sending. Hear our prayer, dear Lord. In Your name and for Your sake we ask. Amen
As a devoted Christ-follower, Marsha has walked this twisting, winding, bumpy road called life, giving her many opportunities to serve Him. Besides owning and managing a Tea business for twenty-two years, her focus has been to minister to women as a leader, teacher, mentor and public speaker.
At this point in her life, she has a great sense of urgency to share the love of Christ with men and women from all walks of life through the written word. She has been married for 56 years and is the mother of two married daughters and grandmother of four.
You can contact her through her Devotions For All Reasons Facebook page, the website of the same name, as well as: Tea For All Reasons, Food For All Reasons (both shared with her daughter, Jen) and England For All Reasons, shared with her husband, Jake
Image by DEEPAI
Ground Zero….. haunting and unmistakable the call in this our Nation today. To view this as a Christian it runs chills up my spine and an arrow into my heart.
My wife and I both read this account… we remember…. We also remember to keep oil in our lamps… Jesus Christ is coming and there are no free passes…. God bless America and God bless our wonderful heros.