The Only Things Worth Living for are Innocence and Magic

One of the greatest struggles for any Christian is the day in/day out remembrance that we are living as part of something that is not of this world. Yesterday morning as I sat in church and the communion trays were passed down the aisles, everything began to move in slow motion. I remembered why that time is so special.

It is the time each week when I am forced to remember that as I take the body and blood, I am taking in Christ. The early Christians were accused of being cannibals because they ate flesh and drank blood. Yesterday I was reminded that as I take in the life of Christ a small part of me is lost and I gain part of his life.

I cannot believe it has been 5 years. I was walking in from band practice at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Mr. Whitley said that there was some kind of national emergency and they would tell us more about in our second period class. As I walked down the hall, it was the most deafening silence that I had ever heard at Whitehouse High School. No one was talking. Everyone walked around as if they could not believe what they had seen.

As I walked into Mrs. Butler's classroom, all eyes were turned toward the TV. There was smoke pouring out of one of the towers and everyone knew that something had gone terribly wrong. I do not think I will ever see anything as visually unbelievable as the sight of the towers coming down in an apocalyptic cloud of dust, concrete, and glass.

We sat at dinner that night and watched the talking heads attempt to do what no of us could do. How can you describe that kind of loss? How do you begin to paint a picture of that much pain? You cannot. There are no words. As I went to bed that night, I knew that something was different in the world. My children and their children will know what it is like to always wonder if it could happen again. I cannot believe it has been 5 years.