By Ken Hanson
Our country changed September Eleven,
Right there for the whole world to see,
Our way of life had a wake up call,
It’ll never again be the way it used to be.
If those words sound familiar it’s because they began,
A poem I wrote years ago,
A tragic event in our beloved country,
A date that we all know.
Ten years later and we still hurt,
So many people we lost that day,
We grieve and move on as best we can,
But the pain will never go away.
Our innocence was lost early that morning,
We now know how vulnerable we are,
The terrorists got the upper hand that day,
Their worst attack on our soil by far.
When the towers fell and lives were lost,
We immediately became aware,
Just how important salvation is,
As the cries of the injured filled the air.
Some might say there’s plenty of time,
I’ll make that decision some other day,
How could they have possibly known,
American Flight Eleven was minutes away.
I prayed that everyone that died that day,
Knew The Lord and was saved long ago,
But some people are good procrastinators,
You just knew in your heart is wasn’t so.
When you’re a born again Christian,
In time, you’ll see those who are saved again,
But knowing some were inevitably lost,
I grieve even more for them.
It’s our job as servants of The Lord,
To help save as many as we can,
It cuts deep when we’re not in time,
And we lose even one woman or man.
About the only good thing that happened that day,
The towers were for commerce, children were spared,
Still, far too many lost one parent or both,
And were left alone and scared.
The most innocent victims did nothing wrong,
But their lives were shattered by evil men,
Terrorists don’t care who they kill,
They don’t consider it a sin.
When the dust finally settled, the dead were counted,
It became clear how many children were affected,
But New Yorkers stepped up and took care of their own,
Not a single child would be alone or neglected.
Aunts and uncles, grandparents and siblings,
All pitched in during this darkest of time,
Foster families made room in their lives,
Whatever it took so the children were fine.
Time goes by, memories fade,
You try to hold on to the people you knew,
But when you’re trying to get over the loss of a parent,
You can ask me and Dave, you never really do.
We’re all familiar with “Footprints In The Sand”,
Two sets, side by side, good days and bad ones too,
On our darkest days there’s only one set,
And The Lord said, “It was then that I carried you”.
For ten years now, small footprints in the sand,
So many children just trying to survive,
Some are them too young to understand,
Why their parents are not alive.
Long lines of footprints there in the sand,
Mostly two sets, quite often only one,
The burden these children live with,
Shouldn’t be carried by someone so young.
If I could speak to them, I would say,
Cling to The Father like the father you knew,
He will carry you as far as you need,
There is no end of his love for you.
When you are old enough to make the decision,
Give your soul to Jesus, live your life free of sin,
Honor the memory of your mother and father,
Be at peace knowing you will see them again.
To the procrastinators I would urge them,
Quit stalling, make your decision today,
It happened once, you never know,
When a plane might be headed your way.
