Help! Help! 911 Calling

Three years ago I was to teach a seminar on lay counseling at Regent University in Virginia Beach. My good friend Richard Kidd at Kempsville Presbyterian Church had invited me to do help him develop a pastoral care and counseling ministry and this was an opportunity to tell other about the latest in lay ministry.

Before the seminar began the Dean called us into his office and said, "Look at what just happened. An airplane crashed into the World Trade Center!" As I looked at the screen and all the chaos of fire and smoke I must admit that I became numb with shock. My brain shut down and I was speechless. I am sure I had that "deer in the headlights" expression so familiar to almost everyone who sees victims of shock and trauma.

We all trundled up to the second floor and attempted to open up a discussion about lay training but our hearts and minds were in New York City. After a few minutes one of the assistants came to our seminar room and announced that a second plane had hit the other tower. Shock turned into total disbelief.

Several years ago a female physician named Elsabeth Kubler-Ross began to work with dying patients. She noticed that each person seemed to go through a process of facing and dealing with their final days. She called these "The Stages of Grief" and they have become well-known to Americans as

DABDA: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

That first day I was in Denial. My mind and feelings were numb and my thoughts unbelieving. It seemed as though a film studio had captured the TV and was running a bad movie over and over. I was staying with John and LaRose Allman, a wonderful couple who have pastored hundreds of pastors and thousands of hurting individuals and we sat glued to the TV for almost three days.

On September 10 John, a retired Navy Commander, took me to the largest naval base in the world. I saw battleships, carriers, nuclear submarines and a flotilla of smaller ships, airplanes and thousands of naval personnel. Yet, in this non-conventional war, none of them could stop the terrorists for they hijacked innocents and attacked civilians in a way we never suspected.

My DENIAL continued for several days. It finally broke when Richard and I were playing golf. I was stuck in Virginia Beach because there were no airplanes flying. The air is normally filled with them around the Beach but for three days everything was on hold. As Richard and I walked along the fairway on a bright and beautiful day, I began to weep but didn't know exactly why. Then it hit me. I heard an airplane for the first time since the sneak attacks on America and my heart and brain were suddenly reconnected again.

Where were you on 911 when the world changed?