“Where were you when the world stopped turning…”

There are events that have occurred throughout history that are so shocking, so life-changing that you can remember exactly where you were when you heard about them.  Bombing of Pearl Harbor, JFK’s assassination, and fall of the Berlin Wall are examples of these kind of historic events.  Of course, September 11, 2001 is one of those historic days that are seared into our memories.

The title of this post comes from a song performed by Alan Jackson shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and is a question that comes up every September 11: “Where were you when you heard about the Twin Towers?” We want to share how we found out, how it changed our lives for good or bad, and how it’s affected us to this day. It’s good to stop and reflect on that day, to remember where we were and to remember those who died on that tragic day.

September 11, 2001 was a typical day in my second year of college studies at Mount Angel Seminary.  One of the dorms on campus was being remodeled, so the college seminarians were living in a dormitory in the town of Mount Angel that was originally built as part of a girls’ school. The girls’ school had closed many years before, and the building was used as both transient housing and storage. The Benedictine Sisters who owned the building remodeled and rented out the top floor to the college seminary so that we would have a place to live while the dormitory on campus was going through its remodel.

Since we lived off campus, every morning started with a drive through town and up “the Hill”.  Of course, this was only about a 5-10 minute drive, but was less convenient than actually living on campus and walking to Mass or classes. On Sept. 11, I woke up, as usual, and got ready for the day. With all my books and stuff needed for the day in hand, I hopped in my truck and headed to the seminary campus.

My radio was usually tuned to the Catholic radio station in the Portland, OR area, and this morning was no exception. The announcers kept talking about some big event that just occurred in New York City and we needed to pray, but they weren’t being specific. They just kept encouraging prayer for those affected. After a few minutes, my curiosity was getting the better of me, and I needed to find out what happened. I switched over to one of Portland’s talk radio stations as I started driving up the road that snakes up the hill to campus. About half-way up the hill, I heard about the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. To this day, I can still see exactly where on the road I was when the announcement came across. Pulling into the parking lot, I rushed to the student recreation hall and saw the images for the first time. I arrived in the rec hall about 7:15 AM Pacific Time, just between the collapse of the two towers. According to Wikipedia, Tower 2 collapsed at 9:59 AM Eastern (6:59 AM Pacific), with Tower 1 collapsing at 10:28 AM, 30 minutes later.

Over the next week or so, the seminary had several organized prayer events for the victims of the attacks, and many seminarians spent much time in the chapels on campus praying. Like much of the country, we responded by turning to God to pray for the souls of the deceased and their families, and to pray for consolation for ourselves.

Some might wonder why we would dwell on an event like this. Is this a kind of perverse nostalgia, living in the past focusing on a terrible event? I would answer that question in the negative, and even assert that it is important to remember those who have died, even 9 years later. Families are still dealing with the losses of their loved ones, and we need to remember those who gave their lives to save others. Likewise, we need to remember that there are those who would do such attacks on this country again, and again, and again. The second we stop remembering, we open ourselves up to those attacks.

Is this to say we can’t criticize the response to the attacks? No. There may very well be much that should have been done differently, but there also was much that was done right. We need to remember those who acted with bravery and those actions that were good responses, while correcting those actions that may have caused more harm.

We need to remember. “Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September day?”