“The fire in the North tower is under control – go back to your desks.”
The fateful words spoken to the people in the South tower on 9/11.
On the same day, at the exact same time in London, I was on a 13th floor of a high rise building and after seeing the news feed saying that the US was having multiple attacks, we were told in no uncertain terms by our company bosses, that we were safe and that under no circumstances were we to leave the tower we were in (note, that at this time the drama had just begun we were all under the impression that perhaps the whole world – or at least the main centres of commerce may all be under attack simultaneously so I’d love to know which member of the British Embassy called them and told them we were safe in London).
What happened next stunned me. Despite my immediate boss’s wife calling him and telling him to get out of the tower we were in “NOW”, not a single person in our large open plan office – nor people on the other floors showed any signs of wanting to move to a safe area in the building – let alone get outside – none made a move for the exit, except that is – me. Oh, and the guy on the opposite site of the table that I convinced to be safe than sorry and come with me which he did rather reluctantly, but of course he was pretty pleased with himself when he got outside and realised he was not at risk at least for the time being.
I confess that standing outside the huge building – on my own with my friend, I looked up and felt a mixture of emotions; first slightly silly for being the only person out there – surely I was paranoid right?.. but second and more importantly – extremely please that I was a Christian, and that I had learned from The Bible that when push comes to shove, not to head men but what the still small voice is saying. Granted, the tower I was in was not bombed, but the whole episode taught me something about people, disasters and survival.
I have since read that a study on people who survive disasters (and this is somewhat obvious and I’m not sure why a study was needed, but it keeps people in work I guess) shows that the ones most likely to survive are those that think independently, those who are not worried about pier pressure, those that understand that men are not always totally honest about what they know and their motives for saying x may not be as good as you’d like – just as the people who commanded the intercom attendants to deliver the message to the people in the South Tower were more interested in keeping their financial machines running rather than the safety of the people in the building. Lastly, the people that survive disasters are those that check out where the exists are, plan in their mind what they will do in the event of a disaster etc – pretty much what the Bible tells us to do in every day life – Jesus being the spiritual and often physical exit we must take.
Therefore I would urge you Christians, when you see the current US legislation or any other wrong ideology being forced on all of us – I don’t need to mention what it is but you know what I’m talking about – think for yourself and do not worry about what men think of you – your life is ultimately at stake and dependent on what you show your allegiance to. Do not align yourself with people, organisations or ideas that call good evil and evil good – don’t be a sheeple and follow the people – be a real sheep and follow the shepherd!
I love God, Christ, The Bible. art, painting, playing music, improvising music, guitar (first instrument), drumming (not very good at it:), and anything musical or art related. Quick note – my articles are usually spun off in minutes so forgive any errors – hopefully you get the essence of the article and I’ll pick up mistakes later. If you want to write of 101ChristianMagazine and inspire and edify Christians with articles on faith, general news, hobbies or anything that interests you email me at: epgb101@gmail.com:)
