Where Were You?, Part 1

With the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks just a couple of days away, I've been reflecting on where I was when the attacks were carried out, and what has happened in the five years since. I was a senior in college at the time, and had just gotten up on a Tuesday morning, having no early class. I remember turning on the tv and seeing video of the twin towers, one of them with smoke billowing off it. I had no idea what was going on, so I kept watching. As I listened to the anchors speculate on what was happening, we soon watched the second plane crash into the second tower. Instantly, any thoughts of the first crash being an accident evaporated. We knew we had been attacked.

One of the "where were you?" stories that stood out to me was that of Steven Curtis Chapman. Steven, his wife Mary Beth, and their 2-year-old daughter Shaohannah were in Washington, D.C. that morning. They were about to receive some recognition for their work in adoption, and planned on meeting with President Bush either later that day or the following day. LifeWay's ParentLife magazine shared this article about the Chapmans' experience that day.

Steven shared how the day had affected them:

A dark cloud of gloom and doom had settled over our hearts,” Steven admits. “Especially me, which is unusual; I’m always finding the good in things. Mary Beth compared the fight against terrorism to one against cancer. Will it resurface?”

The wisdom of close friends helped break through the heaviness. “I feel like God used them to throw a bucket of cold water in my face. ‘Wait a minute, where is your confidence? Is your confidence in your nation, your ability to know that your family is safe, or your ability to control all that? You wrote this song that says, God is God and I am not. Do you really believe that?’

“There is a verse that says, ‘Do not throw away your confidence,’ (Hebrews 10:35 NAS). I realized that is what I had done, because I was confronted with things out of my control.

“It made me realize how focused into my own life I could be. If we don’t see with an eternal perspective, then it is hopeless. With all the dangers in the world, you can begin to think there’s not a safe place. Then you realize…it’s called the grace of God. That’s the only safe place.”

BP News carries a similar account of the Chapmans' story here.

Later that year, the Chapmans found themselves back at the White House, and Steven had the opportunity to speak and perform before President Bush and others. Chapman performed his song "God is God," which contains the following lyrics:

And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don’t know

And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part
Of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder
And I’m filled with awe and wonder
‘Til the only burning question that remains
Is who am I?

Can I form a single mountain?
Take the stars in hand and count them?
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me?
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part
Of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge
How unsearchable
For to Him and through Him and from Him are all things

So let us worship before the throne
Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part
Of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all
For only God is God

Courtesy of one of my favorite websites, YouTube, here is Chapman's performance that day at the White House: