It was 2003 when Gerald (my husband & Infinitely More partner) found himself sitting in a greasy spoon with friends in New Jersey. Over platters of bacon and eggs, talk turned to the events of September 11th. Only a few years had passed and the topic was still heated. Some raised political issues, others talked terrorism. The temperature of the conversation got more and more heated until one man finally said,
"You don't know. You weren't there."
The table went silent.
Gerald asked, "What do you mean?"
The man began to tell his story. He was a fire fighter by trade. He and his comrades were some of the first on the scene. They spent days digging through broken metal and mountains of rumble, praying for survivors and never finding enough.
He spoke about the dust in the air, how it was thick and blocked out the light. And then he said, "Here we were in the middle of downtown New York City, and it was so quiet. But you could hear them."
"Hear who?"
"The angels. You could hear the angels collecting the souls."
One of the great privileges we have as artists is sharing the stories of other people. Gerald kept this story close, and after a few years of gentling holding and praying over it, he put it into a song.
"Angels in the Dust"
Today, we remember all the stories that came from that day. We remember those who are still feeling pain, grief, or fear. And we remember each soul collected by the angels...
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2 comments:
9/11 is our generation's "I remember where I was when..." moment.
Absolutely. Over 1/3 of the world watched the events on TV and the web on that day. A defining moment for so many lives.
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