One of my most indelible memories from September 11 is the long walk from the downtown Manhattan office building where my company is located back to my apartment on the Upper East Side. I left the office that afternoon with several co-workers; each of us was at once both overwhelmed and numbed by what we saw around us. It had been several hours since the attacks on the World Trade Center had occurred. The sun was shining, in contrast to earlier that day when we looked out the window from our desks on the 26th floor and saw the sky darken. The ground was covered with a layer of chalk-like soot and the air had a sickening smoky, burnt smell. We had created makeshift gas masks before walking outside, by cutting up old t-shirts and running them under water before tying them around our necks, but they failed to mask the charred taste in each breath.

All cars and public transportation had been cut off in the area, so we were making our journey on foot. The only passage out of the area was along the easternmost edge of Manhattan. For the first portion of our trek, I had just kept my head down, not turning from the direction where we headed. As we walked along a street called Bowery, where the Financial District turns into Chinatown, I allowed myself to pause and look around. Though I had walked through this area many times before, it seemed like an alien land. There were no cars in sight, various streets had been blocked off; and police were directing people as to where they could walk. As I turned around, where the Twin Towers had been a permanent fixture in the landscape, there was now only smoke. Involuntarily, I shuddered; then turned and forced myself to continue walking uptown. Along the way, different co-workers parted ways, heading to their residences in different parts of the city; I lived the furthest uptown, and continued to walk, for about 45 minutes, until I found a bus which had started to run which headed in my direction.

As I sank into my seat, thoughts which had been blocked out until then began to flood my mind. Though I had long prided myself in being a “tough New Yorker&148; there was a sense of fear within me. What was going to happen? Were there other attacks waiting to happen? Was our country going to war? In everything that has transpired, it is a natural human reaction to be apprehensive about what could yet happen. The Bible says in I John 4:18a, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” This perfect love is God's love for us.

How can we be reassured by the love of God? The answer is in verses 14 and 15 of that chapter, “And we have beheld and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.” You just need to pray the following prayer,

“Dear God, I want to escape from the fear of this world.
I need to experience your perfect love for me;
I confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and accept Him
as my personal Savior. I pray that you would abide in me, and I in you.”