The Little Chapel That Stood

"We raised up the flag from the dust and the pain.

Freedom that's lost must be won again."

The two good giants fell on that grave day in September, eleven years ago.  People died.  Rescuers saved lives, and some of the rescuers gave their lives.  My son's friend lost his dad at the age of three.  We do not know why God allows evil people to commit such atrocities in this life, but we know that, just as He controlled Leviathan and Behemoth in the ancient story of Job (Job 40-41), He has put a limit on evil's power in this world.  The border that the devastation could not cross on the 11th of September, 2001, was the unassuming little Chapel of St. Paul, located behind the Twin Towers in New York City.  The blast left rubble in a huge wake and tore the tree adjacent to the Chapel out of the ground by its roots (as is memorialized in the sculpture below), but the building itself was not affected.  

Throughout the day, rescue workers hung their gear on the fence around the little Chapel.  Some never returned to pick it up.  It was a little bit of solace on that day, a reminder that God is still in control.

I never heard anything about the Chapel of St. Paul in the media, and I did not know anything about this story until I saw the chapel when I went to New York several years after the tragedy.  I was awestruck by the simple story and the simple building.  I told my children the story every year.

Last year I found a beautiful picture book that illustrated my sentiments.  The Little Chapel That Stood, by A.B. Curtiss, is a lovely testament to the chapel, to those who lost their lives that day, to the strength of the survivors, and to faith.  It can be ordered from http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Chapel-that-Stood/dp/0932529771, or you may see it online (free) at http://www.abcurtiss.com/graphics/books2/l_chapel/little_chapel1.htm.

If you are like me and have children, pre-teens, or young teens who do not remember the day that changed their history, and you have been looking for a book to help them understand, please take a look at this poem/story of tragedy and hope.

Remember.