Leckband Cornhusker State Blog

9/11

I probably don't need to remind you that today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Here are some of my thoughts.

* I was serving as head administrator at Lutheran High Northeast in Norfolk, NE. I was in the car, returning from a visit to one of the area Lutheran elementary schools. When I got back to school, there was a crowd of students & teachers in the library, watching the events unfolding on t.v. The videos & narratives were horrific.

* Certain events tend to define a generation. Pearl Harbor, Kennedy's assassination, the Challenger disaster, 9/11.

* The next day I went to the Red Cross for my regularly-scheduled blood donation. The place was jammed with people. I had never seen anything like it. I was told there would be a 2-hour wait to donate, so I made an appointment for the next week & left.

* The newspapers I read--the Omaha World Herald & Norfolk Daily News--have been printing many stories about 9/11. As I was reading people's reminiscences of 9/11 in the OWH this morning, I found myself getting choked up.

* I wonder if the recent events in Afghanistan will lead to renew threats of terrorism, not just in our country but in others, as well.

* This catastrophe brought Americans together. In the 20 years since, for many reasons, we are a sharply divided nation. Will it take another tragedy like 9/11 to bring us back together?

* Some of my content today may seem inappropriate, but I had previously put it in, so I'm going to stick with it.

ORPHAN GRAIN TRAIN

Many of you know that I work for OGT, an organization that ships relief supplies internationally & domestically. Mostly I write devotions, but I help with some other tasks, too. This past THU & FRI we had our annual mtg, which gathers together Board members & volunteers from our branches & collection centers. Last year's mtg was cancelled, due to COVID. This year we cancelled our biennial convention, also due to COVID. Attendance at this year's mtg was spare, also, you guessed it, due to COVID. One of the things we do at supper on THU night is to recognize our volunteers & give them an opportunity to share. I heard inspiring stories of the great things being accomplished at our Norfolk warehouse, branches & collection centers. It's very inspiring, also humbling. I am most thankful for these people, & I am most thankful that God has given me the opportunity to serve in this ministry.

WHAT I'M READING

I'm still into trivia. Soon I'll begin reading tour guides in preparation for our road trip out West in OCT. I finished reading "Uncle John's True Crime: A Classic Collection of Crooks, Cops, & Capers." I started reading "Uncle John's Weird Weird World: Who, Where, When, & How." NOTICE! Uncle John is NOT Lois' little brother John, just in case you were wondering.

ROAD TRIP

Lois left for FL yesterday. She & her brother David are helping her sister Kathy, who lives in St. Petersburg, move into her new condo. [She recently sold her house.] Lois had quite a day. Her flight out of Omaha was moved back, leaving not enough time for her to catch her connecting flight to Chicago Midway. Then her flight out of Omaha was delayed again. Fortunately, she was able to book another flight out of Chicago, but she didn't get into Tampa until 10:30. She has an abscessed tooth, & wasn't able to get her root canal done before leaving town. The change of cabin pressure in the plane proved excrutiating. At least she made it to Kathy's. When we left Norfolk yesterday morning, there was some question as to whether she would even make it there yesterday. She's returning next FRI.

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CALIFORNIA . . .

"Elder egged by woman in monkey mask." Drudge Report, 9/9

. . . TEXAS

Red states eye TX abortion law as new model." Drudge, 9/9

"With no abortions or voter fraud, bored TX Democrats left with nothing to do all day." Babylon Bee

AFGHANISTAN

"Triumphant Taliban start putting policies into practice." Drudge, 9/9

"CDC says a new COVID variant may be needed to effectively bury Afghanistan news." Babylon Bee

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Woman was late for flight. So she told airline workers there was bomb on plane." Drudge, 9/9

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING *

* Courtesy of Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

> Me, as a kid: Hey, I have that toy! Me, as an adult: "Hey, I'm on that medication.

> Sick of having to go to two different huts to buy pizza & sunglasses.

> Honestly officer, I wouldn't have pulled over had I known you were just going to criticize me.

ROUGH SEAS

"Oh, the times we live in. We're not the first to say that. Others said it during World War I, the Spanish flu, the Great Depression, World War II, polio, Korea, the fight for civil rights, the quagmire of Vietnam & the horror of Sept. 11. We personalize upheaval & uncertainty as unique to us & our times, but upheaval & uncertainty have always been part of life & history.

"There's a saying: 'A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.' Some say it is an old English proverb. Others attribute it to Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose four-term presidency spanned the Great Depression & Word War II. The man knew a thing or two about rough waters.

"Smooth sailing doesn't reveal what we are made of. It's when the waves crash, the wind screams, & the night is long that we learn what we're made of." Column by Lori Borgman, Norfolk Daily News, 9/7