Most likely you'll read articles about that day. You'll see television shows remembering the victims. Someone might ask you if you remember what you were doing that day. Maybe the subject comes up at work during lunch.
I have one special memory from 9-11. There have been articles written about it. Movies made. That memory is of The Falling Man.
Taken at 9:41 am, a man dressed in dark pants and a light-colored jacket freed himself from a hopeless situation. The Associated Press photographer took 12 photos, as he tumbled through the sky. Knee bent, arms to his sides. Over and over, watching the world spinning as he went down.
To this day, there's no factual information on who it actually was. Many believe it was Jonathan Brinley, a 43 year old employee of the Windows on the World restaurant. No one can be sure, but several people described his clothing that day as a match. Others said it was Norberto Hernandez, but no one is positive.
To me, it doesn't matter who the Falling Man may have been in life. He represents the very thing that makes America great: free will. He died as he lived, on his own terms. Not bound by rules, not held back by convention, he chose to use his free will and make that leap into the sky. He knew the outcome, but it was acceptable, given the alternative. I can't judge him for taking his own life, he had every right to end things any way he chose. He saw freedom, he reached out and grabbed it.
On that beautiful autumn day, where the sky was brilliant blue and you could see forever, even when everything around him was on fire and there was no escape, the Falling Man did the one thing he could. He exercised his God-given right of free will, and leaped to his fate. He played the last card in his deck, instead of waiting 45 minutes for the North Tower to fall. He had no good choices, but he chose for himself.
A quote someone shared with me last year came to mind while I was thinking what to write for today.
"When you fall, God does one of two things: He either catches you, or teaches you to fly."
The Falling Man took that one step further. He chose to fall. By his own actions, he reached deep inside his own soul and asked God "bend me to thy will." He trusted God in his last moments, by writing his own ending. The only question remains is did God catch him, or teach him to fly. Private moments like that are between a man and his Maker. Either way, the Falling Man won.
Faith teaches us to turn things over to God. He is a much better decision maker than any human who has walked the Earth. He trusts us to listen to him. Even when things are at their worst, we can trust in Him. We just have to make that leap. He will catch us. Or teach us to fly.
You can do it too. Let yourself fall. See what His plan is for you. Free will gives you that ability. Go ahead. Try it.
I did. And I was sure up until a few weeks ago that He caught me. I was wrong. He taught me to fly.
Want me to teach you? Today's the day. Let's get started.
While we still have time....
Thank you. All in, Neets.
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