9-11

It feels weird that 25 years have passed since the terrorist attacks of September 11. On that day I was teaching 5th grade in Belchertown, Massachusetts. The principal, Mr. Millette, called all the classes to the gym for a special assembly and explained what had happened. It was mid-morning as I recall. Back in the classroom, I gave my perspective to the 10 year-olds in my care using the only framework I knew: that terrorists perform acts of violence to bring attention to their cause. We should expect, I said, to hear in the coming days who was responsible and what their agenda was. At that point we had no idea of the scope of the tragedy. This was before cell phones! As the day went on, a few parents came to get their kids out of school early. From one of them I learned that all air traffic was grounded. During my free period, I took my classroom radio to the teacher’s lounge and listened to the news reports from NPR. I left the radio playing so that other teachers could also be informed.

I returned home to my wife and two children, ages 3 and 5. It was our routine to watch kids’ shows on PBS before dinner. And I have a strong memory along with a deep gratitude to PBS: they made the decision to continue children’s programming uninterrupted. My wife and I were absorbing the information from the radio in the kitchen, speaking in hushed tones and grappling with our emotions. The kids were next door in the living room, protected from the horrible images of the day and watching “Arthur.” I don’t watch TV news, and it was actually a long time before I myself saw the footage of the planes crashing into the towers.

I have a friend from college who walked out of Manhattan that day back to her home in Brooklyn--safely. Another family friend, a neighbor to my in-laws in New Jersey, worked in a finance job in the Twin Towers…and died there that day. His two sons FJ and Pat are close friends with my brother-in-law.

All of us who lived through 9-11 have our memories of that day. We have our own stories to tell as I have just told mine. It seems such a long time ago—before cell phones, before Donald Trump. The event changed forever how we see security in airports and other public spaces; our government and military response shaped international affairs in ways we still see today. And 9-11 was a loss of innocence. For the first time, Americans were successfully attacked on our soil. We could no longer assume safety as we went about our lives. And we had a new example of human hatred, evil, and vengefulness to explain to our children as best we could.

PRAYER:

To all those who lost loved ones on 9-11, may there be peace in your spirit as you remember and grieve.

May the children of the world retain what innocence they can; may the parents, teachers, and care-givers who love those children be courageous and strong in protecting and educating them.

May there come a day when nations do no violence to one another. When wrongs are addressed with fairness and justice, not with vengeance and suicide bombing.

May the nation and the world reflect on this tragic anniversary with an intention to create greater peace and brotherhood in our lifetimes and in the lifetimes of our children.

May it be so.

Rev. Drew Frantz

September 8, 2026