9/11 Memorial

Listen: “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys

I visited the 9/11 Memorial Park and Museum for the first time this past weekend (August 19, 2022). I walked up to the South Tower Pool and looked down at the names which are inscribed upon the stone wall surrounding the fountain of water: the names of the people who died in the South Tower on 9/11. The first name I looked at was Richard Herron Woodwell. I did a double take. There are over a thousand names inscribed around the South Pool honoring the lives of those who died, and the first name I see is Richard Herron Woodwell. My dad is Richard Lee Herron and I am Frederick Lee Herron. What a strange coincidence.

I took a picture and sent a text to my dad. As I was walking through the museum, I went into the exhibit in which they display the pictures of all who died. I specifically looked for Richard Herron Woodwell. As I was standing and looking at Richard Herron Woodwell’s picture, a couple next to me was talking about Richard. As I overheard them talking, I realized the guy was a friend of Richard. I introduced myself to the couple and told them about seeing Richard’s name inscribed on the South Pool. I told them it was the first name I noticed and that my dad is named Richard Herron. We both stood there and puzzled over the chances of that scenario actually happening. What a strange synchronicity.

I am not assuming I am related to Richard Herron Woodwell, but both my dad and I looked him up online. Richard was a graduate of Dartmouth (1979) and an investment banker working on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center Tower Two on September 11, 2001. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Jim Wasz, who was Dartmouth Class President of 1979, wrote a beautiful tribute to Richard Herron Woodwell (1979.Dartmouth.org). Maybe this blog will find its way to his surviving friends and family.

Seeing Richard Herron Woodwell’s name at the 9/11 memorial reminded me of how interconnected we are as humans. Sometimes it takes a tragedy like 9/11 to remind us of how connected we really are. Our nation feels so divided twenty-one years after 9/11, but the reality is that every human on the planet bears the image of God—we are touched with a divine spark. The nature of that divine spark is love. “God is love, and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16).

I was reminded of this when I listened to the phone calls that were made from the passengers of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on 9/11. The 9/11 Museum has a room in which you can listen to all the calls which were made from that flight. Every call was a call to a loved one. Knowing that death was immanent, each passenger made calls to the ones they loved in order to express their love verbally one last time. Love unites us.

The other experience I had while I toured the 9/11 Museum was my own memories of 9/11. Twenty-one years ago on Tuesday, September 11, I was preparing a message for the grand opening Sunday service of Vineyard Church at our then new location on 169 highway. I had started small groups in 1990, and then launched our first Sunday morning service at Lakeview Middle School in September 1992. We had grown to about 400 people at the middle school by September 2001.

I was preparing a new grand opening series of messages on the topic of God’s love and grace. I was gleaning from Philip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace.
I wanted the church to be founded on extravagant grace and love.

On that Tuesday morning twenty-one years ago, I remember going downstairs and turning on the TV and seeing the second plane hit the second tower. I fell to my knees and began to cry. I rethought my message for the Sunday after 9/11 and stuck with the theme of love and grace. I thought our world needed it. I heard so many pastors in America spewing hatred towards all Muslims in the world and LGBTQ peoples in America. All I could think of were the words of Jesus to love our neighbors and our enemies. Violence does not heal violence. Hatred does not dispel darkness—only love can do that. We had over 800 people attend that grand opening service, doubling our attendance in one week.

Twenty-one years later, I still think we need extravagant love and grace to heal our own lives, our nation, and our world. Jesus’ life and message was saturated in extravagant love and grace. Let’s immerse ourselves in that life-giving stream.

Shalom

©realfredherron, 2022