The sun rose and cast it’s golden rays against the New York City sky line. It was a beautiful September morning, as millions across the city awakened and prepared for their day’s events.

As morning blossomed on the east coast, men, women and children reenacted countless daily routines in preparation for leaving for work, school, and leisure. Morning routines that were carried out with the usual precision/ chaos that comes only from years of coexistence with other household members as they learned to move in and out of bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchens in a kind of dance-like fashion, while urgings of haste to stay on schedule were often times interrupted to hunt for lost sneakers, homework, or reports for the big meeting, until finally each was ready to leave.

At the same time, there were those who left home and hotels that morning, who headed for the airports. They were holding tickets on flights to Los Angeles, the “city of angles.”

Some of the passengers were returning home, others were going to visit friends or family, some were going on business. One man, was going back to pick up the family cat who had been left behind until the family was settled in their new home in New York. For each, an easy flight could be anticipated since it was the slowest day of the week to travel.

That typical Tuesday morning, many or those leaving for work, school, meetings, and for places like California, kissed their friends and loved ones goodbye, saying, “see you later.” For thousands of these people, “see you later,” was a promise that would not be kept.

As morning’s light spread across the country, America was suddenly, and unreasonably, attacked by a darkness and violence of gargantuan size. A darkness, which could be devised and carried out, only by madmen. Madmen who live and die in darkness.

In horror and disbelief, the world watched as the twin towers of the World Trade Center became a holocaust; the Pentagon was attacked, and a fourth hijacked plane crashed. As the day progressed, the surrealistic drama was compounded as the towers imploded into the streets, while firefighters, policemen, and pedestrian heroes valiantly rushed into harms way to help the victims.

Americans, as well as nations around the world, cried tears of grief, horror, disbelief, and turned to God in prayer.

As hours passed, the individual, personal side of the vast holocaust griped our hearts as we began hearing the heartbreaking stories about the passengers aboard the hijacked planes, who, risking all odds called home to say, “I love you, “ and brave words of, “goodbye.” About a flight attendant, knowing that they were all about to die, called to give information about the hijackers and where they sat.

Stories of family members, and friends sharing their pain when telling us how they received calls from their loved ones who, in smoke filled, fiery infernos, called home to say, “good-bye, I love you.”

We watched them, saw their tear stained, grief stricken faces, as they stood, waiting for some word that their loved ones were still, some how, miraculously, alive. For most of us, it had started out as a typical Tuesday morning where kisses and hugs and “I’ll see you later” were promised. It ended up being the worst day in the history of America, and we, via television, were there to witness it all.

It’s been a few short, but at the same time, terribly long days since the Darkness fell on our country, but the more amazing vision we have seen on our television screens this week, is the vision of Light. God’s light is shinning, not only in America, but also throughout the world and vast universe. We have called upon His light; asking that it shine so brightly, that those who live in darkness will not be able to hide. God’s light, is greater than darkness, and His love is greater than hatred. God is greater than anything, and everything, that the creator of darkness can devise against mankind, and knowing this, we can have faith, and hope.

We have seen how vulnerable, and how mortal we are-- how precious life is, and how death and destruction may come when we least expect it. Therefore, we should always, and especially at times such as these, place our faith in He who is immortal. In He, who is greater than death and darkness, and in He who promises that, in spite of death, we will see our loved ones later.