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These "news"
entries are listed in chronological order from TOP to BOTTOM
**SEPTEMBER 2009**
12 September 2009
The events of Sept. 11th, 2001, will never be forgotten by those of us who
witnessed it unfold live on television. Not actually BEING in NY or Washington
didn't mitigate the horror we felt, watching thousands of people die before our
eyes.
I had just moved to Hong Kong on August 21st, 2001 -- and let me say, it was
the best of times, and it was the worst of times. It just so happens that 3
weeks later, on Tuesday, Sept. 11th, I was still really struggling to fit into a
new place, new job, new culture, new food, new language -- new everything. In
fact, it had been a particularly dispiriting day, so by around 8:50pm (HK is 12
hours AHEAD of NY), I was already in bed, and turned on the TV in my hotel room
to relax. As I flipped channels between NatGeo and Discovery
Channel, I stumbled upon a breaking news report on MSNBC of a fire at the World
Trade Center -- and the rest is history, of course.
Despite desperately needing sleep, I ended up staying awake
until 2 or 3am (which would have been the afternoon of Sept. 11th to those of
you in the States), watching as reports trickled in over the next few
hours.
The next morning, on Sept. 12th, I awoke early after a few hours of fitful sleep, and
read these words:
"This message came to me from
the LORD (Yahweh, the God worshiped by the Christians and Jews): 'Son of man, this
is what the Sovereign Yahweh says... The end is here! Wherever you look --
east, west, north, or south -- your land is finished. No hope remains, for
I will unleash my anger against you. I will call you to account for all
your disgusting behavior. I will turn my eyes away and show no pity,
repaying you in full for all your evil. Then you will know that I am
Yahweh!
"This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:
With one blow after another I will bring total disaster! The end has come!
It has finally arrived! Your final doom is waiting! O people... the day of
your destruction is dawning. The time has come; the day of trouble is
near. It will ring with shouts of anguish, not shouts of joy. Soon I will
pour out my fury to complete your punishment for all your disgusting
behavior. I will neither spare nor pity you. I will repay you for all your
detestable practices. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who is
striking the blow.
"The day of judgment is here; your
destruction awaits! The people's wickedness and pride have reached a
climax. Their violence will fall back on them as punishment for their
wickedness. None of these proud and wicked people will survive. All their
wealth will be swept away. Yes, the time has come; the day is here! There
is no reason for buyers to rejoice over the bargains they find or for
sellers to grieve over their losses, for all of them will fall under my
terrible anger. And if any merchants should survive, they will never
return to their business. For what God has said applies to everyone -- it
will not be changed! Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will
recover...."
---- Ezekiel 7:1-13 |
Make of it what you will....
18 September 2009
Exactly one week after Sept. 11th, 2001, I read these words:
"This is what the Sovereign
Yahweh says...: The whole coastline will tremble at the sound of your fall... All
the seaport rulers will step down from their thrones and take off their
royal robes and beautiful clothing. They will sit on the ground trembling
with horror at what they have seen. Then they will wail for you, singing
this funeral song:
'O famous
island city,
once ruler of the sea,
how you have been destroyed!
Your people,
with their naval power,
once spread fear around the world.
Now the
coastlands tremble at your fall.
The islands are dismayed as you pass away.'
"For the Sovereign Yahweh says: ...You will
sink beneath the terrible waves of enemy attack. Great seas will swallow
you... Your city will lie in ruins, buried beneath the earth... Never
again will you be given a position of respect here in the land of the
living...
"Then this message came to me from Yahweh:
Son of man, sing a funeral song (for this city), that mighty gateway to
the sea, the trading center of the world. Give (them) this message
from the Sovereign Yahweh: You claimed... to be perfect in beauty. You
extended your boundaries into the sea. Your builders made you glorious!...
"But look! Your oarsmen are rowing your
ship of state into a hurricane! Your mighty vessel flounders in the
heavy eastern gale. You are shipwrecked in the heart of the sea! Everything
is lost -- your riches and wares, your sailors and helmsmen, your ship
builders, merchants, and warriors...
'Was there ever such a city as (this),
now silent at the bottom of the sea?
The merchandise you traded
satisfied the needs of many nations.
Kings at the ends of the earth
were enriched by your trade.
Now you are a wrecked ship,
broken at the bottom of the sea...
The merchants of the nations shake their heads at the sight of you,
for you have come to a horrible end and will be no more...."
---- Misc from Ezekiel
26 and 27 |
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