Prologue
They sow the wind…
- Hosea 8:7a
September 11, 2001
Idaho
Sweat coursed down the faces of the two hikers, staining deep Vs on their shirts. Panting, they labored in the early heat as they trekked along the hard-packed trail. Approaching the forest, James Glazier picked up the pace. Behind him, his fiancée, Janna, was eager to reach protection from the relentless sun. Turning around, he motioned. “Come on, honey, you can do it. Only a few more steps.”
A fine haze wreathed the tops of higher hills in the distance. As Janna labored upward, James waited, glancing around in evident appreciation at the beauty of the clearing. Late-season wildflowers bloomed showcasing brilliant purples, golds, and reds. A breeze tickled the grasses bordering the trail, teasing the hikers with momentary relief from the oppressive heat. The buzzing of flies, bees, and gnats brought the only disturbance to the peaceful vista.
Once Janna caught up with James, he reached for her hand while swatting at an insect that landed on his ear. “You doing okay?”
“I wish I had longer legs.” Several inches shorter than his six feet, Janna usually had to increase her pace just to stay even with James. She gulped air while he drank from his water bottle. His fingers lingered, touching hers when he passed it to her.
James wiped his brow, pushing back dark brown hair that spilled over his forehead. “Steep back there. I don’t recall that kind of grade going down.”
“That was at the beginning of our hike when we were fresh.” Janna smiled. “But you love it.”
His eyes sparkled. “You ready to finish it out?”
She nodded. James straightened his glasses, pecked her on the lips, and grinned. He took off with Janna following close behind as they attacked the last of the hike in the relative cool of the woods.
It took another twenty minutes to reach the top. Emulating a trail horse that knows it’s heading home, like he always did, James increased his stride. Behind him, Janna muttered, “Wish you’d remember I can’t keep your pace.”
He slowed so she could catch him. “I’m sorry. I get lost in the moment.”
She jabbed his arm with a playful punch. “Mr. Enthusiastic.”
“Yeah, but I forget your needs. I have to keep it fun for you, too.”
She shrugged. “I know you love me. It takes time to learn how to bring out the best in each other. It’s hard, though, because of our pasts. We’re growing, and our faith is still new. But we’ll make it. I know God put us together for a reason.”
When they emerged from the trailhead, the couple collapsed on the grass near their car. Janna fanned herself with the bottom of her T-shirt while James tipped his water bottle over his head. At his sigh of pleasure, Janna splashed water from her own bottle onto her cheeks.
James climbed into the driver’s side and situated himself. Janna sank into the passenger’s seat and tugged at her seatbelt until it clicked. She kicked off her hiking boots as the first blast from the air conditioner surrounded her.
Pulling out from the parking spot, James maneuvered the car down the long dirt road, away from the federal land they’d been hiking.
Once they reached concrete, the road wound around the mountain toward the bottom at an easy grade. While chatting about their early morning adventure, Janna saw brake lights immediately ahead around a bend. James was looking at her. She shouted, “Watch out!”
At her cry, James braked hard to avoid rear-ending an SUV. Janna sighed in relief as the car stopped mere inches from its bumper. She placed a hand on her chest. “That was close. Wonder what’s the problem?”
Color had drained from James’ face. He touched her knee. “Sorry. Looks like a traffic stop of some kind. There’s a couple of uniformed officers.”
Inching forward as someone waved on the cars one-by-one, they didn’t have to wait long. Despite the short delay, by the time they reached the head of the line, three more cars had stopped behind them. A female officer walked up to their car. Her eyes darted between the two of them before she scanned the back seat. “May I see your driver’s license please?”
James reached into his rear pocket to extract his wallet. “What’s this all about, Officer?”
She examined his license, peered at Janna, and nodded. “You haven’t heard?”
Perplexed, James accepted his license back. “We’ve been hiking. Heard what?”
“There’s been a terrorist incident in New York. We’ve been commanded to perform a security check.”
“Not to be a smart-aleck, ma’am, but this is Idaho. What’s anything going on in New York have to do with us here?”
“Planes flew into the Twin Towers. The authorities put police on immediate alert all over the country.”
Janna shivered as goose bumps rose on her arms. She rubbed them vigorously as she slowly rocked back and forth in her seat.
“You folks can go.” The officer patted the roof of the car, and James drove off.
Janna turned on the radio. She fiddled with the dial, but got only static. She threw up her hands in despair. “There’s no reception here.”
The radio’s search feature finally discovered a station after they turned from the remote mountain road onto a larger one.
She locked on it in as an announcer continued in the middle of his explanation. “…the North Tower at 8:46. Then another plane struck the South Tower at 9:03. We don’t know if this was deliberate, a planned attack. The authorities…oh, my God!...Oh, oh…I just can’t. These…the tower’s collapsing. I can’t believe this.” He began to sob.
James looked at Janna in astonishment. “Oh my gosh.”
She mirrored his shock. “I think we should pray.” Janna grabbed James’ free hand. He kept his other on the wheel and his attention on the road. Janna softly prayed as tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks. “Lord Jesus, I don’t even know what to ask. This is too horrible to imagine. Please, help everyone involved in this disaster. Might they turn to You in their distress. Be with them, Father. Bring them hope and life.” Looking up she saw James’ reddened eyes. He hiccoughed with a half-caught breath and wiped away the moisture on his face.
Eager to return to the resort where they’d been staying for the past week, they listened to the radio in silence. Once at the hotel, they grabbed their gear and raced up one flight of stairs to their unit and turned on the television to Fox News. Glued to the screen, they watched the planes striking each tower over and over. The visual drove the tragedy home. The first tower collapsing, followed by the second, ran continually. Fire and smoke billowed forth. The commentators’ repeated descriptions of the horrendous scene rang in their ears. Their voices droned on as the towers came crashing down. Witnessing the drama replayed for hours left the couple limp.
Any thoughts they might have had about their scheduled flight home in two days were lost. The beginning of their last year in seminary, where they’d met a year ago, became a distant memory.
Twenty-five hundred miles away James and Janna felt an integral attachment to the power of the moment. The camera zoomed in, and a person at a window leaped to her death rather than face the flames consuming the floor at her back. On the streets below, billowing black clouds of dust and debris rose from the two buildings, overtaking and devouring people sprinting from the scene.
The horror of it left Janna weeping into the night, long after the actual destruction occurred. In those hours, they held each other as though afraid to let go. At one moment of shuddering emotion, Janna whispered in James’ ear, “I wish we hadn’t vowed to remain chaste until our wedding night. It’s nice to have your arms around me, but it doesn’t feel reassuring enough.” She paused until resolve returned. “But nothing, not even terrorists will make me break my oath to God. I’ve been through too much.”
James nodded his agreement. His story was different, yet the same. Janna knew he too had overcome a sordid past with great deliverance. Neither had any desire to weaken what they’d received as a gift from the Father.
The next day James located a Wall Street Journal and the couple spent several hours reading its extensive coverage. One major concept shone brightly through the thousands of words the paper published. This was an attack by a major, unknown foe. The United States had entered a new era.
