Ten years ago, recovery workers at Ground Zero “were asking for meaning and purpose” during their thankless labour. Where was God in the midst of the horror? Two days after the 9/11 attack, rescue worker Frank Silecchia, found two steel beams in the midst of the wreckage, fused together in the form of a cross. That cross became a potent symbol of hope for rescue workers dragging bodies and human remains from the rubble. Rev. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan monk, said, “You saw that cross and you knew that God never abandoned us.” Rich Sheirer, then New York’s director of the Office of Emergency Management and a self-described “short, round Jewish guy,” appreciated the cross. “Intellectually, you knew it’s just two pieces of steel, but you saw the impact it had on so many people, and you also knew it was more than steel.”
When you come to North Pointe you’ll see a cross on our road sign. You’ll see the three crosses on the leading edge of our facility. The poster on our platform wall features a cross. The cross is our sign of hope – the hope of the world – the hope of your world.
You may be facing your own Ground Zer0 – where everything that once was, is crashing down around you, filling your world with darkness. The darkest day in history was not a Tuesday in New York but a Friday in Jerusalem. From that darkest hour emerged a hope. The cross of Jesus offers hope that lives can be rebuilt, forgiveness can be received, healing can be experienced, purpose can be discovered. The cross is God’s answer to the world’s sin and suffering; it remains the only answer.
“He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
