Measuring Time

People tend to measure their lives by events - glorious events…tragic events. Their conversation gives it away. “That was before the baby was born…” Or “back when dad was alive…”

I was in the Oklahoma City Bombing. Oh, I wasn’t inside the Murrah Building, although I once took the air traffic controller’s exam there. And I wasn’t in one of the surrounding buildings that were damaged. I was working about a mile and a half away, and our building was not damaged. But we heard the blast, and we felt the shock. I remember thinking that for the rest of my life I would remember events as “before the bombing” or “after the bombing”.

I went that day to give blood. I felt I had to do something. But the line to give blood was estimated to be 3 hours long, and I had obligations, and so I had to get back to the office. Fortunately none of my friends or family died that day, although many fine people did. The body count ended up being 168; 171 if you count the unborn babies, which I do. And a fine memorial stands in their memory.

If you follow the news you know that two men have been convicted for that horrible act, and a third was given a plea bargain for his testimony. One has been executed. One will spend the rest of his life in prison. The third is already back on the streets – albeit in the witness protection program. I will not honor them by mentioning their names here.

Since that horrific day we have seen the tragic events of 9/11 – a day by which the entire world measures time. And we’ve seen tornados and hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes - all events that changed time, and lives.

There is coming a day the whole world will rest under the reign of the King of Kings, and we will no longer measure time. Even so, come quickly!