This week marked the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma CIty bombing. I remember exactly where I was when I learned of this tragic event.
A relaxing retirement luncheon at the local Steak and Ale ended. For a final time as co-workers, we spent 2 hours in great fellowship. We reminisced about the years together, the good times and the bad. In celebrating our friendships, we experienced the loss our friend’s departure created, yet cherished the hope of our own retirements. Well fed and humored, we passed the bar as we left. On the mounted TV was the image of half a building. We stopped and stared. For a fleeting second, the question passed through our minds, “What side of the crack would I’ve been on?”
As federal employees located in an off-beat location, the sight was chilling. As quickly as the shocked filled us, an urgency to get back to work replaced it. We were all classified as ‘essential’ personnel.
The image of half a building has never left me. Reinforced by the stories from survivors and victims loved ones it lasts. The crack, where seconds before, co-workers stood. The break time phone call to home and suddenly no one on the other end.
Every time a fire alarm sounds, I wonder - what side of the crack am I on?
There is a more important crack. C. S. Lewis described it in The Great Divorce, the crack between heaven and hell.
Today, on Good Friday, which side of the crack are you on? Unlike bombing victims, this is a choice you make. Will you turn to Jesus?