am writing these words two tortuous weeks after the Twin Towers attack: rubble in Manhattan still smolders, rumors of war wrinkle the air, and American flags are as ubiquitous here as the visage of Saddam Hussein is in Iraq.

I do see hints, however, of normalcy: people don't stare in wonder and fear at every jetliner that soars overhead, newspaper headlines can no longer be read from 40 feet away, and the radio actually has commercials again. And, on a more personal note, I no longer feel as if everything I do is meaningless.

Distanced timewise from the catastrophe, with the numbness fading like Novocain two hours after a pulled tooth, I want to share some thoughts (take them or leave them), and the gist of those thoughts is this: I've never before been so grateful for my Adventist faith as I am now.

First, because of Jesus, because of what He accomplished at the cross, even if I were in one of those planes or buildings (my office was not more than a morning commute from the Pentagon), death would seem like an instant of darkness followed by the infinite light of eternity with Christ. Faith, an intelligent, reasoned faith in who Christ is and what He offers us because of what He has done for us-it's worth more than anything the world can give, a truth that I especially cherish now.

Next, as I watched the two towers collapse (I had my whole family there in June), these texts stomped through my head: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. . . . For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life . . . is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:15-17). How desperate that flesh and lust must be, that is, to love a world so inimical, so harsh and unforgiving to both; and to love the things of the world, things that coddle that flesh and tickle that lust before curdling and then killing them both.

eople want permanence, people want stability, people want order, but they cling to a world that offers only the sound of time passing through matter (or is that matter passing through time?). Either way, what's left when the sounds end? Lives lived for the sake of life itself? Please! That's like plucking wings off flies. If the World Trade Center towers can't stand, what in the world can? That's why, more than ever, I'm so thankful my hope isn't in this world or the things of it, for they pass away so quickly, so easily, and in ways unimaginable.

Finally, since becoming an Adventist, I have always believed that the United States could never fulfill its prophetic role without major changes. Major changes. In the few days following the atrocity, we saw how quickly change, major change, can come. The issue isn't whether these changes will lead to prophetic fulfillment (I'm not going down that road, because I have no idea where these acts of terrorism will lead). All I'm saying is that for the lamblike beast to speak as a dragon, the beast will have to change, and these attacks-if they prove nothing else prophetically-prove how quickly the beast can, indeed, change (imagine if the death toll were 10 times higher!). One thing for sure, our prophetic scenario seems easier to envision after September 11, 2001, than before it.

What can I say, other than that I'm just so thankful for what the Lord has given me through the truths entrusted to this church. I'm thankful, not just for the framework to understand why such evil happens (the great controversy scenario), or even for the more specific framework regarding last-day events (America in prophecy and all that). What I am most thankful for is the hope of the Second Coming, a hope guaranteed by the First (after all, what good was the First without the Second?)-a hope that nothing can take away, not even death and terror raining down from the September 11 sky. Clifford Goldstein is editor of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.

_________________________
Clifford Goldstein is editor of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.