As I begin typing this post, it is August 1st. Yesterday, when I realized Friday would indeed prove to be the first day of August, I couldn’t believe a new month was already upon us. This morning, scanning through the wire news stories preparing a Faith Radio news cast, one of the stories took me straight back to a much deeper meaning for August 1st.

The silence. That is what I can’t forget. The cacophony of over 24,000 fans in one of the loudest – if not the loudest – stadiums in major league baseball suddenly giving way to a just surreal quiet. The Metrodome public address announcer just finished a shocking announcement – the nearby I-35W bridge had simply fallen into the Mississippi River moments earlier.

When I’d arrived in the Metrodome press box minutes earlier, I’d noticed something off kilter. Normally the multiple television screens situated above the rows of tables and chairs were tuned to various sports channels and the Twins’ game broadcast on FSN. This evening, they all featured the same image. Looking closer, I observed a scene that looked almost like damage from a bombing run in wartime. A mangled bridge. Lots of rubble. I asked a nearby press person, ‘Where is that?’. ‘That’s 35W. Just blocks away.’

The tv reporter went on to pinpoint the time of the bridge collapse: 6:05 pm. Travelling from my home for the summer, I’d passed over the bridge on my way downtown, at exactly 6:03 pm.

This week, “On the Road”, the story of that day & the lessons taken from August 1st.

6:03 PM

Perhaps, like so many of us, you were touched by that day. What’s your story? And how did God use the events of that day in your life?

Image: Flickr