One Week Later
Conclusion
“We went down to the shopping area, casually walking along. Firemen were putting on their gear, their boots, their packs, and tanks. Nobody was in a panic…. We got to the exit doors as directed and a fireman said, 'There's lots of debris falling from above. Don't look up. Just go for it.' Well, we did look up and didn't see anything .... just went for it, jumping over all kinds of fire equipment, hoses, a lot of debris. We ran south for a block and a half until I finally ran out of gas.”
These excerpts, summarizing Brian’s story, continues to show how his experience on 9/11 was indeed, divinely guided.
A delicatessen owner gave them bottles of water and "one of those round breakfast platters—almost the size of a pizza box—with sweet rolls and melon and everything.... he said, ‘nobody's coming for this today’... We start walking down to Church Street.... came upon two priests heading towards the Trade Center... Stanley broke down and said, 'This man saved my life.' “
Brian countered, “Well, Stanley, maybe your voice calling me on the 81st floor saved mine. One of the priests said, 'Let's have a prayer.' The four of us huddled in prayer in the middle of that street.”
When they got to Trinity Church, "Stanley suddenly stopped and said, 'I think that Tower could come down.' As we looked back, we could only see Tower Two. I said, 'Come on, that's a steel structure, that's just carpet and furniture burning. In the midst of that sentence, it's like there's this little wiggle at the top of the tower and then boom, boom, boom; floor upon floor just pancaked all the way down. The whole thing dissolved in eight to ten seconds.’
“Trinity Church blocked the gush of ash and gray gunk that came out of the tower.... It exploded upward. We quickly realized it was going to cascade down on us. We ran... as it was about to overtake us, we entered a building on Broadway.... Crazy things happen when you're under pressure.... I was still carrying that breakfast platter.... and it provided twenty-five people with sweetness and refreshment."
After 45 minutes, they ventured back outside. "It was like a winter's day.... a half an inch of ash covered everything on the street... I was wondering, how do I get to New Jersey... and strangely at that moment, Stanley disappeared. I wondered if he was really real. Maybe, just an angel? Later, I learned that a guy in a pickup truck took him to Brooklyn.
"I continued walking…. passing Pier 11 on the East River, I heard that the next ferry was for Jersey City.... I was the last person on. When we got north enough to be parallel to the Trade Center site we broke out of the fog.... the ferry went totally silent.... we just couldn't believe that those towers that had stood for so long were gone.
“I was the first one off…. ran down the pier to the ticket office, asked to use the phone… strangely I got through and as luck would have it, my wife picked up.... to the many people gathered in my house, I had been dead for an hour and fifteen minutes.... I'm clueless that they're in pain because I didn't say I'd be out in two hours.... When I said, 'Hi honey,' my wife fainted, collapsing on the floor. A man picked up the phone demanding, 'Who's this?' Wondering what a man was doing in my house, I replied, 'Who are you?' Dave, my friend, said, ‘Oh, thank God.'
"With hundreds of others, I walked up to the Hoboken train station... as they announced that the train that was delayed — one that would work for me — would be leaving in five minutes. They even held a train for me that day. There was a big lovefest when I arrived home... people touching me, not sure that I was real, including my wife.
*One week later*
“In the early morning of the Tuesday following 9/11, I fell into a deep dream that was very odd. It seemed like a visitation. I'm not putting any religious stuff at you; I'm just telling what I experienced.
“In my dream, I was lying on my bed, on my back, my head up off the pillow, looking at the foot of my bed. (I don't sleep on my back. I always sleep on my right or left side.) And to the foot of my bed came Jose. He's the man we passed on the 68th floor walking up to help people. Jose had the most glorious smile on his face.... a radiant smile, a white blousy shirt, I could only see him from the hips up.... He didn't say a word. He just leaned forward and nodded at me.
"I pointed my finger at him and said in real time: 'Jose, you're alive! How did you do that! That's amazing. You fooled everybody!' He just smiled, this bright smile. The message he sent me or rather, you know, the message I absorbed without him saying a word was very casual, 'You'll figure it out.'
"I stared another second, shut my eyes, shook the cobwebs, and he's gone. But it was so seamless because there I was staring at the foot of my bed when I realized that I'm waking up. I looked around the room. Where did he go? I'm still in that fog of waking up but in touch with what has just happened. Suddenly, beep-beep-beep, my 5:25 alarm went off.
"That feeling washed over me again: 'Brian, Jose is fine. All your co-workers are fine.' It gave me comfort — as sad as that day was, knowing everything is going to be fine. I have not had one bad dream. I do not think about 9/11 at all. If somebody brings it up — and here I am talking about it — I can discuss it or think about it with virtually no emotion. Now that may sound terribly cold, but it's the way it's happened for me.
And I am eternally grateful for that.”
"Don't dwell on the past. Don't worry about the future. Live in the present.
That's where I live now. Every day is a great day. Some are just greater than others. Life is very precious. It's a gift that should be celebrated every day. It's your responsibility to tell people you love them: your family, your neighbors, your nation, the world.”
—Brian Clark
Peace Affirming Prayer
Peace fills my mind and flows through all my thoughts.
Peace fills my heart and flows through all my love.
Peace fills my soul and goodwill flows to all.
Peace fills my being and permeates all my activities.
Peace within. Peace without. Peace everywhere.
Peace in my mind. Peace in my heart. Peace in my soul.
Peace in me. Peace in my home. Peace in my country. Peace in my world.
Peace everywhere.
Amen.
Ukrainian folklore characterizes pysanky as a symbolic, talismanic writing that invokes a higher Universal Power for help, while believing with faithful certainty that It will. The contemporary version of this characterization is a paper-and-pen journaling practice called prayer writing that develops a personal relationship with God.
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