David L.

Winters

The morning started like so many others at Homeland Security. I made my way through layers of security with Kastle cards, microchips, and passwords. My computer buzzed to life and displayed too many emails for this early in the day.

After a couple of meetings and a skipped lunch, I returned to my desk and began reviewing a proposed contract for some kind of bio-hazard gear. Suddenly, everything shook violently. Fear began knocking on my brain and I felt a little disoriented.

Something fell down in the next room and I heard glass break. As quickly as it began, the shaking stopped. I jumped up from my desk and ran to the office next door. My employee appeared ashen and confused.

“What happened, Dave?” Tosha said.

“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully. In Washington, D.C. one suspects the worst, particularly post-9/11. It could have been a bomb at the White House, just a few blocks away.

“I don’t want to be alone.” Tosha jumped up and came around her desk.

“Let’s go in my office. I will get under the desk and you get under the credenza.”

The building began to shake again, this time worse than the first. I prayed a hurried, honest prayer. “Lord, we don’t know what this is, but we trust you in the middle of it. Please protect us and all those in this building.”

When the Shaking Stopped

After a few more minutes, the shaking stopped and I climbed out from my hiding place. With the power out, I hurried to an interior room where more of my employees had been working. I unlocked the door. Light from exterior windows then flooded into their space. Each one filed out, looking shaken physically and mentally.

We all soon learned that a rare earthquake had struck our nation’s Capital. Everyone filed downstairs and were escorted to an open area down the block.

Spirit of Fear or Faith?

As I sat on a curb looking around, I thought about my faith and Paul’s words to a younger Christian brother,