Reflections from Ground Zero - Free Newsletters

Gordon and Gale MacDonald are working with Salvation Army emergency services at Ground Zero in New York City. We'd like to share with you an excerpt from the first installment of Gordon's daily reflections on their experiences.

An unbroken line of workers was arriving, like soldiers to the front in a war. Each carried some kind of tool: a shovel, a pickax, electronic equipment. Another line, just as fascinating, but far more disturbing, was coming out. Men exhausted, filthy, hardly able to walk.

We joined a small team of SA people at a nearby canteen, just feet away from the crater. Gail immediately set about to organize supplies because they were in disarray.

My place was with the workmen. I simply stepped out as the lines moved by and started saying, "You look like a man who needs something to drink." Virtually every man I encountered stopped and took what I offered. I would make conversation: "How long have you been in the hole?" "What's your job?" "Where's your family?" "Do you have buddies in the pile? (Meaning: did you lose someone?)." Virtually everyone did. Many had lost more than one. Many had lost relatives (the police and fire services are full of related people).

Almost no one refused my offer to talk. They would spill their guts. I talked with men who'd just uncovered body parts. You could smell death in their clothes. Often I would say, "I'm a guy who likes to pray for his friends. Would you mind a prayer?" No one ever refused. Most reached out and grabbed my hand, or, if I put my hand on their shoulders, would come instinctively closer. My prayer: "God, I thank you for my new friend. Please keep him brave, strong, safe, and true. And help him remember this city dearly loves him today."

Gordon MacDonald is editor-at-large of Leadership journal.