by J. Randal Matheny

I was perusing the shelves in the used book store when the words spoken across the check-out counter wafted back toward me. "World Trade Center... planes ... terrorists." At first, I thought the customer must have been talking about some Tom Clancy plot, but her tone was too urgent, too shrill.

After listening to the garbled news, I headed back toward the office to call home. On the way, I passed by a snack bar with a television. As I stood there trying to make sense out of what I was seeing and hearing, a plane crashed into a tower.

I'm not sure how long I stood there watching. Slowly, an inner voice urged me to get to the office and call home for a ride back to our house. I wanted to be with my family.

In the midst of confusing thoughts and feelings arises one sharp clarity. A sense of what is dear and precious.

To Christians in the heat of the fire, Peter keeps one constant thought before them. What really matters is keeping faith in Jesus. What is most precious is his life in you.

"so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:7, ESV).

"but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet. 1:19).

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious" (1 Pet. 2:4).

"For it stands in Scripture: 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame'" (1 Pet. 2:6).

"but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Pet. 3:4).

Emergencies, tragedies, illnesses, disasters - they often strip away extraneous matter and focus our minds on the main thing.

However we may explain the upheavals in our lives, God uses them to good purpose. They have the possibility of waking us up to what really matters - faith, family, love, hope, relationship with the Lord.

In his book First Things First, Steven Covey says that the main thing is keep the main thing the main thing. There are times when we manage to keep ourselves focused. Other times, calamitous events grip our heads in a vise and burn upon our retinas not only images of death and destruction, but, among the smoke and flames, glimpses of glory, flashes of eternity.

After two years, the events of 9/11 are still hard for me to write about. Because they touch the raw nerve. They hit the gut and steal breath itself. But like the tentative smiles at a post-funeral dinner, the mind begins to weave the loose ends of memory and pain into a tighter blanket of comfort.

For in the midst of pain the strains of precious things stand out more clearly.