TEN SECONDS

.


Ten seconds...



Ten seconds is a very long time
When that’s all you have left to live
There’s time enough to make your peace
But not time enough to give…

…to give your sweetheart one more kiss
Or to squeeze her oh so tight
Not time to give your kids assurance that
Everything will be all right

From the moment that I began this job
I’ve prepared myself for this day
So now as He suddenly calls me home
It seems I already know the way

Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom
Like a freight train bearing down
I instantly knew how this would end
That’s when I felt His peace surround…

…surround my body, surround my soul
Surround my brothers in arms
I then felt His love, like a giant cloak
Come to shelter us from harm

While answering the call that day
I saw the second plane
It glided through the cloudless sky
Then burst into fire-like rain

It rained down fire, it rained down dust
It rained down bodies, too
It seemed that no matter how much we tried
There was nothing we could do

We knew that the people trapped above
The hole that ripped into the tower
Could never escape, with their mortal lives
Without the aid of His awesome power

I prayed that day, a silent prayer
As I stepped inside the lobby
I knew that without His holy intervention
We’d merely be recovering bodies

We began climbing up the narrow stairs
While others were heading out
And as we passed these frightened victims
Some began to shout…

“God bless you, our brave firemen
You’re heroes to us all”
But we were simply doing our jobs
Just answering the call

We knew when we began the fight
That we all might not survive
But by risking our lives for those of others
We manage to keep our dream alive

Our dream that good always conquers evil
And that God will help get us through
He’ll reward us all with eternal life
Our immortal souls begin anew

I saw the face of God that day
As He led me from this place
His will, not ours, will be done
I try to accept this fact with grace

I understood, at once, that day
What firemen were sent here for
Watch over the endangered as best we can
Of no man could you ask more


Ten seconds is a very long time…