Light at Ground Zero: St. Paul's Chapel After 9/11

I was present as a volunteer at the chapel. This book comes close but doesn't portray the full variety of people, of gifts and of sanctuary at this hallowed place. For example, the photos of the gifts sent by others seems repetitive and not representative of some of the sentimental and heart-warming aspects: Kids who sent their teddy bears--big workers asleep on the pews hugging those bears. Quilts sent by sewing circles-same kind of reaction from the workers. The huge outpouring of donations from corportations across the country-from clothes to food to toiletries. As Diane said, "somehow the generator keeps working with no one paying to have it refilled and somehow the toilet gets replaced before the church officials had to ask." I have many lifetime memories of that time-but no pictures, since we all honored the privacy wishes of the workers. This book comes close but does not capture it all.

The photographs taken in St. Paul's Chapel of the men and women who worked to exhaustion in the rescue and cleanup of the rubble of the World Trade towers, and the photos of the banners and other gifts of love and encouragement from all over the world, sent to these heroic workers, bring alive that special time in our history. The photos in the book are set off with quotes from the Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.Krystyna's photo album book illustrates the way in which tragedy can be transformed by the human and holy spirit into acts of love, kindness, comfort and healing for the heartbroken survivors. Light at Ground Zero is a spiritual book. I recommend it as a unique Christmas present this year.