Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

 

“O beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years,

Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!

America!  America!  God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood,

From sea to shining sea!   

America the Beautiful

 

I can always see it from my where I sit at the desk in my upstairs office.  The inscription printed below the picture of the twin towers which once stood as the World Trade Center, shimmering golden as they reflect setting rays of the sun, is a reminder of what occurred there nine years ago, and a commitment that it should never happen again—anywhere. 

I know what it says without having to read it…

 

On Saturday, September 8, 2001, three days before our National tragedy, a group of Bayonne residents took a harbor cruise.  As the sun sets on Manhattan, an Alabaster City gleams. 

The reflection of our World Trade Center in the glistening harbor is representative of America the Beautiful’s “Sea to Shining Sea.”

This photograph is one of the last amateur photos taken of our glorious skyline.  May it serve as a reminder of our resolve for enduring peace at all costs.

 

            There are some things that you can never forget.

            There are some things that you should never forget. 

            There are some things that you must never forget.

            There is not a day that goes by that I don’t remember a moment or image of those horrific attacks on September 11, 2010.  Whether remembering the call from my bride that morning while I was headed to the office after the first plane struck a tower.  Or the second call, garbled through a mixture of tears and fear. 

Or the images we saw in the days which followed, which remain etched in our minds.  Of planes, buildings, smoke and jumpers, firefighters and policemen, rubble, lines of blood donors and American flags flying where they hadn’t flown for years, political leaders holding hands on the steps of the Capitol, God Bless America being sung at ball games and candles burning in remembrance and hope. 

The images are many and enduring.  The resolve is oft-supported with words and as time passes, less so with action.  The path to a future of a secure and enduring peace at all costs is still muddled at best. 

There are some things that we can, should and must never forget.

Will we ever forget the Judeo-Christian values, foundations and traditions of who we are as a Nation, or those who have stood in the gap through the centuries for us to protect those values, foundations and traditions?  Or the promises each generation makes to the one before—to carry the torch of freedom forward with honor and respect.  Or the promise a generation makes to the next—to hand them a Nation better than the one we received.  It’s a bit like the promises within families from one generation to the next.

But in the midst of all of those images and things, will we remember the Divine promise that through it all, and at the end of it all, God will have the final say? Above all that has occurred, occurs and will occur—God remains on the throne.

 

“Above all powers, Above all Kings

Above all nature and all created things

Above all wisdom and all the ways of man

You were here before the world began

Above all Kingdoms, above all thrones

Above all wonders the world has ever known

Above all the wealth and treasures of the earth

There’s no way to measure what you’re worth

Crucified, laid behind the stone, You live to die…

Rejected and alone, like a Rose

Trampled to the ground, You took the fall

And thought of me…Above all”

                (Above All, Michael W. Smith)

 

                As we remember the moments of September 11, 2001, amidst all the dialogue, rhetoric and posturing of the day, we would do well to remember that above it all—God, His Son and the Holy Spirit—three in One—is still in charge.

            That should be an image that gives us all a measure of hope for today and all our tomorrows—on through eternity.

            There are some things that we can, should and must never forget.

 

                                                                                    In His Name—Scott

 

 

Copyright 2010.  Scott L. Whitaker.  All rights reserved.