Remembering Unity

My experience living in hurricane territory is that, when God wants to get the attention of people in the Gulf Coast—to turn them toward Him and to get them to serve one another—He sends a hurricane. We had a big awakening call in 2017 with Hurricane Harvey, so we were all relieved last month when Hurricane Laura took an eastward turn and missed us entirely—putting us in the preferable position of offering help, instead of suffering the need for help.

Nineteen years ago, a catastrophe brought us together. The whole country. We were temporarily unified—in a good and positive way in the wake of suffering.

So, looking back on that 9/11 catastrophe nineteen years ago, what did unity look like?

"Out of the Ashes," by Ken Turner

Earlier this week, one of my favorite artists, a friend, Ken Turner, shared his different versions of “Out of the Ashes” on Facebook—my favorite 9/11 image, which I share with friends every year at this time (and I carry a small copy with me that he gave me after a tour of his studio many years ago). He was originally commissioned to do the painting by Randy Dean (I think that’s the former NY football player) “to commemorate the loss and heroic sacrifices that took place on 9/11 and the weeks following.” Ken finished the painting about four months after the event.

There are various giclee versions (high quality original-like copies). There are three of the original version. One went to the FDNY (Fire Department of New York), one to Reagan International Airport, and the third hangs in the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in Texas.

But when the painting was revealed at a reception in New York City, there were requests for additional versions. The NYPD (New York Police Department) asked Ken to paint a flag raising specifically for theirs, which now hangs in their museum.

NYPD version of "Out of the Ashes, by Ken Turner

And the Port Authority Police requested that he add, among the crowd in the painting, the faces of some of the 37 of their officers who died that day; he was able to include 10 of them. That giclee hangs in their headquarters.

When I look at this painting—any version of it—I remember. Not just the horror of the day, but the resolve, the unity, and the love that followed. People got in their cars and drove across the country to NYC, and stayed for days or weeks, working to rescue, clear debris, and do whatever they could to help. People set up funds, and offered love and support in any way they could find. We all said we would never forget.

I have briefly visited New York, but I don’t think I could adapt to that foreign land today. Large numbers have never even met a conservative (that they’re aware of). They define people like me—a person who loves the freedom, prosperity, and civilization that come from a righteous people following our Constitution in a free economy—as hateful, racist, bigoted, and whatever other label for evil they tack on at any given time.

They don’t remember how we loved and prayed and cared for them in their time of need.

Particularly we all—Americans everywhere, and many people around the world—honored and respected the police and firefighters of NYC who responded to help, running toward the danger, and some of them giving their lives.

Ken Turner says the title “Out of the Ashes” was given to the painting by Randy Dean, who commissioned it. But, in Ken’s mind there was always a subtitle: “No Greater Love Has Man Than This.”[i]

They deserve honor. Not just for that day, but for every day when they have put on the uniform and gone out to risk their lives in service of the people. These first responders do that all over the country.

But today, instead of being honored, they are maligned and defunded, even in one weird city in Texas.

A response to the Austin, TX, decision to defund their police.
KXAN photo/Richie Bowes, from here

There’s something really heartbreaking about seeing people this far apart, people who were unified, at least for a time, after that unforgettable date. And now we can’t even agree that what the police do is a good thing. As on 9/11, the enemies of civilization tear down and destroy. Then the truly civilized come in to rescue and clear away the debris.

These are irreconcilable differences, unless there is repentance—a change of heart and a change of direction—from those doing the hating, and the destruction in cities across the land. We can’t compromise with their evil.

Tough times, even catastophes, are all around us. That can mean simply ongoing pain and misery, or that can mean a reminder to turn to God, in a spirit of repentance.

I expect if someone is so far gone into savagery that they loot, and destroy, and even kill, and then call that good, they might not wake up in the face of real suffering. But for those who will turn to the side of good and light, I pray they will come to that side with an absolute minimum of apocalyptic suffering.

We don’t want another 9/11 like that one in 2001. But, whatever comes, people on the side of good and light—and the police, as a profession, are among them—will run toward the danger to help. It’s who they are.

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[i] John 15:13. 

We Will Rebuild

Sixteen years ago enemy-caused disaster happened on American soil. Our lives changed on that day. We dug through the rubble, and helped one another out of the ashes and debris. We were stunned. But we set our jaws and said, “We will rebuild.”

Sixteen days ago nature-caused disaster happened on Texas soil. Our lives changed on that day. We dug through the rubble, and helped one another out of the flood waters and debris. We were stunned. But we set our jaws and said, “We will rebuild.”

One of the images from 9/11/2001 is of an American flag being flown on a pole among the debris.

Raising the Flag at Ground Zero
image from Wikipedia

In honor of that, a friend who has a pile of debris outside his home, posted an American flag among the debris.

Derrick and Gloria Campos fly the American flag
on the debris in front of their flooded home

He is at the stage of mucking out where they could power wash the floors, which he describes as, “One step closer to being one step closer to being one step closer to being clean.” It’s not an easy process.

He’s had a good attitude about this, considering. This is their third flood: Memorial Day Flood 2015, Tax Day Flood 2016, and Hurricane Harvey 2017. All of these were rainfalls beyond expectation, beyond 100-year flood levels (way beyond). They hadn’t built in a foolish place—unless you expect these crazy storms. Odds are there won’t be another for half a millennium. Yet they’ve come three years in a row.

Derrick told their story on the walls. And they had people from each day’s work crew sign a wall. Here’s the collection.

Wall from Derrick Campos's flooded home
The collection was posted on Facebook by Amy Knight

All I can say is, I admire the good attitude and resilience. It’s exemplary of who we are as Texans and Americans. We get to work, and we rebuild.

I spent a week out of town, visiting my son and his family. This was the view of our entrance when I left.

It was still a few days later before water was down to make the roads passable, and people near us were able to get back to their homes and begin the mucking out process, so they can eventually rebuild. On Saturday I drove through those streets. And this was the common sight.

It’s not going to be easy. But the bones of these houses are still good. Sometimes the insides are back to where they were 25-30 years ago, during the original building process—bare concrete floors and wall studs. But a year from now, barring further disaster, the signs of the storm will be hard to see.

This is still my favorite image from 9-11-2001, “Out of the Ashes” by artist Ken Turner. It shows our indomitable America spirit.

"Out of the Ashes" by Ken Turner

There’s no painting or iconic image yet for Hurricane Harvey. But, as a comparison, I’ll use this group of nearly 500 Mormon Helping Hands gathered yesterday morning for a brief church service and then instructions before dividing up into work crews for yet another day of helping their neighbors dig out of the debris. The photo was posted on Facebook by Melissa Willis, and captioned, "Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and get to work," quoting Gordon B. Hinckley. 

Mormon Helping Hands from the Bear Creek Stake
Center is Stake President Scott Welch; at the podium
is his counselor, President Dave Hansen

As I’m writing this, we’re waiting for news about how Florida has survived Hurricane Irma. Early reports are that the storm was not as devastating as it might have been; it had been a category 5 hurricane, but by landfall last night was down to a category 1. But that’s still a dangerous storm. So our prayers are with them today. We’re with them in spirit.

I hope the fear of storms doesn’t interfere with our lives. Or the fear of loss. Or the sadness at lost treasures—photos, heirlooms, surroundings. I hope what lasts is the memory of helping one another, of being in this together, rebuilding together.

Because United We Stand.

In the Fifteen Years...

A few days ago we were driving down the freeway and came upon this billboard. Interesting question, I thought.

During the early days after the attack, we Americans were remarkably united. There weren’t two ways of looking at things: we were attacked, unprovoked, on our own soil, with the intention of killing as many Americans as possible, and causing us to cower in fear. The enemy’s goal then, and still, is either our totally annihilation or total submission.

That didn’t work, because we’re Americans. We stood up, fought back, and rebuilt.

But the billboard question is relevant, because after just the first year or so, there was a separation between Americans who love America and want to be good citizens, and Americans who disapprove of America as a constitutional republic and insist America is evil until it is fundamentally transformed, preferably into a democratic socialist regime. We’re separated into those who became better citizens of America and citizens-in-name-only who do not pledge allegiance to the Republic.

Good citizens of America know the Constitution better now than we did in 2001. We pay more attention, contact our representatives more often, and speak up more often.

Good citizens vote more regularly, and more informed, than they voted before 2001.

Good citizens support our first responders—the police and fire department, the FBI, and other protectors—and acknowledge the daily risks they take to keep us safe. Good citizens support our military, who have risked and sacrificed so much to fight the enemy abroad, to avoid having to fight the enemy here.

Good citizens tend to be puzzled by the growing number of fellow Americans who assume, without evidence, that America is more racist and stratified than ever before (and more than just about anywhere else), and that America’s intentions internationally are imperialistic and oppressive. We’re puzzled by the twisting that calls evil good and good evil, and the pervasive media that assumes we all agree on these twists.

How could there be this divide, when we were so united after the attack that is still fresh in our minds after 15 years?

Maybe it isn’t fresh enough in some minds. Maybe that’s why we have to keep memorializing this day.

This painting, “Out of the Ashes,” by Ken Turner, continues to be my favorite image of 9/11. There are a several versions of it, one in NYPD headquarters, another in NYFD headquarters. The ghost images, different in each version, represent actual people who died in the attack and the aftermath.

Several years ago there was a Darryl Worley song, “Have YouForgotten,” shared among the citizens around 9/11, with images to remind us. The words are still  appropriate; this is the chorus:

Have you forgotten how it felt that day
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell
We had neighbors still inside
Going through a living hell?
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout Bin Laden.
Have you forgotten?

This year I came across a new one. The song isn’t new, but the rendition along with the images is new. It’s Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence,” done grittier, with the images we shouldn’t forget. Worth watching in remembrance.

Another video I hadn’t seen is from a girls’ dorm room at NYU. They record what’s happening after a plane crashed into the first tower. They don’t yet understand what is going on; they think it is a freak accident, and while they’re shocked, they’re still pretty calm. Then the second one hits, and someone receives news that it’s terrorism, and the panic hits. This is not for the faint of heart, but it bears watching, to remind us we weren’t exaggerating the magnitude of the attack. The link is here.

On Glenn Beck’s show today, he interviewed a man who survived the attack on the Pentagon, because he had stepped out of his office to use the restroom. He was badly burned, but no one else in his office survived.  I think he is allowing this episode available for viewing without a subscription, at least for a time.

I think we need to keep these images in mind. Not so we can remain angry and vengeful. But so that we can recognize that there is a real battle still going on—between good and evil. Good citizens will be very clear about which side they’re on.

“A people that no longer remembers has lost its history and its soul.”—Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

We Still Remember

It’s always good to wake up on a 9/11 anniversary and find the world continues. That is a blessing. Two years ago it was a blessing we didn’t get; that was the Benghazi attack, along with the administration’s lying about it not being perpetrated by Muslim extremists, for reasons still not clear.

There is plenty of unrest today, in the Middle East and elsewhere. But, so far today, no attack on America has hit the news.

So I’ll take the day to share some images of remembrance.

My favorite continues to be “Out of the Ashes,” painted by Ken Turner.



"Out of the Ashes" by Ken Turner

And next to that is the photo of responders posting a flag among the rubble.

photo by 2001 The Record/Getty Images

Today I’m adding a few favorites I found posted on Facebook. My apologies if I can’t find original sources; my intent is simply to pass along the honor intended by those who posted.

from my friend Janet's Instagram, posted on Facebook

posted by Gov. Rick Perry on Facebook

posted by Sen. Ted Cruz on Facebook

posted by Bryan Preston of PJ Media on Facebook
with the comment "still angry"

logo for the day for Not on This Watch Facebook page

another image from Not on This Watch on Facebook
 

from my friend LaDonna's Facebook
I love the simplicity of this one

One young friend posted this less familiar verse of our national anthem, which is worth repeating:  

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

 Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

 Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

 Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

 Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

 And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

 And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
 

 

I flew the flag today. This is not a holiday, but it has become a holy day—because we make it so. It is a day we remember who we are as Americans, as civilized people, standing up against tyranny and savagery. Giving up, giving in—is not an option. We will not rest from fighting that war until the Savior returns to reign personally upon the earth.

Out of the Ashes

"Out of the Ashes," by Ken Turner

It has been a decade already. I expect you also remember where you were when you heard. I was at a homeschool family camp, about five hours from home, in an idyllic setting along the Frio River in central Texas. In that little valley we had no television or radio. Some people drove to the top of the hill (this required driving out through a river and up a mile of steep dirt road) to get cell phone reception or listen to the news on a car radio. 

Mr. Spherical Model and our oldest, Political Sphere, were planning to join us the next day. Mr. Spherical Model got sent home from work, and they checked in with us later in the day. And they and other latecomers brought newspapers with them when they arrived. 

So I had the rare experience of being shocked slowly by that event. I couldn’t sit glued to the television and fret, which I’m sure I would have done at home. News filtered in piecemeal. There were newspaper photos of bodies falling from the towers, which have stayed burned into memory. But by the time I got home most of a week later, television news was no longer repeating the footage of the buildings falling, or the second plane hitting its target. Today I would simply get online and look up the info and video, but that wasn’t something I was in the habit of doing a decade ago. It wasn’t until the summer of 2004, at a state GOP convention, when they did a montage of the tragedy and what had happened since, that I actually saw the footage. It was stunning even then. I don’t expect to ever not have this event in memory in my lifetime. 

I have a couple of favorite images following 9/11. One is of the flag rescuers mounted on the rubble, looking a bit like the Iwo Jima moment. The other is the painting above, by Ken Turner, “Out of the Ashes.” It was begun in November 2001. There are several versions, hanging in the George H. Bush Presidential Library in Texas, the NY Governor’s Office, NYPD, FDNY, and Port Authority Police Department New York and New Jersey Headquarters. In each version, there are real portraits of the heroes in the painting. Additionally, there are “ghost” portraits, faintly visible people in the painting, of real persons lost in the tragedy. I love how the image makes me feel—that there is still light, and we are walking strong out of the darkness of that rubble into the light—surviving together. I very much remember how we all felt our lives touch one another during that time. 

Ken Turner is a Texas artist, born on the 4^th of July, 1948. My daughter-in-law grew up going to the same church he attended. So a few years ago I took a group of homeschool teens on a field trip to his studio. It was in a historic old building in Columbus, about an hour toward San Antonio from Houston. He is known for historic paintings, from both US and Texas history, and also religious works. He was working on one at that time of the Last Supper. I was interested in how he went about the painting. The first layer or two was fairly plain, just color blocks. Then he added detailed layers over time. He said he kept at it until he couldn’t make it any better. By then it would be lifelike and rich in detail. 

He had postcard sized prints of “Out of the Ashes” that he gave to each of us. I have carried it with me ever since.  

If you’re interested in Ken Turner art, I suggest you contact him online at the Turner/Chapman Gallery. I believe he has moved his studio to his home, in even more rural Texas, so don’t run out there for a field trip without contacting him. I saw this video of him recently, explaining the giclee reproduction process of “Out of the Ashes.” 

I don’t normally post on Sunday. I’m actually writing this on Saturday, setting it to post automatically Sunday morning, and plan to keep it up in place of Monday’s post. The moment of realizing we would survive after 9/11 was worth remembering on the tenth anniversary; and this image of that moment was worth seeing for an extra day.