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. 

Worldwide Unity

It’s Easter Season. For Jews, that’s Passover week. For Christians, the whole week leads up to the resurrection of Christ, Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile, the world is plagued.

We don’t like being plagued. But we try to find the good in it. And there are some good things. A friend celebrating Passover suggested that, if God wanted all the families of the earth to be at home together for Passover, well, this is a way. For Easter, because we’re empty nesters, we will miss gathering with our children and grandchildren. I don’t think we’ve had that happen before. But for families with children, this Easter is likely to be more memorable, more focused, than any other in their growing up years.

A lot less candy. A lot more family togetherness. A lot more prayer.

found on Worldwide Fast April 10 Facebook page

This past weekend was our worldwide General Conference, which we could tune into online, fortunately. For those of us far away from Utah, that’s how we always do it. The odd thing was that, even in Utah everyone had to do it by tuning in. The Tabernacle Choir still provided music—but all was from previous recordings, since they can’t get together right now. The speakers for each session (there are 5 sessions over two days) met in a room, spaced from one another, instead of in the Conference Center with 25,000 of their closest friends and neighbors.

During that conference, our President, Russell M. Nelson, asked us to join together in a worldwide fast, this Friday, Good Friday, April 10. He asked us to pray for relief from the virus, protection for the caregivers, relief for the economy, and a return to our normal lives. He asked us to share this so it will be not just a fast for Latter-day Saints, but for everyone.

That has been happening. Someone started a public Facebook group, Worldwide Fast April 10, to share, and to encourage.

Worldwide Fast April 10 Facebook group header

They put together a map of where participants are from. It is truly worldwide.

Map set up to identify locations of members of Worldwide Fast April 10

People of different faiths have asked if they’re welcome, and they receive a resounding yes.

collection from Worldwide Fast April 10, found here

Early on there was a meme comparing this to the Fellowship of the Ring, with everyone offering their part.

Found on Worldwide Fast April 10 Facebook page

Earlier today I saw this one, also humorously using fictional comparisons.

found on Worldwide Fast April 10 Facebook page

May people have shared their stories. So many have shared their concerns that, because they haven’t been faithful for a long time, they might not be worthy to join. They’re welcomed. What if they’re gay? They’re welcome. What if they haven’t prayed in years? Join us in prayer. What if they’ve never fasted before? Good time to give it a try.

So, a word about the pattern of fasting and prayer.

Walter Rane painting "Master, I Have Brought
My Son Unto Thee"
recounted in Mark 9

There’s a moment in Christ’s life, recounted in Mark 9, when he had been healing people. His disciples came to him privately afterward, asking why they had been unsuccessful in healing the young man Jesus had just healed. He answered, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Sometimes a simple prayer is not enough for a more serious problem. Sometimes you need to add fasting to prayer.

In our Church, we have a monthly fast day. The traditional pattern is to eat dinner one evening, and then don’t eat or drink again until dinner the following day, so 24 hours later. The money for the two missed meals is given as an offering to the poor. (This fast offering is over and above tithing.)

We usually do this on a Sunday, during which we go about our regular Sunday practices. We don’t appear to fast—although grumbling stomachs can be heard. And we often use this day to share our testimonies, our experiences with Christ in our lives. We pray throughout, preferably with a particular purpose that we pray for. We end the fast with a prayer. Then we eat.

That is the standard. But there can be variations. It can go longer. Or shorter, depending on your abilities and strength. Small children don’t typically fast. Older children might start by missing just one meal. People who need to take medicine can drink water and do that. People who need to take medicine with food might need to eat.

The going without food does something to help us recognize our physical limitations and dependency on God. But people with health issues—nursing mothers, diabetics, etc.—can work toward that focus in their prayers another way. If they cannot, or should not, go without food and drink for a full 24 hours, they can sacrifice something else, or simply consecrate the day and their prayers, and ask the Lord to accept their offering.

In other words, it’s about a lot more than getting really hungry.

When we look at times in scriptures when there were plagues, such as famines or pestilence, relief would come once the people turned back to God.

found on Worldwide Fast April 10
Facebook page

I don’t think this means God inflicts his people with these things. I think we live in a fallen world where these things are part of what we face. But we can face and overcome the world when we are connected to God. When we don’t connect to Him, He doesn’t reach out His protective hand indefinitely.

What can we expect from this special day of fasting and prayer? We can expect a turning of our hearts to God, which is always a good thing. And if we are sincere and united, I believe He will hear our prayers and grant us relief.

I don’t know what that will look like. I do believe it will mean something miraculous—something that those of us who join together in this fast will recognize as miraculous. Those who do not pray with us might be able to call it just science or nature, but those of us who prayed will know more.

I don’t know timing. I don’t know what things will look like. But I do believe if we pray for those four things, we will look back at this day in the not too distant future and see—this was when things began to change. This was the turning point.

And possibly we will remember the way we felt, united together in our turning to God. We will feel love toward one another. And that will be a very good thing as we face whatever the next challenge to the world might be. We might even feel closer together in this time of isolation than we have felt for a very long time.

Come and join us in this Worldwide Fast, April 10, 2020. 

And then enjoy a beautiful Easter morning, celebrating The One who overcame death, and overcame this fallen world.

lyrics to the hymn "In Fasting We Approach Thee"
graphic found on Worldwide Fast April 10 Facebook page

Oneness

There’s a feeling we had on this day seventeen years ago that we hadn’t felt three days earlier. There was compassion, hurt, worry, also resolve. And more than anything there was a sense of oneness. A sense that we are all Americans now. Party didn’t matter. Ethnicity didn’t matter. People around the world stood with us—not looking down on us, or pitying us, but loving us and standing alongside us in our time of distress.

Flag in the aftermath 9-11-2018
image from NBC News

There’s a feeling we had a year ago in Houston last year, after the 50+-inch deluge that came with Hurricane Harvey. Neighbors helped neighbors. And everyone was our neighbor. People came in from well outside Houston. The Cajun Navy, as they came to be called, were neighbors with boats that set out from Louisiana to bring their small fishing boats to help rescue flood victims. People fed one another, and housed one another. Sometimes long term, since it took from several months to more than a year to get many homes back to habitable—some are still not. People helped each other muck out the debris, and clean, and dry out, and then begin the rebuild. People gave of their time and money.

Nobody asked, before offering help, “Are you part of my tribe?” No one cared about race, ethnicity, religion, political party. We were all people. We were all Houstonians. Even people from far outside the city, and even beyond the country’s borders.

My friends Derrick and Gloria, after Harvey (their 3rd flood)
The photo is his.

Right now there’s a disaster about to hit the southern east coast, aiming at Georgia and the Carolinas. More than a million have been evacuated. Sometimes these things turn out to be less than predicted, but sometimes—as we know around here—the worst case scenario shows up. So right now we’re all sending our prayers that direction. I heard there was a call for the Cajun Navy to re-deploy. Again, no one will be asking whether those in need are of a particular tribe: color, party, ideology. We’re all Americans, all humans, pulling together for those of us in harm’s way.

radar screen shot from CBS News

Can we agree that the oneness we feel under these circumstances is a good thing? I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’re civilized enough to believe this is true.

We know how to get the unity: suffer a calamity.

What we need to know is how to get the unity without the calamity.

I don’t know the answer. Well, not true. I do know. Choose life in the freedom, prosperity, and civilization zones. Live by the rules that get us there. Do it individually, and then share your ways with the next generation, and with your larger circle of influence.

So, individually choose ultimate good: that’s the way to move from the fragmented, tribal culture that is making us simultaneously less unified and less individual. Persuading people—many people persuaded one by one—to choose ultimate good, that’s the challenge. I’m not sure how we’ll accomplish that.

But, in my personal, very small crusade toward that end, here’s a review of the ways to get ourselves up into freedom, prosperity, and civilization, according to the Spherical Model.

Into Freedom, Out of Tyranny

The Political Sphere

·         Keep government limited to the proper role of government: protection of life, liberty, and property.

·         Ask these questions:

o   Is the policy being debated something that an individual has the right to do, and therefore has the right to delegate to his/her government?

o   Does the policy infringe in any way on the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights?

Into Prosperity, Out of Poverty

We’re born naked, impoverished, and inexperienced. It is by growth, hard work, and gaining in expertise that we try to overcome this condition throughout our life. We are born with the right to life, the right to live free (not enslaved), and the right to pursue our own path to overcome the naked impoverished state.

The Economic Sphere

Prosperity comes when we are free to work, build our wealth (the results of work beyond subsistence), and choose how to spend the results of our work. In short, we need a free market. Not a crony capitalist economy. Not a highly regulated economy with government favoring various players. Not an economy of monopolies. But a true free market.

Policies should always be guaranteeing the right to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Prosperity is tightly tied to civilization. Because we need people acting honestly, people who are trustworthy.

And we also need generous people who are willing to help those who cannot help themselves.

So the answer to prosperity is a free market—which is the engine for creation of wealth—combined with philanthropy.

Into Civilization, Out of Savagery

Civilization requires a critical mass of people living the laws of civilization. These are simple but not easy things:

·         A religious people.

·         Strong families.

The religion we’re talking about is fairly broad and free. We need to believe that God is our creator, and we are held accountable to Him for how we live our life. He has provided a moral code that we are bound to follow.

The Social Sphere

The moral code is identified in the Ten Commandments, among other places: honor God, family, life, truth, and property.

These laws can be lived individually. But the smallest unit of civilization—living among civilized people—is the family. So we need to clarify what valuing family looks like.

Religious freedom is required for civilization. God is essential, because He is the giver of rights. Anything excluding God limits our rights to whatever the person or entity chooses to grant.

Civilized societies value family as the most important and basic unit of governance. Alternatively, a hallmark of totalitarian regimes, which are savage, is the replacement of the family with the state. Totalitarianism resents loyalty to any societal unit other than itself. And it is this absolute weakness that will always prevent a totalitarian state from offering true Civilization as you’d find it in a free strong-family society.

We have a lot of evidence, from thousands of years of history, to show that strong families, and hence strong civilizations, do not happen without protecting marriage: a man and woman committed and exclusive for life, raising their own children. Such families allow civilization to perpetuate, against the strong pull of chaos and tyranny.

So, if we’re going to be united, without being compelled by catastrophe, we need to do it by being a people who love freedom, prosperity, and civilization, and willingly live the laws that get us there.

The Call for Unity

I have been less than normally interested in the GOP Convention this week in Cleveland. There was drama the first night when the establishment refused a floor vote on the rules—going against law, good sense and rules to do so. But it wasn’t surprising. Just a note about that: it was about rules for the future, not about getting rid of Donald Trump as the nominee. If you didn’t know that, maybe you’ve been lied to. Check out an interview with Senator Mike Lee to get better informed.

I’m assuming there may have been other interesting speeches. But I was only interested in Ted Cruz’s[i]. I had been praying for him, for two things: that he might say something to remind us of the principles of our party and our country, and that he might remain strong in abiding by his principles.

Senator Ted Cruz speaks at the GOP Convention
July 20, 2016   Photo by Behar Anthony/SIPA  AP Photo

I was uncertain that it was wise for him to consent to speak at Donald Trump’s convention. I was concerned that there might be some behind-the-scenes pressure that even Ted Cruz might not have been able to withstand. Reince Priebus and Donald Trump knew he wasn’t going to endorse the man who maligned and threatened his wife and accused his father of conspiring with JFK’s killer. They knew that when they invited him to speak. Maybe they vainly hoped he’d change his mind, but they knew for certain ahead of time, because he provided them his speech for review.

That means Donald Trump is using the lack of endorsement for his purposes. We can see that today. And it reveals the trouble this country is in.

Let’s take a look at what was, and what was not, in that speech.

The main story referred to Michael Smith, one of the officers murdered in Dallas, whose 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, will never be able to hug her daddy again. It was skillfully told, with added emotion, because the Caroline of the story is the same age and has the same name—and if I heard correctly, has a mother by the same name—as Ted Cruz’s daughter. The story had the power to tell us we are in seriously difficult times.

Cruz asks: “What if this right now is our last time? Our last moment to do something for our families, and our country? Did we live up to the values we say we believe? Did we do all we really could?”

Most of the rest of the speech is about principles. Namely, conservative principles enshrined in the Constitution. Principles that are absent from the Democrat party, and heretofore at home in the Republican Party, at least supposedly.

There are things he said that ought not to be controversial:

·         I want to see the principles that our party believes prevail in November. 

·         America is more than just a land mass between two oceans, America is an ideal. A simple, yet powerful ideal. Freedom matters. 

·         Our nation is exceptional because it was built on the five most beautiful and powerful words in the English language, "I want to be free."

·         [following a list of what Obama has done wrong] I am here to tell you there is a better vision for our future. A return to freedom.

·         [following a list of Hillary’s plans, and the freedom she will reduce] Voters are overwhelmingly rejecting the political establishment, and overwhelmingly rejecting big government.

·         We deserve an immigration system that puts America first, and yes, builds a wall to keep America safe.

·         We deserve trade policies that put the interests of American farmers over the interests that are funding the lobbyists.

·         if we stand together and choose freedom, our future will be brighter. Freedom will bring back jobs and raise wages. Freedom will lift people out of dependency to the dignity of work.

·         Our party, the Republican party, was founded to defeat slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Together we passed the Civil Rights Act, and together we fought to eliminate Jim Crow Laws. That's our collective legacy, although the media will never share it with you. Those were fights for freedom, and so is this.

Most of this should be agreeable to every delegate at the convention. In fact, to anyone within earshot with the exception of the hordes of liberal media lying in wait to find something they could sensationalize.

Cruz details what we can do to fight corruption and make things better—and they are mainly things Trump claims as his ideas: build a wall to keep America safe, stop admitting ISIS terrorists as refugees, America-favoring trade policies, bring back jobs and increase wages.

This next part, also non-controversial call to vote all the way up and down the ticket, is what drew boos:

We deserve leaders who stand for principle, who unite us all behind shared values, who cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect from everybody. And, to those listening, please don't stay home in November. 

If you love our country, and love our children as much as you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom, and to be faithful to the constitution. 

The boos came mainly from the New York delegation, which Cruz acknowledged with grace. News stories report that copies of the speech were handed out especially to the New York delegation, Trump’s home state.

In other words, it was a manufactured drama. Trump added to it by walking out among the crowd a minute before the speech ended.

It could have been otherwise. Look at the words. In practically any other time, in practically any other person’s speech, the words would have implicitly endorsed the candidate and party. Trump’s New York delegates and others yelling along with them are declaring that even they do not believe Trump is a leader who stands for principle, and will do the things we voters deserve.

Photo from here

If they had cheered and made the assumption (or been directed to act as if they assumed) Cruz was referring to their chosen candidate, there would have been no news story. People wouldn’t have noticed that Cruz hadn’t actually endorsed Trump, because Trump would have acted satisfied with what was said and taken it as pro-Trump-ish enough.

Cruz ended with this additional call for unity:

The case we have to make to the American people, the case each person in this room has to make to the American people, is to commit to each of them that we will defend freedom, and be faithful to the Constitution. 

We will unite the party; we will unite the country by standing together for shared values by standing for liberty.

In this alternate-universe year, that is called divisive. Because everybody apparently knows Trump will not defend freedom or be faithful to the Constitution.

But shouldn’t the Trumpkins at lease have pretended that he will?

Instead, Cruz has been excoriated by many people I frequently agree with and admire. That includes radio hosts Dennis Prager and Larry Elder, who spent the day describing the speech as the world’s longest political suicide note.

However, a few of us have seen through the “we have to win” rhetoric, who heard what I did.

Daniel Horowitz, at Conservative Review, takes on the “we have to vote for the Republican” demand:

Taken to its logical conclusion, there is never a time when it’s not worth voting for the Republican, even when they legitimize and validate the Left’s premise.  If Republicans are ok with codifying transgenderism into civil rights, well, one could always suspect the Democrat will be worse and support bestiality.  This is the attitude so many loyal conservatives—even more so than the moderates—have internalized throughout the eras of two Bushes, Dole, McCain, and Romney. Yet, history doesn’t lie, and the Democrat success in moving the ball on every facet of fiscal and social policy since 1988 is nothing short of breathtaking. Rather than utilizing Reagan’s “new day—our sunlit new day—to keep alive the fire so that when we look back at the time of choosing, we can say that we did all that could be done—never less,” all we did was focus on not electing Democrats.

Matt Walsh prefaces his piece with this summary, which so accurately describes my experience:

I’ve been re-reading the transcript of Ted Cruz’s convention speech on Wednesday night and I can’t quite find the controversial part of it.

He congratulates the nominee. He urges everyone to go to the polls and vote for the candidates who will defend the Constitution. He articulates, quite brilliantly, the principles of conservatism. He calls for conservatives to come together. He talks about freedom, liberty, and the preciousness of human life. And for that, he was booed off the stage.

Walsh laments, as I do:

Cruz spoke exclusively about the principles of conservatism. He offered the Republican Party a chance to unite again around those principles. But it was made clear, once and for all, that many Republicans are not interested in uniting around principle. They aren’t interested in the principles at all. The only principle in the new party is Donald Trump. The only positions that should be taken are the ones Donald Trump takes. The only speeches that should be given are ones centered around Donald Trump. This was precisely the fear of the Never Trump camp; that Trump would devour conservatism and leave only himself standing in the gap; that the new conservatism would be Trumpism, and the old conservatism would be anathema. It seems those fears have been realized.

Steve Deace, also at Conservative Review, noted the irony of the Trump response to the speech, and laments:

Then there were the reports of how angry party people and donors were that Cruz dared tell Republicans to vote their values. Stop and think about that for a moment, and allow it to fully sink in. The party establishment can only be offended by a call to vote your conscience if, indeed, they are at least tacitly admitting that to vote for their nominee could violate one's conscience.

My son Political Sphere posted his response on Facebook before I finished writing. We’re so closely agreed (still not having talked together) that I hope he doesn’t think I’m copying him. He adds this understanding:

Those deriding Cruz as classless and going back on his promise because he failed to specifically endorse Trump appear to have a faulty belief that if Cruz would just forgive Trump for the personal attacks against Cruz and his family and publicly endorse Trump by name, then all the “Never Trump” people will suddenly support Trump. They do not seem to understand the only thing this would do is cause those of us who cannot, in good conscience, vote for Trump to lose respect for Cruz. Such a display would not get us to change our mind on Trump, but instead show us that Cruz, too, has sold out to the Washington D.C. Cartel and is no longer willing to fight for our conservative principles even at the expense of being denounced by the Republican establishment.

I’m glad Cruz didn’t break faith with us.

It's another whole post to cover the accusation that Cruz broke his promise. Let’s just note that Trump already reneged on that—it was no deal unless he won, because he would just accuse the RNC of not playing fair. Cruz is right to assume the deal was abrogated when Trump went after his wife and father—and has failed to offer up any kind of apology for those lies/threats. If you’re unclear on the concept of forgiveness (i.e, if you’re thinking Cruz is the unforgiving one), check out this PragerU video, with Dr. Stephen Marmer, on Forgiveness: Trump isn’t entitled to exoneration, or even forbearance; Cruz therefore keeps his integrity with release.

Deace started out thinking it might have been a mistake for Cruz to have committed to make the speech. But after hearing it, he sees it as a great, historic, defining moment. He ends with this:

I work in this business full-time, and I am a committed conservative. A Christian one, no less, which means "daily disappointment" is in my job description. Over the course of my career, and my almost 25 years as a Republican, I have known a lot of Republican politicians—including Trump. But very few of them have I actually been proud to know, or restored even a morsel of my faith in the system.

Ted Cruz is in that select group.

The attacks have been brutal today. Cruz himself might be thinking that giving the speech in the first place was more costly than he’d anticipated. But if the goal is to do whatever we can to bring us back to the Constitution, to freedom, prosperity, and civilization, Cruz must know in his heart he still has his sacred honor.

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[i] Transcript here.