I have several family members in the Houston area hunkered down bracing for Hurricane Ike. They are not in an area that was asked to evacuate, but they are still likely to get a lot of strong wind and rain through the night. I’d appreciate your prayers for them. Some are saved, most are not.
This afternoon this verse came to mind before I even connected it to thoughts of Ike. For those who know the Lord, this is a comfort:
Isaiah 43:2a: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
In thinking about 9/11 yesterday, one of the uplifting things that came out of the horror was the heroism on many fronts: first responders, people who packed up whatever they could and drove as close as they could to help distribute food and water, people who came from far away to volunteer to remove rubble and look for survivors.
One of the outstanding themes of To Kill a Mockingbird (which I finished recently, so it is still on my mind) was the quiet, unassuming heroism of Atticus Finch, who took a stand and did the right thing, knowing it was going to cost him, knowing it was going to carry repercussions for his children, shielding them as much as he could, but encouraging them to stand strong and conduct themselves with respect and without bitterness no matter what anyone else did.
Some time ago I came across Edgar Guest’s “Heroes,” and I love the way he honors both those who do what we normally think of as heroic as well as those everyday people who do right no matter what the consequences.
There are different kinds of heroes, there are some you hear about.
They get their pictures printed, and their names the newsboys shout;
There are heroes known to glory that were not afraid to die
In the service of their country and to keep the flag on high;
There are brave men in the trenches, there are brave men on the sea,
But the silent, quiet heroes also prove their bravery.
I am thinking of a hero that was never known to fame,
Just a manly little fellow with a very common name;
He was freckle-faced and ruddy, but his head was nobly shaped,
And he one day took the whipping that his comrades all escaped.
And he never made a murmur, never whimpered in reply;
He would rather take the censure than to stand and tell a lie.
And I’m thinking of another that had courage that was fine,
And I’ve often wished in moments that such strength of will were mine.
He stood against his comrades, and he left them then and there
When they wanted him to join them in a deed that wasn’t fair.
He stood alone, undaunted, with his little head erect;
He would rather take the jeering than to lose his self-respect.
And I know a lot of others that have grown to manhood now,
Who have yet to wear the laurel that adorns the victor’s brow.
They have plodded on in honor through the dusty, dreary ways,
They have hungered for life’s comforts and the joys of easy days,
But they’ve chosen to be toilers, and in this their splendor’s told:
They would rather never have it than to do some things for gold.
— Edgar Guest
Enjoy more entries or join in the fun at Poetry Friday, hosted this week at Biblio File.
(Originally posted 9/11/06)
I used to volunteer at my sons’ school every Tuesday. On that particular Tuesday morning in September, a little after 9 a.m., I turned on the car radio to catch a bit of news on my way to the school. I was confused at first — I could tell something serious had happened, but couldn’t make out what. Finally the newscaster explained that an airplane had hit the World Trade Tower. I was stunned. I sat in the parking lot at the school and listened to the news coverage for a few minutes. Then I went into the school office, with the words, “Did you hear…?” on my lips. They had heard and someone had set up a TV in the office. Many of us stood, motionless, stunned, shocked, and watched the coverage. We thought we couldn’t be any more stunned — then we saw footage of a second plane hitting the other tower. Then we saw people leaping out of windows to try to escape. Then we saw the first tower collapse.
I don’t remember how long I stayed there. The function that I usually helped with was canceled for the day. Several parents came to pick their children up and take them home: they just wanted to have them near. The principal had a TV set up in the gym for those students and teachers who wanted to watch the coverage. I think most of the high school classes were canceled and students could either watch the coverage in the gym or study quietly in one of the classrooms.
For the rest of the day and the next several days, with most of the country, I was almost glued to the TV as more news came in and pieces of the puzzle came to light. I clicked on news sources online and read coverage and looked at pictures in magazines.
There are several things I remember from that time:
Regarding that last item, one of the young men in my sons’ youth group shared this verse with the teens, I believe that first Wednesday afterward:
Isaiah 25:4: For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
How that ministered to my heart! I shared it with many loved ones via e-mail. There is only one true Refuge.
The question has come to many a mind, “Why did God allow it?” I don’t know that we’ll have the answer until time is over and we are with Him. But, surely we don’t mean why did God allow that to happen to us? We’re such a blessed nation, even in the state of spiritual forgetfulness and indifference we are in now — do we think we’re exempt from the troubles many nations experience daily? This was of a greater magnitude, yes, but many countries face the possibility of car bombs and suicide bombers every day. Then we get into the larger question of why God allows evil at all. All I know is that He allows for us to have and exercise a free will, and that results in sin, because we all choose our own way over His all too often. There will be a time when “sin shall be no more,” when every tear shall be wiped away and there shall be no more sorrow, sadness, death, crying (Revelation 21:4). That time is not yet. Until then we have to deal with a fallen world. But those who love God have this promise:
Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
It is at the point of deep need that we learn the truth of that verse and others. We know it so well it almost become cliched to us, until we truly need it.
One of the “good things” to come out of 9/11 was the salvation of one of my son’s friends. He realized that life can end suddenly and unexpectedly and that he needed to be ready.
There are some who think we should remember 9/11 only with silence, who feel that replaying and reliving the events of that day only plays into the hands of the terrorists, inspiring more terror. I disagree. I can understand those for whom it might be too painful to reflect on much, but I disagree that we’re playing into the hands of the terrorists by remembering that day. It’s good to remember. We need to remember the fallen, to memorialize them. We need to remember those whom they left behind. We even need to remember our vulnerability. Psalm 9:20 says “Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” I can’t presume to say that that was one of God’s purposes for allowing this, but we do need to remember that we are “but men” (or women) even though we’re a “superpower.” We need to remember that “The horse [or the fighter pilot or the tank or whatever we might use in warfare] is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). We need to remember the empathy, the inspiration, the acts of courage.
My husband and I were saying yesterday morning that we wished they would do away with the Labor Day observance and instead have a 9/11 observance. But then we thought that, after a while, it would just be another Monday holiday. It would seem the height of disrespect to turn it into another day for retailers to have sales. I wonder if WWII veterans are horrified that Memorial Day and Veterans Day, beyond the occasional parade and wreath-laying ceremonies, are regarded by most people as an opportunity to be off work and go to the mall. May we as a country remember all of our fallen better than that.
The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:
Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I know that not all of you who read are in the U.S., but still, it’s vital that none of us who are decent people forget the scope of disaster that a few, evil people can cause–anywhere in the world. It’s not about religion, it’s not about politics, it’s about the acknowledgment that humans should try to work together, not tear each other apart, even when they disagree.
So, feeling my way to a question here … Terrorists aren’t just movie villains any more. Do real-world catastrophes such as 9/11 (and the bombs in Madrid, and the ones in London, and the war in Darfur, and … really, all the human-driven, mass loss-of-life events) affect what you choose to read? Personally, I used to enjoy reading Tom Clancy, but haven’t been able to stomach his fight-terrorist kinds of books since.
And, does the reality of that kind of heartless, vicious attack–which happen on smaller scales ALL the time–change the way you feel about villains in the books you read? Are they scarier? Or more two-dimensional and cookie-cutter in the face of the things you see on the news?
I don’t think major catastrophes in general change my reading habits. I am generally able to separate book villains from real ones, and in books you know everything will work out in the end (at least the books I read),
I do remember, though, after my good friend’s mother passed away when I was in my early 20s, It was my first experience with the death of someone close, and I reeled at how cavalierly death was handled, especially on TV, but sometimes also in books. I blanched when I heard jokes about death and hoped there was no one watching or listening who had recently lost someone. As a whole our society seemed insensitive to those who were grieving. So at that time I probably could not have read a story involving the death of a loved one. Though I have read many missionary books with parts detailing unimaginable suffering, for a long time I couldn’t read Gracia Burnham’s In the Presence of My Enemies because it was too close — it had happened to people not far from my age group and in my lifetime.
So, though I am not drawn to books dealing in any way with terrorists, if I were, I don’t think I could have read any around that time. We do watch some TV shows and movies with terrorist-driven plots now, but I probably could not have for a long while then.
I was drawn to articles about the different aspects of 9/11 for months afterwards, especially testimonies of people who were there in NY when it happened or family members of those those who were directly involved. The only books I read that dealt with 9/11 specifically were Karen Kingsbury novels One Tuesday Morning and Beyond Tuesday Morning.
More thoughts on 9/11 are in th next post, but I wanted to keep this one strictly in answer to the question.
In response to the HGTV special about decorating mistakes, the worst of all (according to them) being fake flowers and plants, The Nester is asking us to show our fake plants, good, bad, and in between.
As I said yesterday, I am not good with live plants. Even though fake plants do get dusty (and I do wipe them off now and then), they last a lot longer than real ones do, and they add a welcome bit of color and cheeriness. The HGTV team recommends fruit (but a jar or plate of lemons or whatever just doesn’t do anything for my decorating sensibilities. Nothing wrong with that as decorations — I just don’t like them personally) or dried materials (which also gather dust and decompose after a while), so I will stay with my pretty fake flowers, as long as they look nice and aren’t frayed, thank you very much. 🙂
Here are a few of my “fakes”:
I haven’t decorated for fall yet, but these are around my house most of the time, except for fall and Christmas.
If you’d like to join in or see other “fakers,” The Nester has a list of links here.
Evidently HGTV had a special on recently about 25 common decorating mistakes. I didn’t hear about it beforehand or I probably would have taped it, but I saw a link at The Nester to a post where Rhoda compiled the top 25 decorating mistakes according to HGTV. I searched the HGTV site and found their lists here.
I like to think of myself as fairly easy to get along with and willing to listen to advice, but this kind of thing makes my inner rebel rise up and declare, “Who sez?” I do like to watch or read “the experts” sometimes, and I appreciate gleaning knowledge about things like how to make a small room look larger, how to place arrangements on the wall in a pleasing manner, etc. But, similarly to what I said about frumpiness and the fashion industry, this kind of advice can go way overboard sometimes:
I have to admit after I read the designers’ comments in context on the HGTV site, I didn’t feel quite as riled as I did when I first saw the list. 🙂 And I did see that the show is scheduled to air again November 2.
As a general rule I do enjoy decorating shows though I don’t watch them often. Sometimes I can be inspired by a lot of creative and helpful ideas: sometimes some of the specific things they do are immensely impractical for a real family to live with. I like to just glean what I like and what works for me without really worrying much about whether a designer would approve.
I found this very helpful and practical thought in the September 6 reading of Joy and Strength, compiled by Mary Tileston:
Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
Some have found it a useful thing when their minds have wandered off from devotion and been snared by some good but irrelevant consideration, not to cast away the offending thought as the eyes are again lifted to the Divine Face, but to take it captive, carry it into the presence of God and weave it into a prayer before putting it aside and resuming the original topic. This is to lead captivity captive.
~ Charles Brent
One of my favorite hymns:
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.
O, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory,
Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace.
~ Jean S. Pigott, 1876.
Years ago when I was in college, someone jotted these lines across the back of an envelope of a note sent to me:
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
I thought it was lovely, but I didn’t know where it came from (funny the difference the Internet makes in our lives with the ability to look these things up immediately!) Then some years later I found the same lines quoted and attributed to John Greenleaf Whittier in something Elisabeth Elliot wrote, though now I don’t remember what. Later still I heard it on the radio as a hymn. I don’t remember if I have ever sung it in church — I may have. But just recently I found it from from a much longer poem.
A few of the other verses are:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
More can be found under the hymn titled “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” at Cyberhymnal. I am not as familiar with either of the tunes listed there: I have always heard it more often to the melody of the Navy Hymn, Eternal Father Strong to Save.
Whittier was a Quaker, which had a whole philosophy called “quietism” that I don’t ascribe to. But the Bible speaks of a “meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (I Peter 3:4a) and says in one of my favorite verses “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). David asks himself repeatedly in Psalm 42 and 43, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” The quietness in these verses is not a mystical state, but rather just a a peace of spirit resting on and trusting in the Lord. As David says in answer to his own question, “hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11b). Psalm 46:10 a says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 112:7 says, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.” Psalm 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” I have reminded myself at times that if I can trust God to carry me through those circumstances, I can trust Him for whatever more minor problems I am facing.
The last two lines are an allusion to Elijah’s encounter with the Lord in I Kings 19: “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice” (verses 11-12). I thought it odd that Whittier would say, ” Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,” when this passage says God did not speak through those means. Then it occurred to me he probably meant “through” not as in using those means to express Himself, but rather Whittier is asking God to speak to him in the midst of turmoil, to let him hear God’s still small voice over all the other clamor.
I found this lovely version on YouTube.
The Poetry Friday Round-Up can be found at Wild Rose Reader today.
