The Heart of the Rose: Never Forget: 9/11

I was old enough to remember what it was like the day the terrorists took down our towers. I woke up that morning with my mom hurrying into my bedroom and telling me that America was being attacked and people were dead. We didn't have a tv, so I sat at the kitchen table glued to the radio while Mom called our friends and told them to turn on their tvs and see what was happening. Within hours, the second plane had hit the second tower, one was down in Pennsylvania, and one had landed partly in the Pentagon. Newscasters worried how many more planes would hit before the last planes of the day could get safely to the ground and out of immediate danger. (Planes across the country were grounded, but many were in-flight as all this transpired.)

I recall the sudden rush of patriotism as Americans realized that a controlling society who hated us wanted to take us down, to remove our freedoms, to impose their own versions of morality on us, to make us irrelevant and take away the things we loved the most: our freedom to worship, our freedom to live as we pleased, our freedom to be the vibrant culture we'd fought so hard to defend more than once.

I recall visiting DC soon after, in November of 2001. My first views of the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the White House, and all of those rich historical locations, was under the periodic roar of low-flying Black Hawk helicopters patrolling over the nation at war. It was with watching well-armed mounted police on their circuits around the White House and the Capitol mall. It was with the amazed wonder of a newbie Metro rider, boldly exiting the subway station called "Pentagon" to get a glimpse of the damaged building, only to have a massive escalator spit us out right at the toes of dozens of soldiers guarding the damaged wall--definitely intimidating, so we took a hasty glimpse of boarded-up windows and busy construction while immediately turning around and going right back to the Metro station for the next train out.

It was terrible to see our nation at war.

Yet--it was wonderful to see the "team spirit" of flags flying and neighbors united in national enthusiasm. I do miss that part of it. I wish we as a whole hadn't forgotten our love for our country so quickly.

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Well, the years rolled on. We always knew the culture of the enemy was one reverent of anniversaries, so we often wondered if another attack would come on another 9/11. Thankfully, the next big one never came. But in 2012, an embassy was attacked on the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Red tape kept backup from helping our ambassador until a brave group of special forces men went in to attempt a rescue.

While the death of this group of men didn't have the same force to Americans--after all, it was four men, not a few thousand people which involved everyone's neighbors and relatives--these men have a wonderful thing in common with the first responders of NYC. They knew the danger of the country there and they faced it head-on without flinching. There aren't very many folks saying their names these days, but they deserve to be remembered also.

Here are their names:

Once again our country faces a time of turmoil. Now it's a new sort of threat: an internal one. What do we really stand for? What do we really believe about our country and about the people around us? Now the enemies of our country are trying to lie to us about our past, to try to tell us our past is bad and their anarchy is better. I pray that we stand strong once more and refuse those who would try to turn us against each other based on our race. We are stronger together and we will always be stronger together: United we stand: divided we fall.

Let's all be praying for a revival.

God's spirit poured out among people has always brought about forgiveness and healing and love for each other. There is no other answer for our nation.

What I'm reading:

I haven't read political books in ages. Here's the nonfiction book I'm currently reading which is very informative and traces the origins of the divisive movement we're currently facing: