9/11/2001 - To quote a famous president, "A day that will live in infamy"
The image of the plane flying straight into the towers on Good Morning America that Tuesday morning is seared into my brain! And then the images rolled past - each one more horrible than the last! American mourned! The flags flew proudly! We were a nation united in a common cause - defeat evil - that evil that the "average" man or woman had little clue about until suddenly planes were crashing out of the sky: one, two, three, four... and were there more??!!
This morning on my way to pick up a friend for church I passed a well-known fast food place and noticed the American and their chain flag both flying at half mast! At first I thought, "O, 9/11 - honor the dead!" And as I continued to drive and reflect suddenly I was slammed with the thought, "NO! While we do mourn the dead killed in terror by Islamic radical terrorists, we should be flying our flag high! This is the land of the free and the home of the brave!"
The terrorists want us to cower. They want us to lower our stars and bars! They want to destroy us forever!
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n 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!
--Francis Scott Key, 1814
Our star-spangled banner will yet wave as long as our God is the One in Whom we trust! We are the land of the free and home of brave hearts at His discretion! To God be the glory!
Showing posts with label terrorists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terrorists. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, November 22, 2008
What is Truth?
I love to read! I read for pleasure. I read to learn. Usually I have more than one book going at the same time. Recently my husband and I listened to a fascinating "book CD" while we were traveling. It's an exciting novel with intrigue, terrorists, plots and counter plots and more - The Bourne Betrayal.
One line struck me particularly as applicable in other contexts. Two of the Arab terrorists are talking about truth. One says to the other, "There is no truth in the desert. In the desert the sands shift constantly like the truth. ... The law of the desert demands it!"
What a compelling metaphor of life in 2008! Truth has been diluted and disregarded until the lines between truth and lie are so blurred that even "high-powered magnification" makes it difficult to distinguish between them. Truth is no longer considered absolute in most circles - even by some in the church. Truth is thought to shift like desert sands blowing with the winds of whim or personal preference.
What compels me about the statement the terrorist made is WHERE such "truth" exists - IN THE DESERT! We have come to a desert in many ways in our society. Truth is thought to be relative so that what is truth for me may not be truth for you. Truth is considered adjustable and constantly changing.
No wonder we live so badly most of the time! No wonder we love others so badly! We have no standard for a code or to measure where we are on the continuum of values. We have been taught overtly and covertly by media, education and society that our truth, values and ethics are fluid and situational. Few people understand that there is "TRUE TRUTH" (as Dr. Francis Schaeffer used to describe real truth).
In the desert places of life, shifting sand is no place to anchor. Truth that is real and true exists everywhere and anywhere we are. God has given us standards by which to evaluate and process truth in the words of Scripture. We don't get God's truth by osmosis, however. We MUST read it. We must contemplate it. God's truth must sink deeply into our hearts and minds. God's truth must change how we think and act.
Jesus told a story about two men who each built a house. One built his house on shifting sand. The other built his house on the rock. When the storms of life came, Jesus said the house on the sand "went smash"! Jesus said the house on the rock stood firm!
Storms come in life. God's truth, God's love and grace and grounding on the Rock (Jesus Himself) are the ways we can stand even in the storms of life as well as the sunshine! And that is true truth!
One line struck me particularly as applicable in other contexts. Two of the Arab terrorists are talking about truth. One says to the other, "There is no truth in the desert. In the desert the sands shift constantly like the truth. ... The law of the desert demands it!"
What a compelling metaphor of life in 2008! Truth has been diluted and disregarded until the lines between truth and lie are so blurred that even "high-powered magnification" makes it difficult to distinguish between them. Truth is no longer considered absolute in most circles - even by some in the church. Truth is thought to shift like desert sands blowing with the winds of whim or personal preference.
What compels me about the statement the terrorist made is WHERE such "truth" exists - IN THE DESERT! We have come to a desert in many ways in our society. Truth is thought to be relative so that what is truth for me may not be truth for you. Truth is considered adjustable and constantly changing.
No wonder we live so badly most of the time! No wonder we love others so badly! We have no standard for a code or to measure where we are on the continuum of values. We have been taught overtly and covertly by media, education and society that our truth, values and ethics are fluid and situational. Few people understand that there is "TRUE TRUTH" (as Dr. Francis Schaeffer used to describe real truth).
In the desert places of life, shifting sand is no place to anchor. Truth that is real and true exists everywhere and anywhere we are. God has given us standards by which to evaluate and process truth in the words of Scripture. We don't get God's truth by osmosis, however. We MUST read it. We must contemplate it. God's truth must sink deeply into our hearts and minds. God's truth must change how we think and act.
Jesus told a story about two men who each built a house. One built his house on shifting sand. The other built his house on the rock. When the storms of life came, Jesus said the house on the sand "went smash"! Jesus said the house on the rock stood firm!
Storms come in life. God's truth, God's love and grace and grounding on the Rock (Jesus Himself) are the ways we can stand even in the storms of life as well as the sunshine! And that is true truth!
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