Let us remember

"Our faith would be stronger if we would remember 

what God has done for us in the past. 

For some reason, as humans, we seem to remember 

all the hurts and tragedies of our past, 

but forget the good that has happened. 

“Some saints have very short memories. 

It has been well said that we write our benefits in dust 

and our injuries in marble,

 and it is equally true that we generally inscribe 

our afflictions upon brass,

while the records of the deliverances 

of God are written in water."

C. H. Spurgeon   (from "The Lion & the Bear") 

The day the planes fell . .

"One day everything changed.

I met neighbors I had never met before.

Strangers spoke openly and freely to one another.

People were unusually courteous and thoughtful.

Famlies hugged each other and walked to church holding hands.


Strangers greeted each other with kindness and generosity.

No one cared about the color of anyone's skin,
the clothes they wore,
or their station in life.

I thought I had stepped into Heaven.

It was September 11, 2001."

~ John Welshons

What a profound observation of those days.

Memories . . .

I never cry, but here I am;

Sitting . . .
Surprised . . .
tears filling my eyes,
threatening to spill down my cheeks.

Why?

A small crop-duster plane just flew by outside my window. 

That's weird, you say!
Why would an airplane cause someone to cry?

In grief and loss, we never know when something -
     a sound
     a smell
     a picture
     or anything - will trigger a memory. 

It just suddenly overwhelms and engulfs us with deep sadness,

unannounced,

unpredictably,
rudely
with no warning. 

And  - I was immediately overwhelmed with a deep sadness,

. . . . then all these memories started to flow over me. 

LOTS of bittersweet memories.

Bitter, because he died.
Sweet, because he lived.