9/11 (18 Years Ago)
September 11, 2019 (Wednesday)
Wanda and I had developed separate morning routines. I usually was at my desk and she was always busy with chores. On September 11, 2001, however, for no reason we wandered into the den and started watching the “Today” show on NBC. We were not in the habit of sitting down together in the morning and watching a morning show, but we did so that day.
The scripted program was interrupted and cameras were aimed toward the World Trade Center. Matt and Katie said they had been told a plane of some kind had hit the building. We watched in disbelief as we saw the smoke billowing from the hole in the side of that enormous skyscraper. New York City was having a crystal clear fall day, so the pictures were were watching were flawless. We could see it well, and, as we watched in horror, the second plane appeared to the right of the screen, disappeared behind the burning tower, and smashed into the other building, with an incredible ball of fire and debris. I turned to Wanda and said, “That has to be terrorism.” She nodded agreement and said, “Yes.” We sat in silence, almost paralyzed by shock, watching the television screen and listening to the commentators who were as bewildered as anyone else in those first hours. We just stared and listened to the voices, rarely speaking to each other for a while. Gradually we came to understand that we were watching a tragic scene in which thousands were dying.
My First Try At A WordPress Blog
When you read the title of this blog, you may think, “Has he not been writing WordPress blogs since August 28?” Actually, all the blogs from Aug 28 to Today were written in the blog program I used for the last 12 years. I imported them into this program and then went to work trying to make them fit this format. From all I have read and have been told, this should be much easier for me to use. You may not be interested in all this, but blabbermouth that I am, I felt I had to tell you my little secrets.
Let me back up a few days and report on my health examinations. On Sept 6, I provided a blood sample to my doctor to see if following his instructions on how to take my pills helped my thyroid to do a better job. On September 13 I will have an Echocardiogram and on the 16th a Nuclear Stress Test. I had those done about 5 years ago with good results. While I’m telling you about these, I may as well report that the injections given to me every 6 months seem to be keeping the prostate cancer under control. And I’ve been trying to remember to use a cane under advice from doctors to avoid falls. I take six prescriptions and a handful of over-the-counter meds and lotions. I suppose all this fits the profile of a guy about to turn 88.
In spite of a few memory glitches, I seem to be able to preach sermons and hold sensible conversations. I still have a sense of humor. I am thankful for the Lord’s blessings, especially that of life itself. We learned in our study of Psalms that the word, “Hallelujah” means “Praise the Lord!” Hallelujah!
The White House
September 9, 2019 (Monday)
I’ve written about a few of of our presidents. Today I want to write about the house they lived in, in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia was established and the city of Washington became a planned city from the ground up. The White House was part of the plans.
George Washington was inaugurated in New York City and had a residence there. He never lived in the White House. Philadelphia was also tagged for a presidential residence, and John Adams occupied a house there until the White House in Washington was pronounced livable, although unfinished. He then moved to a hotel near the President’s House and finally moved into it in November, 1800. He and his wife, Abigail, found it to be cold and drafty and lived there only five months before being unseated as president by Thomas Jefferson. Abigail moved back to Massachusetts and John followed on the day of Jefferson’s inauguration.
In 1814, during Madison’s presidency and the War of 1812, the British burned the White House. It was repaired and rebuilt and the next president, James Monroe, moved in.
In the year 1877, when Hayes was president, a telephone was installed in the White House. Hardly anyone else had a telephone, and the device was scarcely ever used.
As the 20th Century got under way, President Teddy Roosevelt and his family of six children enjoyed playing with each other in the mansion. About this time, renovations and repairs were necessary and a wing was added for executive offices. Roosevelt nicknamed the house as “The White House,” and the name stuck. The next president, Taft, added the oval office.
When Truman became president, he discovered that the big mansion was in dire need of major repairs. The building was gutted, rebuilt with steel and repaired outside so that when all was said and done, it looked virtually the same. But major changes had been made and the White House has served all presidents well since.
Jackie Kennedy held open house via television so that all of us could look inside and see the elegance which she felt the nation deserved in their Executive Mansion.
The Old, Old Road
September 8, 2019 (Sunday)
Yesterday’s blog was about Route 66, old-time alternative to the Interstate. Once upon a time I left I10 in Louisiana, and traveled for a while on an old parallel highway south of I-10 that ran east and west. “Slow and easy” was the way to travel that road. I don’t recall much about it except the little roadside stands selling fresh strawberries. It was a long time ago and I can’t remember the towns, but I went through several. It was “the road less traveled” that I wrote about yesterday.
There is an old road that I want to tell you about. Jesus said “I am the way..” The word, “way,” can also be translated, “road.” So Jesus said, “I am the road.” He’s the road to life. He’s the road to Heaven. He’s .. well, there’s a song by B.B. McKinney that was in the old Baptist hymnals, but I could find neither the words or music as I searched. I can remember a little of it. When I was in high school, four of us formed a quartet and we used to sing it. Here’s part of it:
There’s an old, old road by an old, old cross, and the way is narrow and straight, but it leads up home to the Great White Throne where the saints in glory wait. The old road is the only road that leads us to God. The old road is the only road, the way that Jesus trod. I’ll walk the road He walked for me, and in sin no longer roam, for the old road is the only road that leads the sinner home.”
I wish I could give you the music and all the words, but you get the idea, I’m sure.
There is another old hymn, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home,” that seems to fit this blog today. Click here to hear a portion of it. (Sung by the choir of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida).
Hear the entire song by a trio: