Days I'll Always Remember

There have been several historical days throughout my life that I will always remember.

November 22, 1963. It was a Friday. I was eight years old and in third grade. I remember the look on my teacher's face as she entered the class room to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot. I was crushed. My little heart broke. I sobbed. I still remember it.....like it was yesterday. My teacher picking me up to quiet and comfort me. I also remember watching the funeral on TV.

I rejoiced and beamed with pride the day we landed on the moon. It was not just a few men who went into space. It was an entire nation who joined Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they stepped off Apollo 11 after the eagle had landed. Neil Armstrong spoke these famous words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The 1972 summer Olympic games was my first encounter with terrorism. You can read about what became known as the Munich Massacre here.

23 October 83....I'll remember them all. Terrorists struck the marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon with two truck bombs. There were 241 marines, sailors, and soldiers killed. Please read this article which ran in the New York Times.

But to me, the biggest tragedy of all was the day America was attacked by al-Qaeda. Hijackers intentionally crashed these two airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Within two hours, both towers collapsed. Hijackers crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania before it could reach its intended target in Washington, D.C. after the passengers attempted to take control. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks.

The day was Tuesday. I was already at work. My phone rang. A friend called to ask if I'd heard that a plane had flown into the WTC. I thought he was joking. Making up a story. So, while he was on the phone, I looked up news on the internet. It was real. I watched the footage. I couldn't believe it. It was horrific. Indescribable. I sobbed. 

It is ten years later. I still cannot watch footage of that day without crying, For the heroes who died trying to save others. For the people who went to work on an ordinary day never to return home. For the families left behind. 

If you ask someone where they were on that day, their response would not be "I don't really know" or "I'm not sure." People know exactly where they were and what they were doing. What about you? Where were you? What were you doing? How did you and your family handle this tragedy?

This song by Alan Jackson put to a photo essay says it all:


God bless America.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Isaiah 46:4 (NKJV) ⁴ Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

It's Flag Day Y'all

That's right. Today is set aside to honor Old Glory. Did you know there is a correct way to fly our beloved flag, and also a wrong way? Let's look at how to fly the flag: (There are pictures at the bottom of this post, so please hang in there through the code. You can click on the photos to enlarge.)

United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 — The Flag

§7. Position and manner of display The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.

1. The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (i) of this section.
2. The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
3. No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.
4. The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.
5. The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.
6. When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States flag's right.
7. When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.
8. When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.
9. When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.
10. When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.
11. When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.
12. The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument.
13. The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia. The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this subsection —
1. the term "half-staff" means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
2. the term "executive or military department" means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and
3. the term "Member of Congress" means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
14. When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.
15. When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east.

These are a couple photos I snapped over Memorial Day weekend:

Here's another one:

And this one...probably my favorite:

Are you flying our flag today?

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Philippians 3:20 (NKJV) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Happy Birthday to the Original Myth Buster!

Some people only think of Harry Houdini as a magician. A mystic. An illusionist. But if you think about it, he was actually the first myth buster.

Houdini was born Erik Weisz, March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Hungary.  His family moved to the United States when he was only 4 years old.  Harry began his career performing card tricks and other simple slight of hand illusions. 

From card tricks and psychic cons he graduated to the acts that would make him famous around the world, illusion and escape.  Along with his new wife Bessie they premiered the illusion “Metamorphosis” in which Harry and his assistant Bessie would switch places in a locked cabinet.

It was also around this time that Harry would offer the princely sum of $100 dollars for anyone that could produce a set of handcuffs that he could not escape from.  As he toured from town to town he not only never paid out the $100 prize but also escaped from all manners of jail cell and locked room.  Harry you see had trained himself extensively as a locksmith and would often secret any number of picks upon himself that remained undetected as he set about his task of escaping. Below is Harry and is wife, Bessie, performing the Metamorphosis.

 His future name forever secured as  the world’s foremost escape artist, and a cunning illusionist, it was in the early 1920′s after the death of his mother that Houdini began dealing with the charlatans of the spirit world. When he felt the need to try and contact the spirit of his departed mother he contacted a number of mediums who he felt were taking advantage of his grief in order to extract large sums of money from him.  Given his extensive knowledge of slight of hand and illusion Houdini quickly saw through their parlour tricks becoming a crusading force in what he saw as “Vultures who prey on the bereaved.“ Below is Harry making hands that would be felt during a seance.

Harry even went so far as to make a pact with his wife that in the event of his passing he would attempt to make contact with her, if possible from the other side, giving her a secret code so that only she could verify the legitimacy of any attempt at contact.

In 1923 Houdini took time away from his stage show touring instead to give lectures against mediums and to promote his new book A Magician Among the Spirits. He also joined a panel formed by American Scientific Magazine which offered a cash reward for anyone who could prove the existence of genuine psychic gifts. Much like Houdini’s handcuff award this prize was never claimed.

Today Houdini’s legacy is carried on in many forms.  Magicians continue to debunk the spiritualists. One need only look to Penn and Teller, or The Amazing Randy for a rational and often entertaining look beyond the veil. Winnipeg’s own Dean Gunnarson is a rightful heir to Houdini’s escape crown performing many of the escapes that Houdini himself had performed with a modern twist. These are Harry's living heirs: Dean Gunnarson and James Randi.

So Happy Birthday Harry Houdini and thank you for proving to us that with the right tools, knowledge, and faith anything can be accomplished.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Changing of the Guard

As I listened to, then watched, Barack Hussein Obama take the oath of President of the United States I knew it was truly an historic event for this country. There are many beliefs that I do not share with our new Commander in Chief: the freedom of choice (I am pro-life), same-sex marriage (I am for marriage between one man and one woman--only!), gun control (I am for the right to keep and bear arms). These contrast some of our different viewpoints.

In contemplating these differences while listening to his speech, I wonder how he can justify to himself these platforms and at the same time ask God to bless him. But I find that is typical of most politicians. They talk out of both sides of their mouth, try to appease both sides of the fence to keep up their popularity, and eventually show their true colors.

My grandson, Jacob, and I had a discussion about our new president tonight. My words to him were, "it doesn't matter if we like him or not, he is our president, and he is due a certain amount of respect because of the office he holds. We must pray for him, that he seeks and listens to Godly counsel." Then we listened to the oath of office and analyzed it, the promises to us and the promises to God.

Today, This Day, history was made. Now, as we journey together with this new administration, please pray for God's favor, guidance, and wisdom for our president, our nation, and our people.

Peace and Joy,
Susan

Deuteronomy 4:6 (NIV) Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."