I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was at BYU and I woke up the same as I did every other day, got ready for class and headed to campus. I got to my Hebrew class and heard people talking. Something about some plane crashing in New York. My teacher got there a little later and gave us a bit more information. However, I don't think anything could really have prepared me for the shock that came when I found a TV on campus, surrounded by my fellow students where I first saw the footage of the attack that none of us will likely forget.
We all learned a lot that day. We learned that in spite of what we may have long thought, our country was not invulnerable. I think that we realized that maybe we needed to look a bit more at our priorities and spend a little less time focusing on the trivial and more time concentrating on what is most important.
Now, 10 years have past and I have to ask the question: Have we forgotten those lessons we learned that day? The Washington Post printed a series of articles written by religions leaders of numerous faiths about the effect that the 9/11 attacks have had on the nation. One of those articles was written by
Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spoke of the "remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy." But, after that he wrote something that I think we would all do well to think about:
Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well. It makes me think about the Nephites spoken of in
The Book of Mormon. Throughout their history we see cases in which they boast of their own strength and take it for granted that they cannot be hurt by their enemies. They are than attacked and lives are lost and the people turn back to their God with renewed fervor. But, without exception, within a few years after the initial shock of the tragedy has worn off they forget God and go right back to their lives as they had been before and forget all the lessons they learned.
Are we really much different from them? I sincerely hope that the answer is yes.
On this tenth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our country's history I hope and pray that we will not just remember those who lost their lives but that we will really remember all of the lessons we learned. I pray that we will never let our devotion to God, our families and all those around us waver. We should not need a tragedy like this one in order to remember what is really important in this life. When we say that we will never forget, for heaven sake, let's mean it!
May God bless us all.
Well, back on May 9th I planted the Pumpkin Patch. As you can see from the above picture I planted three hills. The one in the middle is your regular jack-o-lantern pumpkins. The other two are planted with the seeds from the 36 pound and 26 pound Big Max pumpkins I grew last year. I have high hopes that I will set a new personal best this year. My goal is to get a 50 pounder. We shall see.
Oh, so you noticed the newly redesigned pumpkin patch sign. Now some of you may be rolling your eyes and saying; "Oh no he didn't." Well, yes he did! You may feel inclined to point out; "But Ryan, that show ended 2 years ago. When are you going to move on." To which I say: "NEVER! Indeed you are correct, it did end 2 years ago. But, I have the complete series on blu-ray so for me it shall never end!!"
Anyway, if you think that's nuts check this out. As you know, I love to grow my pumpkins and I just feel like I could never really ever have enough of them. So, I decided to try planting some pumpkins on the roof. I'll let you know how this works out.
