You may remember that the Washington National Cathedral and the Washington Monument were badly damaged in the Virginia earthquake of August 23, 2011. Three of the four grand pinnacles of the cathedral...each weighing 50 tons....collapsed. Gargoyles were damaged with one decapitated by falling debris. Today....seven years later....they are only half way finished with the repairs. That earthquake was a message to us from God. The Washington Monument was closed for three years for repairs. It reopened but is closed again due to chronic elevator problems and not expected to be open to the public again until 2019. I wrote these words in a preface to this post a few years ago...."I love America and that sentiment is written throughout these posts but I love it as the gift that has been given to Americans and to the world. It is the Gift-Giver that deserves our adoration! God will either save America for His purposes or He will let us fall in our own delusion. He will not be mocked nor can we convince Him to see it our way. We will either prostrate ourselves before Him or He will prostrate us before our enemies." I bring this post back today in light of the most recent 'Christian' funeral service at our 'National House Of Prayer': The following was first posted February 16, 2009:
Memorials
I visit Washington D.C. occasionally, even though it is essentially a giant Masonic symbol complete with an Obelisk in the middle. There is a similarity here with the temples of ancient Athens. As you walk up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, Abe's eyes stare down at you. In fact, written above President Lincoln's marble statue are the words "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people, for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined..." I'll walk slowly and reverently in the "V" shaped Vietnam War Memorial. There was controversy with this architecture at first, for being cut into the ground seemed to give an aura of defeat to it but there is no defeat at that memorial, the defeat in Vietnam is in the halls of Congress and universities. I'm solemn when I walk around the new WWII Memorial and currently I'm having a difficult time reading through a book on the Bataan Death March...man's inhumanity towards man! The Korean War Memorial is also a favorite.
My father is buried across the Potomac in Arlington National Cemetery. When there I also visit Robert Dean Stethem's grave site. He was the heroic young Navy diver that terrorists murdered during a TWA hijacking in 1985 and then threw his body out of the plane and onto the tarmac. I also find myself looking up at Robert E. Lee's home that was confiscated during the war and think of those who lost their lives in that conflict.
The Apostle Paul walked among the temples of Athens and came upon an altar with the inscription..."To the unknown god." He then said to the Athenians..."what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." Our temple to the unknown god is the Washington National Cathedral, the site of state funerals for Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan and Ford. Congress had designated it a National House of Prayer. Our memorials of brick and stone have a place but it is in front of our pulpits where we should worship. Should we ever realize this, the Washington National Cathedral would become an oddity with more relevance to ancient Athens than the founding of the United States of America.
Memorials
I visit Washington D.C. occasionally, even though it is essentially a giant Masonic symbol complete with an Obelisk in the middle. There is a similarity here with the temples of ancient Athens. As you walk up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, Abe's eyes stare down at you. In fact, written above President Lincoln's marble statue are the words "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people, for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined..." I'll walk slowly and reverently in the "V" shaped Vietnam War Memorial. There was controversy with this architecture at first, for being cut into the ground seemed to give an aura of defeat to it but there is no defeat at that memorial, the defeat in Vietnam is in the halls of Congress and universities. I'm solemn when I walk around the new WWII Memorial and currently I'm having a difficult time reading through a book on the Bataan Death March...man's inhumanity towards man! The Korean War Memorial is also a favorite.
My father is buried across the Potomac in Arlington National Cemetery. When there I also visit Robert Dean Stethem's grave site. He was the heroic young Navy diver that terrorists murdered during a TWA hijacking in 1985 and then threw his body out of the plane and onto the tarmac. I also find myself looking up at Robert E. Lee's home that was confiscated during the war and think of those who lost their lives in that conflict.
The Apostle Paul walked among the temples of Athens and came upon an altar with the inscription..."To the unknown god." He then said to the Athenians..."what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." Our temple to the unknown god is the Washington National Cathedral, the site of state funerals for Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan and Ford. Congress had designated it a National House of Prayer. Our memorials of brick and stone have a place but it is in front of our pulpits where we should worship. Should we ever realize this, the Washington National Cathedral would become an oddity with more relevance to ancient Athens than the founding of the United States of America.
