“I didn’t know…. was this only a dream?” I thought to myself as I tossed & turned after a sleepless midnight stir. I quickly awoke as I finally realized, I was dreaming of living like nothing had happened or ever occurred. Disheartened, I gathered my purse, cup of joe, turned on some blues & drove down the road. I was hoping to stop all the frustrating questions that kept going round & around in my head. As I slowly drove passed the large iron gates, I took a quick glance at a familiar landmark that looked out of place. I could not believe this, it seemed so amazing, like time had stood still, or maybe just missed it. I gazed at the presence of some remarkable trees, untouched by the fire they escaped that hot blaze. The arms of their branches embraced the blue sky, like the hands of our prayers reaching up toward the heavens. They were valiant, victorious & survived through the flames; they defeated the enemy, “to death not today”! It seemed so ironic, this scene was iconic, in the heart of our city, there was life in our gravestone garden. Our historical cemetery, the potters field, had battled the fire of those who were buried. Like a bright shining light through the shadow of dark, it was a breath of fresh air, this appearance of life. I wanted to run barefoot, free through the trees, capture the essence, of the tall green pines in the cool gentle breeze. But then all around me I looked & I saw, chaos & ruins that surrounded it all. That hot autumn day I could not erase, it had changed us forever, touched us deeper than ever. I wanted to scream, I was tempted to shout, to yell at this world laying broken & still! So I drove down through town, wiped the tears from my face, when I spotted yellow daffodils springing up all around. Was it Johnny Appleseed who changed the sowers plan? Or maybe the Gold miners daughter who had a prospectors pan. Whoever, whatever, whenever it happened, it changed my perspective to see beauty for ashes. I turned at the corner, my eyes were surprised, a once barren tree was now covered with lavender blossoms! For an instant, a moment, it seemed like somehow, I’d stepped back in time before the madness began. Just then my questions were finally answered, now I saw clearly to what had just happened. We can’t change the past, though that’s what we want most, but we can paint today with a vision of hope. A plan to set forth a new life for ourselves, begins with a start to finish the race. Let us strive to be bold, take a chance to be brave, arise like the Phoenix & say, “to death not today”! Never forget who we are, what we’ve done, we’re in this together, we are stronger as one! As God is our witness, let’s honor our past, as we are a people who are rising from the ashes!
