And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
-Mark 13:2
Well, God is in heaven
And we all want what's his
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is.
—Bob Dylan, "Blind Willie McTell"
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
—W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"
With these quotes, you seem to paint 9/11 as judgment on America. Do you believe that or have I misunderstood the intent of your post?
ReplyDeleteI'm not painting 9/11 as anything. Just some quotes that captured my mood. That having been said, I've got to say that your reaction puzzles me.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though the picture and the two first quotes in the context you've given them convey judgment against the power/pride/greed symbolized by the WTC. Just my initial impression...
ReplyDeleteOf course, we know that God would never judge America for its idolization of power, pride and greed. He would never use evil people to destroy symbols of America's idolatry. Americans are, after all, the chosen people. God is love (just love) and exists to help his people achieve the American dream. So if that is what the intent had been, it would have been blasphemy. That is, unless the God of Israel is the living God. He's quite a different sort of chap than the impotent, pandering God of America's civic religion.
ReplyDeleteJan-Wim Wesselius sends the following by email:
ReplyDeleteAt once, I associated the sight of the towers with the beautiful hymn 482 of our hymnal, which starts with "The last will be the first". The fourth stanza: The lowest will rise, the towers will fall, the word is to the deaf, the truth is to the dream".
Everybody had his or her own association, whether logical or not. Our Rolf (then 4 years old) watched the Terror in New York City episode of The Thunderbirds (in which the Empire State building falls down) five times in the following days, avoiding all questions about it.
Jan-Wim Wesselius, Kampen, The Netherlands