Fifteen Years Ago

As I read comments on my post “Lessons Learned,” it struck me how many people have yet to see the Memorial of the Bombing in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1990, 9:02 AM.

So, I thought I would share two more of my recent photos taken at the Memorial in hopes of giving others a sense of the emotion that stirs at that place. My purpose is not “shock and awe,” but simply a part of my own remembrance of that moment and the days that have followed.

This photograph was taken during a visit of our good friend Christy Tennant from New York City. She is standing at The Survivor Tree which is a symbol of human resilience. Today, as a tribute to renewal and rebirth, the inscription around promontory where the tree stands reads,

The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.

The tree somehow managed to survive the blast while all around it was destroyed. Each year seeds from the tree are planted and seedlings of the tree are planted all over Oklahoma and the Nation. You can buy a seedling of The Survivor Tree for your own yard. All the information is at

http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org

Behind Christy stands one of the Gates of Time. A block-long Reflecting Pool is flanked on the east and west by these soaring bronze gates, which symbolically frame the moment of the explosion at 9:02 a.m.. One, marked 9:01, represents the peace that prevailed seconds before the bomb exploded. The second, marked 9:03, symbolizes the bomb’s aftermath, when, as the Memorial mission statement notes, those affected by the bomb were “changed forever.”

Across the street from the Memorial is a statue of Christ. The inscription at the foot of the statue says, “And Jesus wept.”