Remembrances and Intentions

This is such an inspiring and comforting prayer I decided to put it onto an aceo.  I resurrected this aceo just before the recent murders of our embassy workers and the widespread riots and attacks throughout the Middle East and around the globe.  It seems very timely, unfortunately.

Not wanting to distract from the intention of the words, I used clippings for the background which I want to convey a mood of struggle, support and hope.

When I see this prayer, the melody of the song for these words pops up in my thoughts.  It's an easy song to sing, a kind of mantra- soothing and spirit building at the same time.  An adult lullaby of sorts.

I don't know how many versions of this song there are or if Francis  actually wrote any version.  The prayer first appeared in 1912 in France, and the saint died around 1182 aged 44.

To be associated with this powerful message and to be remembered throughout the centuries is a powerful achievement, even if  the composition was intentional and not authentic to the saint.

Francis is the patron saint of ecology and pets.  His feast day is celebrated on October 4.

Do you want to be remembered and for what?




   

A Future September 11th

Sometime in the future there will be an ordinary day in the first half of September.  That day will find me enjoying the last remnants of summer and the anticipation of autumn.  I'll be thinking that another birthday is almost here and remembering a loved one's passing.

On that ordinary day I won't feel the intensity of a nation in mourning.  The anniversary of the tragedy will be noted, but not overpowering.  That day isn't here yet.  Eleven years on, it's still on the minds and hearts of those it intimately touched and the security of people here and abroad is an ongoing struggle.

I made this aceo from clippings and copies of my original photos of the World Trade Centers and surrounding area.  Previous posts about the day and the area are here and here.

Another generation is a third of the way grown up hearing about September 11th in history books and documentaries.  Thank you to all the heroes of the day and since then.  You are valued and remembered.

As time puts distance between the immediate tragedy and the here and now, how has that distance affected you?
      

Remembering a Day September 11, 2001 Aceo

September 11, 2001.
My collage and mixed media aceo.

Physical wounds and gaping spaces may yet not be healed in hearts, bodies, and landscapes.

We determine to get on with ordinariness and still not forget.

Here's my older post with World Trade Center photos. 

World Trade Center Remembrance and Statue of Liberty

I thought of what the World Trade Centers used to look like when the news came that the evil one had been killed.  For years, I did a lot of driving on the NJ Turnpike and couldn't stop to take photos of the buildings, but I would look at the WTCs for as long as I could, in the rear view mirror, or coming towards them, I don't know why, but I wanted to remember them, obviously this was before the attacks, before the taliban, before al quaeda, before all the misery of September 11, 2001.

This oldest photo shows the WTCs at the tip of the island.  This photo was taken with my little old plain camera, no digital or 35mm back then and was shot from the observation deck at the Empire State Building.

This is one of the WTC buildings taken from standing on the sidewalk.  I wanted to go inside, it was a Saturday and the building was fairly empty.  My husband didn't understand why I wanted to go inside, he worked in the Wall Street financial area, so these buildings didn't faze him, they were ordinary sights.  I went in for a walk around the lobby area.

Here you can see the WTCs behind the back of the Statue of Liberty.  She's giving a salute to all those who perished on September 11, 2001 and since, in the cause of freedom. 

Take that and stick it in your cowardly cave.   I surely hope the news is true.