Monday Morning Music Ministry

02/03/2025

The World whispers, “You cannot withstand the storm.”
You respond, “I AM the storm.”
There are storms of life, a metaphor so common – unfortunately – as to be almost banal. Yes, we expect them, but too often we accept them with an attitude of resignation. We should reply with a “Fight! Fight!” spirit, not inviting challenges and problems and crises, but prepared to assert ourselves defiantly.
Not only do storms come, but, we should remind ourselves, they come and go. Storms pass by… typically, they refresh the air and allow for new beginnings… and, as dark as skies may be, and violent the elements, above those storm-clouds the sun shines. Brightly and always.
I have not intended to traffic in cliches today, but these were natural thoughts during and after the Inauguration last week, which I attended with my fiancee Mickey. My thoughts went to weather and storms while we were in Washington because Inaugural plans were shifted and changed due to bitterly cold winds and precipitation. New thoughts return to those very locations as I write this: 10 days later the magnificence of the District and the memories of the impressive ceremonies have been marred by the horrific aircraft collision over the Potomac. We had taken photos from that very vantage-point; and my son, a TV news producer, lives within earshot of the fatal crash.
Storms come. Sometimes suddenly. But we need assurance that they pass too. I will share some thoughts and photos of Inauguration weekend, as I planned to do, with what I took away as larger implications.
Wanting to experience the citizens’ points of view, we declined to attend the fancy Inaugural balls. Besides, we did not have tickets nor invitations. But I had secured tickets for the Citizens’ Rally at the Cap One Arena scheduled for the eve of the swearing-in. One problem, known in advance, was that the organizers issued more tickets than (20,000) seats; that obliged us, and perhaps a hundred thousand others, to arrive in advance.
We return to the subject of storms. Inauguration weekend was predicted to be icy-cold, windy, with hints of snow. As we gathered in lines on the afternoon before the Inauguration, we quickly realized how wrong the forecasts were: they did not specifically predict freezing rain and sleet. Here is your humble correspondent (me) during a break in the storm.

Yes, it got worse. There were at least 100,000 people in that line. We stood and shuffled for four and a half hours. The line snaked around blocks and those Washington alleys that pretend to be streets. I had gone to college in DC, and for a while was head of a foundation that brought me there two days every week, yet on this day I walked through and past streets I had never seen before. Maybe Ben Franklin did when he invented snowmen. Anyway, it was chilly; I reckoned (through brain-freeze) the third-coldest I ever have felt.
We made friends with people on line. Our “neighbors” included a pastor from the very same small town in Texas where I lived for awhile, years ago, working on a book. In fact he lived in the same condo units; he was a friend of the pastor of the church I attended back then, and is a pastor himself. “Small world,” to coin a phrase. And we made other friends the next day too.
In fact, something “dawned” on us (almost literally) as we shuffled and sloshed and shivered. After the chill would pass, we would not remember the chattering teeth, but other things about Inauguration Day. I am warming up to my point – On that long line, on that long day, in those brutal conditions, four and a half hours on our feet, no Porta-Johns nor warm oasis… that this was the best-natured crowd we had ever met.
These walking icebergs laughed and chatted, as we did. People prayed; people sang hymns. Vendors along the sidewalk (except for one poor guy trying to sell “hot” pretzels) handed out tracts and Bibles. Many people, like our new friends from Texas, or, actually, we Michiganders, had saved and spent and taken time and made hotel reservations, all hoping to be in the crowd on the Mall and see Donald Trump take the oath of office.
Such expenses and plans went up in smoke – or the sub-zero equivalents – yet these thousands of people were patient, satisfied, understanding, accepting, loyal, fraternal, faithful, and patriotic.
Yes, there was a storm. Were there miserable aspects to the weekend? Yes. Were there comic aspects too? (Travel tip – don’t listen to your tired legs and wet feet, and succumb to the temptation to hire a “Pedi-Cab” to get to your parking garage… anyway, not with an African immigrant whose wardrobe was on the seat, who needed directions shouted to him through the soundproof plastic bubble into which we were zipped and could scarcely see through… and who tried to charge $165 for the four-block bicycle ride.)
I am sure there were some grouchy folks and even some who returned to their heartland homes with coughs. And certainly not everyone in line was a Christian (although I am sure that some became Christ-followers that day). But most people exhibited that spirit to which I referred above – they sensed that the storms, of all sorts, will be passing. That there are new sun-lit days ahead. That above the awful elements that have been pummeling us that day, and as a nation… the sun shines.
The Son shines after all.
You have seen videos and photos of the Inauguration. Here are other photos of our nation’s Capital, before the storms, before the plane crashes, and afterwards, once again, we pray:

The Washington Monument, seen from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Visiting Mr Lincoln in his Memorial always is impressive at night

Directly across the Potomac from where the air crash happened 10 days later

A sad commentary on America, 2025? Not anti-riot squads, but counter-terror units outside the Supreme Court, days before the Inauguration

Also before Inauguration Day, the calm before the (snow)storm. But fences and anti-terror precautions.

I think we saw more “Jesus” signs than MAGA; more joyful people than angry. Even after this time of day (merely cold and damp) when it turned to cold rain, sleet, and snow. Make America Warm Again!

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Click: Till the Storm Passes By