September 11

Thoughts on September 11, 2001.

Here is something I wrote on September 11, 2001, the day of the 9/11 attacks.

A Farewell to the Demons

9-11 ... The day when darkness emerged from the cracks and crevices of the earth and tried to block the light of the sun with a hideous plume of black smoke and dust. The war that we now engage will know no national boundaries, nor will it be focused on any race or ethnicity. This is the war of light vs. darkness, good vs. evil. The enemy we fight are not faceless. They are those who gather in secret enclaves and inhabit the dark nether regions of the earth. They cannot bear light and are found in clefts and cracks, much like bugs who squirm when a rock is lifted and they are bombarded by light. These beings masquerade as human, yet they are not. There is no reflection in their eyes, for they are bereft of heart and spirit. They are only bodies that steal air to maintain their hearts of darkness. These are secret combinations whose master is mayhem.

We shall fight this war against these beings and all who would harbor them.

Some groups and nations have come to believe that these beings are "fundamentalists" who do what they do for a righteous reason in the name of god. Those sorry people! Why is it that they cannot see that these beings do not worship any god .... they only worship and serve pure evil. It will be too bad for those who have been duped into believing that these faceless demons are heroes. There is nothing heroic about killing defenseless people and then hiding behind women and children. Those who fire their AK-47s and dance in the street when they learn of the death of thousands are simple fools who are the dross and refuse of humanity and they shall join the demons on the dunghill of history.

Thus we say to these demons and their ignorant minions: enjoy the night while it lasts, for the daylight is coming. As the light breaks through into your crevices, it will be too late for you. You will briefly squirm and try to scurry to the back of the cave. But this light will be a laser such as you could never conceive. This light will be terrible and swift and it will be powered by the love, compassion, and concern of a billion human hearts. There is nowhere for you to run, so be patient. The light is coming and after you and those who harbor you are obliterated, it will be as if you never existed. You do not even exist now. Goodbye.

Randall P. Jensen (September 11, 2001)

On September 11, 2006 (the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks), I wrote the following poem.

A September Dream

The alarm clock and the radio
tried to take your sleep away.
The sun came up as it always does
on a bright late summer day.

Watered eyes in a bathroom sink
and a sip from the morning brew.
A quick kiss dashing out the door
towards a fate you never knew.

The elevator filled with workers
and finally held no more.
To the hundredth floor where no eyes met
while you ambled out the door.

Through clear windows you gave a glance
to the New York streets below.
The computer screen and CNN
told you all you'd need to know.

As you settled in, something caught your eye
through the window to your right.
A flash, a bang and shudder
filled the sky with a burning light.

The building swayed as you fell to the floor
while dark smoke filled the air.
What's happened? How can this be?
you thought as you reached the stair.

You opened the door to a sickening sight,
the people already dead.
The heat and gas and flame and smoke
and you thought about what you said.

To your wife and son and daughter
when you rushed out from your home.
"Clean up your room and make your bed,
stop wasting time on the phone!"

You slowly walked to the window
and gazed out towards the sea.
If I could just talk to them one more time
before my trip to eternity.

You lifted the phone to a scratching sound
but you dialed it anyway.
And a wonderful lovely faraway voice
saying, "Honey, it's a beautiful day."

And then the building crumbled
in a tower of smoke and flame.
You rode it down and all they found
was a paper with your name.

But penciled on the paper
was a message written clear.
"To my wife and son and daughter ...
we will always be close and dear.

"My family, life is beautiful,
and you need to know one thing.
I love you more that you'll ever know
and you'll hear me when you sing.

"The smoke and dust will dissipate
with the winds off to the stream.
But your daddy's soul will never die ...
I will be there in your dreams."

Just getting started

I am just getting started with my blog. Thanks for all the messages you have all sent for my birthday. I sincerely appreciate it.

Randy,

Happy Birthday!

I married someone that in SO many great ways is exactly like you. That alone tells you how great I think you are. Two experiences:

One, it was quite a few years ago when Aubrie was 2 or 3. Ryan and I were with you in the car and we were talking about how overwhelmed we felt about parenting and I think at that point we were sincerely feeling like we were ruining our daughter because we didn't know how to handle her sometimes (well...most of the time for about a year there). We felt like we were just squishing the personality right out of her because of the way we were parenting. We were expressing all of this to you. and what did you do....you laughed--really hard actually. In a nutshell you told us that Aubrie was one of the luckiest girls to come to our family and have the parents she does and that we were great parents. There wasn't any advice given or anything like that. And really that was probably the best thing you could have done at the time because every time I think of that experience I think, if Randy with so many years experience as a dad could sit there and just laugh at us while we are pouring out our hearts in frustration because he thought what we were saying was so ridiculous--then maybe we are really not doing that bad. It has actually helped me SO many times since then.

Another experience that is in my recent memory was last summer...I was up at your house by myself with the kids (it was when Ryan and I were apart for those 6 weeks) and Karen was helping me by getting all of the kids in the car while I grabbed some last minute things from the house. I walked past the office where you were sitting and said goodbye. You said something and it started a conversation. I think Karen finally came inside to see where I was about 20 minutes later. And I actually don't even remember what we talked about specifically, but I remember feeling very loved by you and Karen that night. I felt like you knew that I was kind of having a hard time (I was pregnant with Blake and probably a little emotional) and feeling overwhelmed and you sensed it. I am grateful to have such wonderful inlaws. And I am grateful that the things that you taught Ryan as your son about integrity, hard work, sticking with something, loving God and putting family first are an integral part of our life as a couple and that they are being taught to our kids.

I love you!

Amber

Happy Birthday Dad...from all of us!

from all of us!
Let the photos begin.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMPS!

HAPPY BIRTH!! PARA-BENS PRA' VOCE!!

Three Reasons Why I Love Randall Paul:

Humor - I have so many great memories of laughing with you over the years. I still remember being tickled by you as a kid. I remember laughing until our guts split to Bill Cosby. I remember watching "Matt Foley, the Motivational Speaker" on Saturday Night Live for the first time with you on the black & white TV in your bedroom upstairs in our home in Midland and both of us laughing so hard that we were crying. I have laughed with you countless times on the golf course. And then there were the times where you weren't laughing...but your personality mixed just right that it made mom laugh and that got me laughing (Paraguay, "let's pull over to get some 'pink eye'", putting the car in park and turning off the ignition in the middle of traffic just because mom said, "Randy! Stop so we can see the fireworks!"...just to name a few examples :)

Wisdom - I admit that I missed many of your nuggets of wisdom over the years, as I struggled to stretch my brain enough to capture 2% of your postulations on various subjects including politics, the "carnival in Babylon", stupid juvenile delinquents, how none of us will ever learn to work until we live on a farm, the spoiled kids next door, boot camp, how even the cows 'get it', something about my major malfunction, how decisions about college football are made by the "good 'ole boy network and their cronies in smoke-filled rooms behind closed doors", your utter disdain of Brent MUSHburger, never throw a curve-ball until you are nearing the end of puberty, and the evil empire that is the Democratic Party. Your wisdom is vast and is what makes you so unique and so great! :)

Testimony - I taught EQ last Sunday about the Book of Mormon and I shared an 8-minute version of your "bicycle trip". I realized in a new way that so much of the foundation of my testimony has been built on hearing that story over and over again. It has shaped my own testimony of the Book of Mormon. I shared with our quorum the change that happened in your life from the year after returning home from Vietnam to the time you ended your reading of the Book of Mormon in Omaha, Nebraska and decided to return home and change your life. I told them how reading the Book of Mormon brought you closer to God, as stated by Joseph Smith, "than by any other book" and, as a result, gave you purpose and direction. When I share that story and think of how great a father you are, it is a living miracle as to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon to bring souls to Christ and the importance of knowing that the book is true by the power of the Holy Ghost. Your life is a constant reminder to all of us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Dad, thank you for your living testimony.

I love you!

Ryan

Happy Birthday Randy!

Randy,

Happy birthday! I love you for the wonderful example you are to all of us. As I have become a father and tried to assume that role, I am beginning to understand more how much our parents sacrifice for us. As I have watched you over these past two years, I have come to recognize just some of the sacrifices you continually in order to serve your family. Being married to such a wonderful woman and seeing her sensitivity to the spirit and to the feelings of others, I understand that who she is is a direct result of the sacrifices and effort you and Karen put into raising your children. I look forward to seeing you in August. I love you.

Love,

Dave