A cold wintry morning
The air is permeated by
smoke
Flickering flames casting
shadows
On the faces of bewildered
onlookers
Their cheeks glossed over
by flowing tears
Flaming licks scorch the
hot brick
Drinking in desperation
the fire hose water
Roofing giving way to the
intense burden
All appeared lost
Yet the walls remained
standing
And the onlookers kept
watching
No longer with
tear-glossed cheeks
But now with bright eager
eyes
As the ground opened its
empty muddy mouth
And waited to be filled
They stood alone,
suspended in the air on stilts
Yet those walls remained
standing
Minutes and hours passed
on
A concrete support
appeared against the walls
Joists and Framework
sprouted seemingly overnight
Within the barrier rising
upward
Upwards into the tips of
the tallest tower
As if heralding to the
world
“Behold the dawn of a new
day!”
With renewed and
strengthened courage
The outside walls remained
standing
On a cold windy morning
The air was permeated with
pure white snowflakes
And coated the Grounds
with its downy powder
On the faces of bewildered
onlookers
Were cheeks all rosy from
the crisp cold wind
The flakes clang sideways
to the restored brick
As a returned long lost
friend
Beauty was restored
The future became bright
And through it all…the walls remained standingCommentary:
December 17, 2010. It was a tragic day for those who lived in the Provo, Utah area and for the many of those who went there as students as visitors. In the center of Provo stood a historic building that built memories in many generations of the local communities. I personally have memories of that place being a member of a community choir who used the facility for concerts, and who could forget when the families gathered together to fill the building in order to practice for the 1997 Pioneer Sesquicentennial? But all of that went down in smoke on this day as an electrical glitch sparked a fire and literally burned the building to the ground, with the exception of the outside wall. I passed by that morning on my way to work while it was burning. It was so surreal, not far off from witnessing the death of a loved one. Many tears were shed and memories were shared. This building was the heart of the community, and many hearts broke that day. After the destruction, the community was left with the question, "What now?" About a year or so later, it was announced the building would be rebuilt to its original outside structure, but would be used as a temple.
I had the privilege of watching the building from the beginning as the construction began. They kept as much of the original walls as they could, but since they needed to utilize the underground, they had the walls balanced on stilts. It was an amazing engineering effort to be able to keep those walls holding while the men worked on the underground beneath. From watching them work in that great pit to watching them complete the outside work of the temple was a beautiful thing to witness. Each step was taken with great care, and now the building stands tall and strong again. It's an example to me about living life. Though everything may look like it's falling apart and burning to ash, I can rebuild and in my efforts to rebuild a beautiful ending awaits.
The following video was posted on YouTube which portrays the sentiments of this experience well.
