In the final moments of the horrible tragedy on September 11, 2001, the North Tower began to collapse. As it fell, it sent debris and wreckage through the air toward a plot of land at the border of Ground Zero. It was unlike the other properties surrounding Ground Zero in that it wasn’t
The falling debris struck a tree and in the days that followed, as they began to clear the wreckage, workers noticed the fallen tree - a sycamore. Entwined in its roots was a brick. The tree became one of the focal points of interest and attention, and was transformed into a symbol by all who saw it.
Eventually, the tree was taken from the place of its fall and put on public display as a symbol of what had happened that day the towers fell. Its root system was carefully removed and transferred to another site.
A bronze sculpture by Steve Tobin called The Trinity Root was installed September 2005 in the south courtyard of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. Tobin created it as a memorial to the root of the sycamore tree that helped shield St. Paul’s Church from debris after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11.
Two years later, in November of 2003, workers saw a crane in the sky at the corner of Ground Zero. The crane was carrying a new tree which was guided to and set into position on the same spot where the Sycamore of Ground Zero had once stood.
There was a public gathering with speeches and ceremony. The officiant proclaimed that the new tree would be called the Ground Zero Tree of Hope.
There was symbolism in the replacement of the tree. A cedar tree is stronger than a sycamore tree. The grain of a sycamore tree is coarse, knotty, spongy and not very strong and rarely grows to more than fifty feet. The cedar tree grows straight and is majestic and towering, and can grow to well over one hundred feet. Its wood is smooth, durable and suitable for construction. The symbolism in the replacement of the tree could not be missed as the planners of the development considered it to be a suitable memorial.
As the rebuilding began, workers went to the Adirondack mountains and cut out of the bedrock a mountain rock. It was chiseled into a massive rectangular block and brought back to Ground Zero. They called it the Freedom Stone. It was to be the symbolic cornerstone of the rebuilding.
It was dedicated on the 4th of July 2004 and laid on the pavement of Ground Zero as a symbol of the new beginning. Again there was a ceremony attended by many leaders, the mayor of New York City, the Governors of New York and New Jersey, officials who had been involved with the rebuilding, and other important guests and spectators.
The Governor of New York stated as part the ceremony, “Today we take twenty tons of Adirondack granite, the bedrock of our state, and place it as the foundation, the bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence.”
But in 2006 the stone was moved away due to security concerns caused by a reconfiguration of the memorial plans. It now rests in the grassy front yard of a stone manufacturing plant in an industrial precinct in the Long Island hamlet of Yaphank.
Are you ready for the rest of the story? We must go back to April 30, 1789 when George Washington took the oath as the First President of the U.S. The streets and rooftops are overflowing with people. Washington places his hand on the Bible and swears the oath. Cannons boom and bells ring out. Then he goes into Federal Hall where he delivers the first presidential address to Congress. After that he leads the nation’s first government on foot to a little stone sanctuary to commit the nation’s future in prayer to God. This was America’s ground of consecration.
But it wasn’t in Washington D.C. America’s first capitol was New York City. President Washington led the first senators, the first representatives, the first cabinet to a church where he would lead them in a prayer of dedication to God.
That church was St. Paul’s Chapel which is right across the street from Ground Zero. At the time of the first inauguration the entire property, including Ground Zero, was one property owned by the church.
Today the tree trunk of the Sycamore of Ground Zero stands in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Chapel on display for the public to see, although most people passing by have no idea of its significance. On September 11, it was struck down inside the courtyard of St. Paul’s chapel.
All other buildings surrounding Ground Zero in that area were either destroyed or badly damaged on September 11. Only one remained untouched - the stone sanctuary of St. Paul’s Chapel. It was spared because the Sycamore tree shielded the chapel both from the force of the implosion and the flying wreckage of the falling towers.
America’s original ground of consecration still stands in spite of all the destruction of September 11.
Most of the information in this article came from a book “The Harbinger” written by a Messianic Jew by the name of Jonathan Kahn. I first heard of this book about 5 years ago. It has made a tremendous an impact on my life. It is a book of warning to America and all these items and facts are part of that warning. It has nothing to do with politics and I strongly encourage you to get it from the library or go ahead and purchase your own copy because you will want it after you have read it. Critics have tried to discount it, all to no avail. The truth is the truth regardless of the source.
© Joan Rowden Hart
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