This blog entry serves to share, from my own personal experience, what awaited us Plein Air Painters when we planned to honor the Mother Emanuel AME Church with our paintings.
Please know that I am truly humbled by this experience and I only hope to bring honor to those who call Mother Emanuel AME Church their home church and to those who lost their lives because of their love and devotion to their fellow man according to what was taught to them by God through Emanuel's late Pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney.
It was Wednesday July 1st when I arrived downtown, early, to set up and paint with our Plein Air Painting group that I first saw the church since Dylann Roof opened fire after spending an hour with prayers at their Wednesday night Prayer Meeting June 16th.
"A lot of people expected us to do something
strange and to break out in a riot,"
said Goff, the church's interim pastor
until a successor for Pinckney is chosen.
"Well, they just don't know us. We are people of faith."
I arrived early enough that no one was around at the time.
I eagerly looked for a place to set up to paint.
The only people who were around were two men talking right in front of the church as if to be close friends, discussing the matter at the site.
One man was black and the other man was white. What a poignant image!
I couldn't get to my camera fast enough and only caught them as they walked down the block, continuing their conversation.
Abruptly, like a flash of lightening, reality struck me!
An enormous, overwhelming sense flooded my being. I was caught suddenly by the kindness and loving gestures evident in what was before me. Large bouquets of flowers, prayer candles, signs, notes, American Flags, and stuffed toys left at the foot of this historic church for those 9 men and women who were taken from us that fateful night.
Somebody's hands placed these here. Somebody walked and prayed here. Somebody shed tears here.
It was plain to see how Charlestonians offered their best in the best way they could as they themselves coped with what happened the best way they could cope. And you could
feel their hearts saying, "If I could bring back your loved ones, I would. But I can't so I will offer my heart instead."
I saw that the wind had knocked down some of the bouquets and crashed some of the glass. I did my best to place upright some of what had fallen and clean up some of the broken glass.
That reality which hit me earlier punched me again and the tears burned.
.
As I investigated the scene closer,
I noticed beautiful
Crepe Myrtle trees out in front.
From the ground up to the leaves,
they were covered with
permanent marker-messages of
hope, faith and love,
written by those who came to pray and support
Emanuel AME congregants.
Then, I noticed the fire hydrant
was also covered in prayers and love messages and even had three permanent markers there
for anyone else to write. Someone was thoughtful enough to think of those coming after them,
that they might want to write a message too.
Who thinks of that?
And it hit me.
My throat grew sore and tears filled my eyes as I looked around in AWE at all of the Love, Respect and Honor on display.
Instantly my mind replayed what I saw, live, on TV during Roof's arraignment; the voices off camera belonging to those family members and friends of the fallen 9 at Roof's hand: "I am not happy at what you have done but because my God forgives me, I forgive you, I am praying for you [Roof], May God have mercy on you [Roof]."
Wow. Who does that?
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