Psalm 23:5a
September 12, 2001
I can still feel the way the ground shakes when an artillery round lands nearby. I can tell you that when that happens, you look around real quick for a table to crawl under. You reach real fast for something - anything - that will protect you.
When the earth shakes, when the skies rain fire, when our bones quiver with unimaginable pain and when our lives are shattered by tragedy we instinctively grasp for a representative of God. Yesterday some of God's representatives wound up giving their life in the selfless heroism that comes from doing one's duty. Even in the face of sheer horror, angels in fire retardant coats rushed into collapsing buildings to rescue one more soul.
Other representatives of God spent yesterday organizing responses to the yet-unfolding tragedy and its aftermath. Chaplains providing comfort and counsel to wounded and rescuers alike. EMT's, firefighters, police officers and tons of ordinary citizens responding helpfully to push back not just debris but despair. Pastors organizing prayer vigils and parents struggling to offer words of explanation to children who wonder if they're home is safe.
Certainly it takes courage and strength to respond to the aftermath of such horror. It takes strength beyond our own to respond with abundant security in the face of an active threat. It takes courage from above to provide someone else with still water and anoint them with oil in the face of a predatory enemy.
It is no an accident that the first bibliography of post-traumatic stress was compiled by a former chaplain at Khe Sanh. A story is told of him celebrating the Mass, lifting the Host and Cup as the NVA dropped a mortar round into its tube.
"Seventy-three seconds of hang time left, Chaplain Ray," said his assistant as he reverently lowered these elements back onto a makeshift altar. Then everyone scrambled for the nearest bunker.
Each of us individually is a person people look to for such a table. Together at VIPCare, we are a place of table-building missionaries. We are among the folk people look to for such a table. When they are surrounded by enemies, they give us a call. When they are overwhelmed by circumstances, they find our name. Our fifty minute hour is like that pause in the bombardment: we have just enough time to lift up something holy in the 'hang time' of the shells falling into life - a reminder that all of life is not chaotic. Not every home strewn with mud. Not every neighbor misbegotten.
Then they have to scramble to someplace safe while the enemy stalks them once more. Even as our own world heaves, we alternate between keeping our balance and marveling that something as meager as our voice sheds some light in the darkness. We are astonished that gossamer words create a table of resources.
It is tempting to believe that mere words cannot prevail against such darkness. But you and I are living witnesses that it is only with words that such darkness can truly be overcome. What words, you ask? Those virtues that we are charged to embody in our bearing, our touch, our silence and our speech: faith, hope and love. May God in mercy give each of us the courage to embody such faith, the vision to perceive such hope and the integrity to persist in love no matter what darkness afflicts those who come to us and ask for anointing oil, still water and a comforting staff in the face of unrelenting evil. Selah!
Donald D. Denton, Jr., D. Min.
VIPCare - Richmond, Virginia