God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea. Psalm 46: 1,2
The earth moved this past Tuesday, September 11, 2001. It is the day which will be remembered as the day our world changed, indeed, forever.
We Americans now know that we live in a different world tonight. We know we are vulnerable for we have had visited upon us, on our native soil, "The arrow that flies by day; the terror that lays waste at noon day". With a sudden randomness born out of a desperate, sheer irrationality, evil in the form of perverse acts schemed in dark hearts, burst upon us - swiftly, stealthily, chaotically. Such is the reality of evil!
We feel the tenderest threads of common decency, order and civility unraveling . We fear the fabric of the whole may be rent asunder. We feel the docks of stability, rationality and normalcy slipping from their moorings. We fear we may be engulfed in a sea of terror and waste and war. Such is the reality of evil!
We tremble as our grand national illusions of invulnerability and invincibility have now been irrevocably shattered. We wince at the grotesque spectacles of glistening planes hurtling out of the sun into buildings; of mighty edifices, symbols of our national power and wealth, being reduced to rubble. We choke upon these hard facts amid the dust and the debris and the death. Such is the reality of evil!
Amid the twisted steel and wreckage, a gash of reality has cut a swath through the nation's psyche. And here in this parish, in this place of light and prayer and hope, we have been especially scarred, for we too are no longer the same. Tonight, our hearts ache as we grieve with Michael and Barbara - and the entire Newton family, especially for Amy and the children in Virginia. We know that their loss is our loss, and their grief our grief. And yes, we weep with them this night for our pain is palpable. Christopher was wrenched from his loving wife and precious children and devoted family - -violently, horribly, helplessly. Such is the reality of evil!
Throughout this large gathering this night, perhaps there are not simply trickles of anger, but tides of rage. The earth has moved. The nation has been rocked. Each of us is shaken. Families have been scarred forever, and each of us is wounded. In this parish we have been dealt the direct hit of a personal grief, and we are all now intimately involved. Such is the reality of evil!
But it shall not prevail, this evil. It will not overwhelm us in a threatening floodtide of anger, revenge and hatred. It cannot, ultimately, have any dominion over us. And it will not destroy us! Why? Because we in this place are Easter People.
We believe in a mighty God. A God whose business it is to create and not destroy. A God whose busines it is to reach into the chaos and death, pulling out of it new life, transforming out of the old, that which is, even now, becoming the new.
We believe in a Risen Lord, the Christ of all worlds, the Conqueror of evil and death, who, even now, especially now, stands astride the carnage and havoc of human history and declares: "Behold, I am building a new heaven and a new earth".
We believe in a most gracious and kindly Holy Spirit, present in us and let loose upon the world in power and fire, in consolation and comfort, in judgement and grace.
Yes! We believe this new creation is being built in us, in the Church, this strangely configured community of the redeemed, even now walking hand in hand through this nightmare of the damned.
We believe that life is stronger than death, love is mightier than hatred, forgiveness will root out revenge, and unity will overcome estrangement. We in this place are Easter people. We know who we are. We know whose we are. We are daring people of faith. We belong to our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is in him that we live and move and have our being. We stand here!
Amen.
Delivered by The Rev'd Lorne Edward Weaver
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Long Beach, CA
A Solemn Vigil on the Occasion Of National Mourning
7 o'clock in the evening, Thursday, September 13, 2001