The week of the anniversary of 9/11
Dear Kindred in the Spirit,
Remembering the attacks 10 years ago, there are lots of opportunities to process our nation’s collective grief and anger. Television specials, media outlets, a remembrance at the fire station, even our own worship and “GPS: Grow Pray Study” this Sunday will address the subject. I’ve appreciated the varied and thoughtful voices at The Christian Century this week. I’ve tried to post the links to the full articles on the ELUMC Facebook group “Lit from Within”.
Author of Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear and seminary professor Scott Bader-Saye says
Many commentators said that the world changed for America on 9/11, that we “lost our innocence,” that we needed to find a “new normal” to accommodate our heightened sense of vulnerability. Some said we had woken from a slumber and that this attack would give us a new sense of clarity, focus and unity. Ten years later, I think the most significant change that occurred on 9/11 was that America became a victim, and since that day we have faced the moral hazards of negotiating that status.
Pastor Michael Lindvall of Brick Presbyterian Church in NYC, has members building the 9/11 memorial:
Human beings are united by a great many things, many of them perverse. People are united by race and language, sect and geography; too often they are united by hatred and anger. To be united by hope would be exceptional. The 9/11 memorial seeks to recall the spirit of exceptional unity in the nation and world in the days just after 9/11—not wistfully, but in a way that dares to hope that such a spirit is ever a possibility. Our Sunday morning service that day will bear witness to what a member who serves on the memorial staff calls “our collective capacity to come together.”
Stephen Paul Bouman, executive director of Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has seen Muslim, Jews and Christians come together in the aftermath and he’s more convinced than ever that the church has a mission to work with those of other faiths for:
a church that turns its face toward the poor and the stranger and to those hungry for a story and a vocation, a church that lifts up its voice in lament and that is rooted in community, will always be a church in renewal.
Robin Lovin, who teaches ethics at Southern Methodist University, offers a cautionary word about the work of discourse that lies before us still:
Like an individual suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, we may be collectively unable to see what is happening to us. Americans responded well to the initial shock of 9/11 with a reaffirmation of our unity and our most important values. But fear and uncertainty have taken their toll. Ten years later, we find ourselves less clear about who we are and less able to envision a common future than we were before.
John Paul Lederach, professor of international peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, responded to the question of “How do we pursue justice and love those who wish us harm?”
If 9/11 changed anything for me, it was to lead me back to the essence of peace-building. The profound truth of Jesus’ life came home in the form of his simplest yet most radical act: befriending the enemy. To his disciples’ consternation, Jesus ate with his enemies and he went to their houses. None of this implied that he changed his fundamental beliefs or values. It implied, rather, that he wanted to build relationships with those deemed untouchable and a threat. He chose love over fear, engagement over isolation and separation.
May our thoughts this week turn to gratitude for the responders and volunteers, to comfort for the friends and families of those who lost loved ones, to healing for those still suffering from the effects, to thoughtful discourse rather than fearful rhetoric, to a prayer for those who think themselves our enemies, and to a commitment to reconciliation and peace.
Shalom, Pastor Kelly
[ Above quotes excerpted from The Christian Century.
A subscription is required for the complete articles. ]
Read Full Post »
Pastor Kelly
Pinch of Salt 