Gretchen,
I had something else prepared for today but, in view of yesterday's horrific events, I am substituting the following column. I hope that it works.
In the continuing struggle between good and evil, September 11th was one of evil's most triumphant days. In their effort to spread mayhem and death around the lower end of Manhattan, terrorists succeeded beyond all expectations. The two tallest buildings fell into rubble, people burned to death or choked on clouds of black smoke, and a great city was panicked. And the Pentagon, the nerve center for American military forces, was wounded as well. It was action Hollywood-style but made astonishingly real.
After watching television during much of the morning last Tuesday, my wife and I walked at noon to our parish church. To take part in the Eucharist may not have been a logical response to the disaster, but to us it made sense. We felt the need to be with other people to share faith and to speak to God about the suffering imposed on so many of our fellow Americans.
The worship we offered also expressed our concern for those directly affected by the monstrous crime. We prayed for them, for those who love them, for the public officials responsible for the common good, and even for the murderers. Despite the strong temptation to seek vengeance, we asked the Lord to protect us against the desire to hate them and to make the blood of these enemies flow.
After the liturgy, outside the church's front door, we shared thoughts and feelings with others who had come for the same reasons as we did. Everybody felt somber in the face of such tragedy. People were as one in suffering shock at what had happened and in sorrowing for those lost to terrorist violence on a new scale.
It had helped us all to listen to the word of God and take part in the sacred meal.
As in peaceful times, I came away from these spiritual exercises fortified by faith that good will eventually triumph over evil. Despite the spectacular victories that evil keeps scoring, I believe that the promise of the great spiritual traditions of the world remains true – when everything is finally revealed, good will have overcome.
Meanwhile, spiritual seekers will have frequent occasion to cry out as King David did in the 89th Psalm: “Lord, where is your steadfast love of old?” It seems as if the Lord has forgotten the need of His people for peace and security.
Meditating further on the horrific events of last Tuesday, I focus on three themes for their importance in the spiritual life.
- The need to rid ourselves of illusion. We cannot go on naively believing that we ourselves and other people too are nothing but good. Something is terribly askew in human beings. The deep hatred in the embittered hearts of so many people gives the lie to easy optimism about ourselves. My spiritual tradition has passed on this belief about the human condition, that we have a fallen nature. Personal experience makes it easy for me to believe it. When you look at the world as it really is and its history, you can see how flawed we are.The awful evidence is all around us. Consider, for example, that an estimate twenty-seven million people in the modern world are held as slaves. The world that we love loves violence and one must deal with this fact.
- The vital importance of hope, as contrasted with optimism. Hope is grounded in God; optimism in human beings. Though we cannot afford to believe that things will always turn out for the best, still we can remain hopeful about the human prospect. The spirit tells us that the world belongs to God and God knows what we are like and God still loves us. With divine grace, we can rise above the tendency to worship ourselves and instead learn to love other people better.
- Our nation's responsibility to use its power and share its resources for the other people of the world. We Americans have the lion's share of the world's goods. Many other people live with only the crumbs they can gather from this rich earth while most of us enjoy what are unimaginable luxuries to them.
While this does not at all excuse murderous acts of terrorism or even provide a convincing rationale for them, it can remind us of our responsibility toward brothers and sisters around the globe.
Richard Griffin