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This will be true to All Saints Episcopal, Russellville in events, doctrine. Presiding Bishop's letter to the bishops on military strikes October 8, 2001 For the House of Bishops Dear brothers and sisters: I write to you in this sober moment when military action has just begun in an effort to put a stop to terrorist activities. This morning I sent a letter to Secretary Powell, as a word of encouragement and to assure him of my prayers and concern for him, and also to let him know of the commitment of our bishops to waging reconciliation. I sent him a copy of our statement from our September meeting Burlington, Vermont: On Waging reconciliation. I enclose a copy with this letter as some bishops not with us in Vermont may not have seen it. I encourage diocesan bishops who have not done so to pass the statement along to clergy and congregations. As I shared with the House while we were in Burlington, I have asked the Rt. Rev. Arthur Walmsley, retired Bishop of Connecticut, to coordinate the activities flowing out from our statement. Arthur has graciously agreed to give us time through the March meeting of the House of Bishops to serve as Coordinator of the House of Bishops Reconciliation Initiative. At the March meeting we will look at what has already been accomplished and consider future strategies, which are being developed over these next months. Listening to the reports yesterday, and the various news analyses, I thought again of our discussions at our September meeting on how we inhabit multiple realities, and must make room for the inevitable ambiguities of complex situations. In particular, I thought that at this moment there are those who are very clear that the military strikes are the appropriate course. And, on the other hand there are those who believe that such military actions only fan the flames of terrorism and expose innocent people to harm. My hope is that those who believe the strikes are the proper course will not see those who disagree as unpatriotic, and that those who think military action is unwise will not see those of the other view as war-mongering or simply seeking revenge. We as one nation need to be mindful not to dismiss or caricature one another's point of view at this difficult and anxious time. I hope that we as bishops can wage reconciliation in this moment: helping to make plain that the various perspectives individuals hold on what we should or should not do as a nation come out of a deep place of desiring what is best for the country and the world. Let us pray for peace in the world, and for ourselves - that we may be instruments of that peace. The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold XXV Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church, USA
After The Terrorist Attack September 12 MMI A.D
Father N. Patrick Murray There are times in all our lives when we simply feel overwhelmed. We look on helplessly as events encircle and seemingly entrap us, which we simply did not think were possible. Consciously or unconsciously, we thought there were certain rules or laws that were inviolable. We think that some things in this world just cannot happen, but then they do. A flood of feelings sweeps over us as we suffer disbelief, shock, panic, and anger. At such times our poor human words fail us. We look about us, hoping that somewhere, someone has some kind of answers: +Why do such things happen? +Where is God in it all? +Why do bad things happen to good people? +Why must our lives be so vulnerable? All these question defy answers, and we may feel like just keeping silent in our inability to make sense of it all. But as tempting as it may be to retreat into a kind of silent despair, this is not a time to remain silent. Rather, it is a time to gather, as we have done tonight, to speak of the great hope we have in Jesus Christ, and to sing some of the great songs that express that hope. It is a time to take a scrap of bread and a sip of wine and remember how God used another tragic and innocent death ages ago to show the world that there is a power greater than death. It is a time also to recall that God never asks us to "go it alone." Gad has called us into community, out of our isolation, and asked us to be mediators of God's grace and love to each other. I will never forget a television interview I saw the morning after the Challenger exploded in 1986, killing all seven of our astronauts on board. Especially heartrending was the fact that a young schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe, was included on the flight as a "citizen observer." The morning after this tragedy her hometown priest was interviewed on the "Today" show, along with some of her neighbors and friends. The priest was elderly, and the wisdom of his years shone in his eyes. Jane Pauley asked him a question that some of you may be asking too: "Why do such things as this have to happen?" The old priest said, "We don't know the answer to that question now. What we are trying to do is just to be here for each other and help one another learn and grow from this experience' That is also what we are trying to do tonight. The breadth and depth of this tragedy our nation has suffered reaches across the whole land. It is likely therefore, that each of us may have an opportunity to help someone closely touched by it. You may not be able to answer all their questions or yours, but by caring and sharing our common humanity you will be doing God's work. Perhaps one thing you can do is to help them remember the hope that we have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. All across this nation tonight there is weeping and sorrow at the loss of so many thousands of lives. There are many new widows and widowers; there are many new single parents; there are children newly without a mother or father. There is a sense that something has changed forever-that perhaps we will never feel quite as safe again, that we must live each day with a deeper sense of mortality and vulnerability. Now we must grieve and we must heal as a nation. We must pray that the hope we share in Jesus Christ's triumph over death will become more real than ever to us and to many others. It is through this hope that we will be able to heal this unspeakably sorrowful wound that has been inflicted upon us. When great loss comes to us, we Christians grieve as do all human beings. We have no special magic that insulates us from the sorrows of this desperately evil and broken world. It is our hope in Christ that enables our grieving to turn into healing. We all know in our hearts that when the awful terrorism struck yesterday, it might have been us, if we had been at a different place at a different time. We do not know why we were spared and others lost. What we do know is that now it becomes our ministry and responsibility to lift up prayers and intercessions for those who have died and those who mourn for them. After all our words are said and our songs are sung, that will be all we can do. But we believe it is enough-enough to point our eyes beyond this world to that better world which is our true home, enough to call down God's power of healing on those whose lives seem so broken and empty tonight from their terrible losses, and enough to remind us that the Word of God from beginning to end is a story of hope. God is more powerful than evil. There is a remarkable passage in the Book of Revelation, which may bring us comfort and perspective in such times as this. It says: "Woe to the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short." (Rev. 12:12) Yesterday, the power of the Evil One in this world became terribly evident in the awful events that were carried out under his power. But the truth God has shown us in Christ is that the Devil's "time is very short." The power of death and destruction do not have the last word. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will speak the last word. The devil is full of wrath because he knows That his days are numbered, and he knows Who has numbered them. God's will and purpose for creation are not yet fulfilled. That is why we pray every day, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." Because that has riot been fully accomplished yet. Therefore, terrible things like yesterday continue to happen. But the Devil is furious, because he knows that in Jesus Christ and His resurrection there was set loose a power to overcome death that cannot be vanquished. That is what we have come to remember and to celebrate tonight, as our nation goes through this great grief journey to find the healing power that God will bring. Editor's note: Fr Murray traveled to Russellville and provided this message and a wonderful service of prayer for the victims of the tragedy, including the wounds of the heart sustained by all members of All Saints, as a gift to us. For this, we offer our heartfelt thanks to Fr Murray.
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