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Wednesday, September 11, 2002This year, we have a different priest, and this year we got the homily we should have had last year. It was based on the verse from Matthew, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The priest reminded us that God never promised us a world without pain and suffering. We don’t live in paradise, after all. He only promised to be with us always, our comfort and our hope - our comfort and our hope that there’s a better world in the life to come. That “life to come” doesn’t necessarily have to be the afterlife. It can mean the life to come in this world, too. Maybe, in the grander scheme of things, the events of 9/11 and whatever wars they spawn, are a movement towards that better life - toward the elimination of despotism and tyranny, and toward a universal recognition of the rights of man. You don’t have to believe in God to find hope and comfort in that idea. I’ll leave you, as a final homage to 9/11, with the words of a an old Shaker hymn that expresses it far better than I ever could: My life flows on in endless song Above earth's lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn That hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife I hear it's music ringing, It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? While though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the truth, it liveth. And though the darkness 'round me close, Songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm, While to that rock I'm clinging. Since love is lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing? When tyrants tremble sick with fear And hear their death knell ringing, When friends rejoice both far and near How can I keep from singing? posted by Sydney on 9/11/2002 06:04:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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