December 7, 1941; November 22, 1963; April 4, 1968; April 19, 1995; April 20, 1999.

Just as these dates automatically bring to mind their individual tragedies of Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Oklahoma City bombing, and the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, so, too, will September 11, 2001 be forever remembered as the day our 21st century way of life changed in the United States, and in many respects, changed throughout the world, as well.

We all know the mind numbing details, we all have seen countless times the incredible video footage of both crashes into the World Trade Center and seen the gaping hole in the Pentagon, we have heard of the heroism of some hijacked passengers in very likely sparing casualties in the Capitol building or even the White House, and we shudder at the self-giving sacrifice of rescue workers who routinely run into the chaos that others flee, in order to assist and aid those who have been injured.

The staggering totality of the human tragedy only now begins to penetrate our shock-shielded senses of belief, as we hear stories about the lives snuffed out in the most horrific, gutless act of terrorism the world has ever seen against the freedoms of this and all open, democratic societies. Multiple nations have lost innocent people, not ours alone. Peace loving people of many religious faiths perished in this violence: Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist, among others. As learning their names and stories brings these victims to life for us, our incredulity dissolves into visceral pain. We shed countless tears, utter countless prayers. We want to help in some way, any way; we want justice or retribution; we want our loved ones and our lives back, and this horrible nightmare to end.

As newspaper and television images fill our eyes, and names of the missing and dead read on the radio fill our ears, questions form in the back of our minds-"Who?" and "How?" have already begun to come to light, but "Why?" we may not ever fully come to understand or know.

For some, God again goes on trial here. "Where were you, God, on the morning of September 11, 2001?" I understand that anger, that accusatory stance, that willingness to convict and sentence God to oblivion as an absent actor in the world's affairs, who could have and should have prevented this or any other tragedy of this type. Yet such a verdict amounts to a mistrial, for we cannot blame or hold God accountable for the free and willful actions of human beings.

Evil cannot prosecute God, for evil originates and resides within us, within our brokenness, our humanity. Human evil itself must take the blame for the way the world changed last week. Human beings overcome by evil visited unspeakable evil on brother and sister human beings in a suicidal, fratricidal act. And a global human community stands in shock and horror, in search of a response. This is where we find ourselves today, waiting for a response, formulating a response to this unspeakable evil.

Like the children of Israel, away from the security of Egypt, waiting in the desert, and growing more anxious each day that Moses delays in coming down from the mountain, we, too, stand in an abandoned place, a desert, if you will, with all our sense of security gone, unsure of what the future holds for us. The children of Israel panicked, they couldn't wait for Moses any longer "Who knows what has become of him?" And so they raised up for themselves a new god. Not the God who led them out of bondage and slavery to this new place, a place of freedom, but a lifeless god, fashioned out of precious metal by their own hands, and in which they put their trust. While the image may have been a golden calf, it is truly in their own image that they have fashioned this god, thinking themselves to be all wise and all knowing, self-sufficient and self-determining-as if they themselves had thrown Pharaoh's horse and rider into the sea.

False gods beget false religions. No true religion condones or promotes terrorism, for terrorism worships a false god, fashioned in the image of human evil, and it regularly sacrifices innocent lives on its altar.

In this desert where we find ourselves waiting, we must be careful that in the anxiety and heat of our desire we do not raise up or sacrifice to a new god, fashioned by our hands and in our own image, abandoning the God of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob, who keeps his promises made to them and their descendants from generation to generation. In this desert we must not lose the voice of the prophet Micah, "[The LORD] has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) This is the beginning of finding our way out of the desert where evil so strongly tempts us to do otherwise.

This past Thursday, I received an e-mail from Fr. Tony Price, the vicar of St. Nicholas' Church in Oxford, England, whom I met last month in Atlanta. I had e-mailed him on Wednesday on the subject "How does it look from over there?" Even though some of you have heard it already, his final paragraph (especially the last line) says much to us as we await and consider our response to this evil and its sick actions. He writes,

"What has impressed me is the spirit of the American people, and the readiness of so many to talk about faith and prayer in a very upfront way. I don't think you'd find that over here. But we are fearful about the rising anger which seeks some direction to vent itself, and we pray for calm and moderation. It does seem like some kind of war; but who is the enemy? The real enemy is evil itself, and we don't destroy that by killing evil people (even if we could infallibly identify who the evil people were). Hate begets hate, and violence begets violence. And while people have said to me, 'What is it that could possibly drive people to give up their own lives in order to do such things?' and the answer is 'Hate,' I am also remembering that Love can also make someone do it, did it on Calvary, and that's the pattern for us.

"Dying for love has always seemed weaker and less huge in its effects than dying for hate, but one day I believe we shall see it is not so."

As much as justice is the proper end for criminal acts (and I believe our President and national leaders when they say that justice will be done), so, too, love is the only way to ultimately overpower and eradicate hate from our lives, one human heart at a time.

Certainly, in many ways, people have responded in love already, by the countless condolences to the families and friends of the victims, by the hard work and determination of the many rescue workers and volunteers on the scene in New York City and Washington, D.C., and by the donating of food, resources, and our very blood itself. I find the Christ-like imagery of that last one striking-that by the shedding of our blood, we seek in some small way to redeem that which evil sought to destroy. This is the type of love that caused some to rise up and divert a jet airliner into the woods of southern Pennsylvania, willingly laying down their own lives in order to prevent further losses of innocent life on the ground.

It remains my prayer that this type of self-sacrificing love, a compassionate love for neighbor taught and upheld by all the great religions of the world, will be the source spirit and life blood that sustains our new found unity in this country. It remains my prayer that this type of love which gives of itself to any in need will be, indeed, the beginning of a changed way of life, not only in this country but throughout the world. It remains my prayer that ultimately love will conquer evil, and goodness overpower hate; even as we stand in the desert, hurting and war torn, seeking comfort and justice.

That is my prayer to Almighty God, the most merciful and compassionate One; and in God's most holy name, so be it.

The Rev'd Timothy M. Dombek
ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH
301 Piney Mountain Road
Greenville, SC 29609-3035
(864) 244-6358
stjamesrector@mindspring.com
Copyright © 2001 Timothy M. Dombek All Rights Reserved.