wfn.org | Commentary: Sept. 11 anniversary stirs range of emotions

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Sept. 16, 2002	 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71BP{412}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of Bishop Ernest S. Lyght is available
at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

A UMNS Commentary
By Bishop Ernest S. Lyght*

The morning of Sept. 11, 2002, was not an ordinary day for me. In a
personally rewarding way, it proved to be an extraordinary opportunity to
remember and reflect on the horrible events of a year ago. A variety of
feelings surfaced during the course of the day, most of which I spent in New
York City. 

All of my feelings were singed by lingering images from my visit to Ground
Zero a few days after the terrorist attack. Walking around the site on Sept.
15, 2001, my birthday, I was struck by the eerie silence - my silence and
that of the entire area, now occupied by police officers, firefighters,
National Guard troops, emergency medical workers and countless volunteers. I
was grief stricken with the realization that several thousand innocent men
and women were missing and probably dead. 

As we began to mourn the dead and the missing, I gave thanks for one more
year of life. That was a contrast in emotions. I felt a mixture of anger,
fear and sadness.

A year later, emerging from the subway onto John Street, I saw the street
was filled with people, restrained by police barriers, who were trying to
see the unfolding anniversary commemoration at Ground Zero, a block away. As
I made my way through the crowds to the historic Old John Street United
Methodist Church, people were going about their business - going to work,
running errands, making deliveries, seeing the sights, remembering. Unlike a
year ago, there was no smoke rising from the mounds of rubble that entombed
smoldering fires. The rubble is gone. Only a hole in the ground remains. I
felt emptiness in my heart. 

Both then and now, I was standing on holy ground. When one stands on holy
ground, there is a potent sense of awe.

Several days prior to the Sept. 11 anniversary, as I prepared to fly to
Nashville, Tenn., a tinge of anxiety nestled in my spirit. I wanted
everything to be OK - safe, secure and without alarm. Surely there would not
be a new terrorist attack. Although somewhat anxious, I was not afraid to
fly on the morning after the anniversary. 

Yet, I pondered the possibility of another unexplainable, horrific event.
And within me there was a residue of anger, but not vengeance; a desire to
defend the nation, but not for retribution.  

I experienced a sense of wonder as I stood in front of Old John Street
Church prior to the start of the New York Annual Conference 9-11 Service of
Commemoration. What were the passing people thinking about? Where were they
a year ago? Did any of them escape from the World Trade Center? Did they
lose a family member, a friend or a coworker? What were they feeling in
their hearts? These questions shrouded a sense of my own personal sadness. 

When I stood before the congregation to preach, I was keenly aware that we
all had come with a variety of perhaps unexplainable feelings. I wanted to
share a word of hope founded upon Jesus Christ, the solid rock. I wanted the
Holy Spirit to use me as an instrument to release in the worshippers the
sweet taste of God's abiding love. I wanted God to snatch our fears and bury
them forever.

On the 9-11 anniversary, I experienced a mood of profound gratitude for the
amazing privilege and attendant challenge to stand before the congregation
as preacher and episcopal leader at such a time as this. I experienced a
sense of calm. The beams of God's hope were shining all around us as we
worshipped. It was not a funeral, but a time to remember and move on in
partnership with God's amazing grace. 

God's amazing grace provides beams of hope for all of God's children, all
around the world.

# # #

*Lyght is bishop of the United Methodist Church's New York Area, with
offices in White Plains.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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