Mission Monthly Newsletter October 2001

...Meditate on These Things. Phillipians 4.8

"For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death."

            (2 Corinthians 7:10)

     A nation grieves.  What does this mean?  We can barely understand the grief of a single individual who has suffered a loss, we can only imagine the collective pain of millions.

     We are forced to face this issue for reasons beyond the simple fact that violence and evil have, in a single moment, torn apart lives, shaken economies and most certainly affected the course of history.  The terror of September 11, 2001 and the unknown terror which may follow will be felt and talked about for weeks, months and even years to come.  As a nation, our sense of security has been breached.  As a people our way of life has been threatened.  As a government our policies have been accused.  This is not new to human civilization.  Empires have risen and fallen throughout the course of history as the ambitious or the angry defy the powers of the day.

     The question is, how we are going to respond.  For those closest to “ground zero” together with the families and friends of those who have died, the pain, anger and fear is the most severe and acute.  For those of us who witnessed the unfolding of events on television I have heard anger, disbelief and numbness.  The truth is, however, most of us in our shock do not know how to respond.  Many who lived through the horrors of the second world war are no longer with us.  The generations who have lived through the “police actions” of the more recent past, with the exceptions of those brave men and women who held the post of our nation’s military combat, have only known war through the antiseptic filters of mass media.  The pain and suffering which always happened “over there” is now happening here and now we are mourning our dead, comforting the injured, and grieving for the remnants of “Camelot” incinerated by the airborne impact of winged molotov cocktails.

     It is this latter grief that concerns me the most.  My conscience is unsettled as I mourn from a great distance the dead and injured, and grieve the potential harm done to our very way of life.  St. John Chrysostom wrote, “The proper time for grief is not when we suffer from misfortunes that befall us, but when we do evil things.  However, we have reversed this order and changed the proper times.  We are not sorry in the least when we commit a multitude of evils.  When, however, we experience even a slight mishap, we seek, are stunned, grieve and even come to the point of wishing to get rid of our very lives.”

     I do not stand in accusation of anyone other than myself.  I was sadly and deeply moved while witnessing on television the unbelievable events of that day.  I confess, however, to also thinking, “Oh God, gas will be going up to $5.00 a gallon; and what’s going to happen to the way of life I’m accustomed to living?”  I pray these temptations pass quickly as I attempt to pursue the fruits of Godly grief.

     We are now forced to respond to those who despise our freedom, our wealth, our interests.  But I do not want to respond with the character of worldly grief.  The rhetoric of revenge is embarrassingly unbecoming to a God-fearing nation and the defense of our freedom cannot be sought without considering the greater scope of justice before seeking reparation from the perpetrators of such vicious and senseless destruction.  Somehow we must believe that God’s providence has allowed this pain for our salvation, and though we have every right to defend ourselves it cannot be done out of regret for our losses or the fear of losing a way of life that has afforded us extreme affluence and opportunity.  First we must seek repentance in order that we may respond out of humility and, again, justice for all.  If we respond simply out of anger and passion because our worldly freedom and comforts have been threatened, then we are no better than our attackers and our worldly grief, as promised in Holy Scripture, can and will only lead to further senseless death and destruction.