CHAPLAINSBLOG

On September 11, 2001 our nation experienced a crucifying pain. We stood shocked and terrorized as we watched our thousands of our fellow Americans senselessly murdered.

That Tuesday was Good Friday for our beloved nation. We, like our Lord before us, stood unjustly nailed to a cross.  The black, dark pain of that day may have caused many of us to echo the his words spoken from the cross, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”

Although God does not promise that we will avoid the valley of the shadow of death, even tragic, unjust death at the hands of evil people, the Christian faith, through the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, teaches that God brings redemption out of suffering and victory out of defeat. We celebrate and worship the Son of God who teaches us, in the words of the Shaker hymn, how to dance even when the devil is on your back.

With the courageous rebuilding of the World Trade Center complex coming to fruition we know that our time in this tomb is at long last coming to an end. While we may still be in the early wee hours, Easter morning we believe is beginning to dawn.  And though the scars of our pain remain there in lower Manhattan, those new buildings bear witness to the joy of life renewed and resurrected - what we claim as the victorious joy of Easter Sunday.

Photograph by Robert Polidori.