NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Service
Another day that will live in infamy
Sep 12, 2001 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
During the Upper School's regular Wednesday Chapel, President David Hicks took the opportunity to talk about the horrific events of September 11. Here are the notes he used after reading from Psalms 64, 27, and 23:
Yesterday, something horrible happened. We watched and heard it described in exquisite detail on our televisions last night, but I’m not sure anyone yet fully comprehends it. I certainly don’t. What happened encompasses cold bloodedness, cowardliness, untold human suffering, the slaughter of innocents, hatred, madness, in a word, evil. We have been forced to look into the heart of darkness, and like Kurtz in Conrad’s novel, many of us can’t get beyond “The horror! The horror!”
What I saw from you yesterday helped me get through the day. I want to begin by thanking you for that. I saw your sober concern, your genuine tears, your prayers, your love for one another, your silence, your quiet conversation, your stupefaction, and your normality as you continued to pursue your daily school routine in a calm and deliberate manner. When madness is let loose, it’s often the simple example of sanity that saves us. Thank you.
I’m sure we will all deal with this in different ways. I will tell you frankly that I am overwhelmed at the moment and am having great difficulty accepting it, or knowing how to pray, or what words to say to you this morning. I am grateful for the Psalms we just heard read. I let those words wash over me and find peace in their honesty and reassurance.
As I prayed last night for the wisdom to understand my part in this tragedy and the courage to play it, I couldn’t help but think of what my parents (your grandparents), went through after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although I recognize that these are two very different events, their psychological effects will probably be quite similar. The effects of this recent terrorism may be even greater, given the far greater loss of innocent life and the ghastly immediacy of live television. I would like to review some of these effects with you. Perhaps we can learn something from that experience that will help us through this one.
· Shock and denial: Then as now, people immediately rejected the reports of the tragedy, and then as now, this was probably symptomatic of a deeper form of national denial. Then we tried to deny our responsibilities in a world at war, and now we have tried to ignore the terrible reality of terrorism.
· Dismay: Then as now many were primarily concerned with the interruption of “business as usual,” with the probable effects of war on the economy, with the many inconveniences (no more curb-side check-ins) to their personal lives.
· Fear: Then as now, Americans were made suddenly to feel their vulnerability. Is this really a bad thing?
· Hurt: Then as now, we were hurt deeply by the knowledge that another country might hate us so much. We want to be loved, and again, we prefer to live in denial of the fact that our power and wealth, as well as some of our policies, cause others to resent and even hate us. Can we live with this? We must. Yet we must maintain a balanced outlook. Many also love us and look to us for moral leadership.
· Anger: This is a good thing when it unites us, mobilizes our nation’s enormous strength and resolve, and inspires self-forgetfulness, but it is a bad thing when it causes us to strike out blindly or plants the seeds of hate in us. Remember how many years it took us to overcome our hatred of the Japanese and to make amends to our poor fellow citizens, who happened to be Japanese, for our treatment of them during the war.
· Frustration: We each have a part to play. We must know our parts and play them and not try to play a part that isn’t ours. As students, you can pray, give blood, join Amnesty, and support one another, but above all, your greatest service to your country and to your fellow man at this time of national emergency is to prepare yourself now for leadership in your generation. You must be the best student, day in and day out, you can be. You will be of no use to your country when your time comes if you have not prepared well. Justice, revenge, whatever you call it: remember, that is not our role. That is the role of the Federal Government in our nation under law. Besides, the best revenge, wrote the Emperor Marcus Aurelius while he was fighting against barbarian atrocities like these, is not to be like your enemy.
Ultimately, we must take this very evil thing and ask God to help us make something beautiful of it. It has happened. Evil happens. There’s no good denying it, or as our culture often tries to do, to cover it up or turn it into a form of entertainment. Perhaps we need to be reminded that we are surrounded in this life by hatred and evil. That these things are real - not just the special effects in motion pictures. We don’t control it, but we can and must control our response to it.
It is my personal belief that we are helpless against evil, both in our own personal lives and in our world, without the strength and wisdom that come from God. We know that it is not of God to hurt others or to hate. We know that God is about love, and because that is so, we know that love is stronger than hate. Our God asks us to love our enemies and to pray for those who hurt us. It is time to put our faith to the test. Can we do this? Can we love our enemies? Can we pray for those who despise us?
Let us pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Thank you for giving us a land
In which we are free to worship you
And to learn how to show your love
To those who are different from ourselves.
Bring comfort, we pray,
To the families and friends of yesterday’s victims.
Give us tears to weep for the whole world.
Give us grace to love our enemies
And to pray for them who despise us.
Give us the wisdom to know our parts
And the courage to play them
So that we may be your faithful disciples
In the beautiful world which you created
And for which you sent Your Son to die.
Bless those whose love and labor
Make our joy in this place possible.
Amen.
Yesterday, something horrible happened. We watched and heard it described in exquisite detail on our televisions last night, but I’m not sure anyone yet fully comprehends it. I certainly don’t. What happened encompasses cold bloodedness, cowardliness, untold human suffering, the slaughter of innocents, hatred, madness, in a word, evil. We have been forced to look into the heart of darkness, and like Kurtz in Conrad’s novel, many of us can’t get beyond “The horror! The horror!”
What I saw from you yesterday helped me get through the day. I want to begin by thanking you for that. I saw your sober concern, your genuine tears, your prayers, your love for one another, your silence, your quiet conversation, your stupefaction, and your normality as you continued to pursue your daily school routine in a calm and deliberate manner. When madness is let loose, it’s often the simple example of sanity that saves us. Thank you.
I’m sure we will all deal with this in different ways. I will tell you frankly that I am overwhelmed at the moment and am having great difficulty accepting it, or knowing how to pray, or what words to say to you this morning. I am grateful for the Psalms we just heard read. I let those words wash over me and find peace in their honesty and reassurance.
As I prayed last night for the wisdom to understand my part in this tragedy and the courage to play it, I couldn’t help but think of what my parents (your grandparents), went through after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although I recognize that these are two very different events, their psychological effects will probably be quite similar. The effects of this recent terrorism may be even greater, given the far greater loss of innocent life and the ghastly immediacy of live television. I would like to review some of these effects with you. Perhaps we can learn something from that experience that will help us through this one.
· Shock and denial: Then as now, people immediately rejected the reports of the tragedy, and then as now, this was probably symptomatic of a deeper form of national denial. Then we tried to deny our responsibilities in a world at war, and now we have tried to ignore the terrible reality of terrorism.
· Dismay: Then as now many were primarily concerned with the interruption of “business as usual,” with the probable effects of war on the economy, with the many inconveniences (no more curb-side check-ins) to their personal lives.
· Fear: Then as now, Americans were made suddenly to feel their vulnerability. Is this really a bad thing?
· Hurt: Then as now, we were hurt deeply by the knowledge that another country might hate us so much. We want to be loved, and again, we prefer to live in denial of the fact that our power and wealth, as well as some of our policies, cause others to resent and even hate us. Can we live with this? We must. Yet we must maintain a balanced outlook. Many also love us and look to us for moral leadership.
· Anger: This is a good thing when it unites us, mobilizes our nation’s enormous strength and resolve, and inspires self-forgetfulness, but it is a bad thing when it causes us to strike out blindly or plants the seeds of hate in us. Remember how many years it took us to overcome our hatred of the Japanese and to make amends to our poor fellow citizens, who happened to be Japanese, for our treatment of them during the war.
· Frustration: We each have a part to play. We must know our parts and play them and not try to play a part that isn’t ours. As students, you can pray, give blood, join Amnesty, and support one another, but above all, your greatest service to your country and to your fellow man at this time of national emergency is to prepare yourself now for leadership in your generation. You must be the best student, day in and day out, you can be. You will be of no use to your country when your time comes if you have not prepared well. Justice, revenge, whatever you call it: remember, that is not our role. That is the role of the Federal Government in our nation under law. Besides, the best revenge, wrote the Emperor Marcus Aurelius while he was fighting against barbarian atrocities like these, is not to be like your enemy.
Ultimately, we must take this very evil thing and ask God to help us make something beautiful of it. It has happened. Evil happens. There’s no good denying it, or as our culture often tries to do, to cover it up or turn it into a form of entertainment. Perhaps we need to be reminded that we are surrounded in this life by hatred and evil. That these things are real - not just the special effects in motion pictures. We don’t control it, but we can and must control our response to it.
It is my personal belief that we are helpless against evil, both in our own personal lives and in our world, without the strength and wisdom that come from God. We know that it is not of God to hurt others or to hate. We know that God is about love, and because that is so, we know that love is stronger than hate. Our God asks us to love our enemies and to pray for those who hurt us. It is time to put our faith to the test. Can we do this? Can we love our enemies? Can we pray for those who despise us?
Let us pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Thank you for giving us a land
In which we are free to worship you
And to learn how to show your love
To those who are different from ourselves.
Bring comfort, we pray,
To the families and friends of yesterday’s victims.
Give us tears to weep for the whole world.
Give us grace to love our enemies
And to pray for them who despise us.
Give us the wisdom to know our parts
And the courage to play them
So that we may be your faithful disciples
In the beautiful world which you created
And for which you sent Your Son to die.
Bless those whose love and labor
Make our joy in this place possible.
Amen.
