Onto 9/12 . . .

I woke up at about 5:15 am out of a 9/12 dream thinking about the ecumenical service called "Re-Membering 9/11" that I attended with a good friend from a small country church I attend here in the Cherokee foothills of northern GA.

There were people there from local Protestant churches, two synagogues and two Moslem centers. There were also local "first responders, and a US Senator from GA who had taught 6th grade boys Sunday School there for 30 years.

Our church was only represented by a small group and there was only one of us in the mixed choir. The Muslim women were easy to spot, and some of the rabbis wore yarmulkes. There were only a few people who represented other minorities in our diverse nation, but the points of the Senator's speech was the "power of one" and unity in diversity. Holy passages from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Did you know it is chanted in a similar way to how psalms are spoken by Cantors at synagogues and used in Gregorian chant?

Afterwards, there was a Muslim worship service as the sun set. And the rest of us who were so inclined went down to the gym and mingled (somewhat) while eating delicacies brought by people who came, including baklava. Of all the Methodist potlucks I have been to, I am pretty sure no one ever brought baklava to any of them . . .

The scripture had covered Micah 6:8, Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, and three verses from the Quran about peace. We sang "This is My Father's World" at the end of the re-membrance, and the combined choir offered up a beautiful rendition of "Let There be Peace on Earth," in the middle of the service although when "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung at the beginning of the service, it was hard to imagine a song or hymn invoking as much emotion.

The Hebrew Bible and Quran verses and two of the benedictions (in Hebrew and in Arabic) were translated into English and the last benediction was spoken over us by a pastor who said his would also be translated since his native tongue was "Yankee". That got a laugh amidst the pain assauged by the worship and the fellowship. I spoke to several of the Muslims at the service as we were walking out and in the gym. One couple was from India and had been in the US for 21 years. Several lovely teenagers wearing beautiful burkas wandered around together as teens do at such gatherings.

On the way home, the hearts of my friend and I were lighter than they had been earlier in the day at worship back home. God is so good and so faithful! And His peace passes all understanding and knows no boundaries.


Kathleen Ware Harris  © 2013
kwharris777@gmail.com