On 9/11 I thought, For the most powerful, militarized nation in the world also to think of itself as an innocent victim is deadly. It was a rare prophetic moment for me, considering Presidents Bush and Obama have spent billions asking the military to rectify the crime of a small band of lawless individuals, destroying a couple of nations who had little to do with it, in the costliest, longest series of wars in the history of the United States.
The silence of most Christians and the giddy enthusiasm of a few, as well as the ubiquity of flags and patriotic extravaganzas in allegedly evangelical churches, says to me that American Christians may look back upon our response to 9/11 as our greatest Christological defeat. It was shattering to admit that we had lost the theological means to distinguish between the United States and the kingdom of God. The criminals who perpetrated 9/11 and the flag-waving boosters of our almost exclusively martial response were of one mind: that the nonviolent way of Jesus is stupid. All of us preachers share the shame; when our people felt very vulnerable, they reached for the flag, not the Cross. September 11 has changed me. I’m going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what’s wrong with the world. I have also resolved to relentlessly reiterate from the pulpit that the worst day in history was not a Tuesday in New York, but a Friday in Jerusalem when a consortium of clergy and politicians colluded to run the world on our own terms by crucifying God’s own Son. Will Willimon Presiding bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church Dear God, we remember before you today those whose lives were lost in the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001, and for all those whom we love but no longer see. We give thanks to you for the selfless courage of those brave souls who ran into burning buildings and who labored in the rubble; may their courage be to us a witness of what is possible when we are guided by love and dedication to our fellow human beings. We pray today for the continued healing of all those suffering emotional and physical scars. May your spirit breathe new breath into clouded lungs, new life into troubled minds, and new warmth into broken hearts, so that all may feel wrapped in your loving embrace. May we move from suffering to hope, from brokenness to wholeness, from anxiety to courage, from death to hope, from brokenness to wholeness, from anxiety to courage, from death to life, from fear to love, and from despair to hope. Guide our feet into the way of peace. Inspire us with hope in the gift of shalom and salaam. May we receive this gift, so that we might become instruments of your peace in this world, knowing all people as equally loved, lovingly created, children of God. Amen. On Sunday October 2, 2011 at 5 PM Christ Church Philadelphia will have a choral evensong for St. Francis Day. It will be led by the Christ Church Choir and the Delaware Choral Society Chamber Choir, in a rare performance of American composer Seth Bingham's cantata, The Canticle of the Sun, a setting of the famous poem by Francis. The Transitus Service for St Francis on the evening of October 3, 2011 was not able to be coordinated in enough time for October 3rd. There will be NO SERVICE at Lutheran Seminary with the Third Order. Our next Fellowship meeting will be October 8th at St Peter's Glenside. The meeting will start at 9:30 AM. For a brief discussion at the meeting, we would like to ask you if you consider yourself a panentheist... believing that God is in all things and also God is more than all things. SEE LINK to article; http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2011/03/universal-savior-ilia-delio-reimagines-christ
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