Certain phrases have been repeated in the media, in editorials, in messages between friends and colleagues ever since the events of September 11, 2001. Over and over again in the days since the World Trade Center disaster I've heard "Our hearts are broken" and "Things will never be the same again" and "God Bless America." Let's be careful about how we use these phrases; let's use them in ways that serve the great need we have - individually and collectively-for healing and for recovery. Our Hearts Are Broken - Hearts don't simply break, they break open. A heart that is fearful or angry feels tight, closed, turned in on itself. A heart that has broken open is just that: open, receptive, turned outward to the world. Perhaps it still knows fear, but it is open to other, more empathic feelings as well. A heart that has broken open knows pain, of course, but it can also know compassion; a heart that has broken open knows sorrow, and it knows that other hearts know sorrow as well. If you are feeling that your heart broke on that beautiful, sunny Tuesday morning, imagine that it broke open instead, and realize that now there is more space in your heart for compassion toward other victims of disasters; more space to feel and express love for all the people and things you love; more space for courage.

Things Will Never Be the Same Again - This is undoubtedly true. But things are not the same from day to day anyway. Life is full of changes all the time, only we usually don't notice them. We accommodate, and life goes on. There is no doubt, however, that this has been a sea change of great magnitude, and one which will be of longer duration. Here are some of the things that I believe have changed.

We can no longer assume that the United States is invulnerable to attack. Nor can we assume that in this country we are not heir to the misfortunes that affect other people in other lands. We can no longer assume that our military superiority, our wealth, our systems of higher education or our social and political sophistication will protect us from terrorism, attack, or mass destruction.

See broken hearts, above. Without these assumptions to shelter us, perhaps it will be more painful now to witness the destruction of innocent populations in other parts of the world. Perhaps the sight of piles of rubble in the West Bank or dazed survivors after an earthquake in India will be even harder to bear now that we have seen the same scenes in our own country. Perhaps that pain, now felt so close to home, will move us to take action so that others will not suffer so badly.

Another change which I fervently hope will last is the open-heartedness, truth-telling, and generosity of spirit which I have seen among us here in the Cumberland Valley and heard about in New York and Washington DC. My favorite line in a favorite movie comes to mind, when the Jeff Bridges character in "Starman" says "What I love about human beings is that they are at their best when things are worst." We have seen people at their best in unbearably difficult circumstances. In our own congregation, we have come together to pray, to sing, to weep, and to tell each other how we feel. I hope that our increased sense of intimacy will last. The mature response to changed circumstances is to change ourselves. What might you change in your own life because of this cataclysm? Might you complain less, pray more, give blood regularly, befriend an Arab-American?

Things will never be the same again. It's true. How can we make them better? God Bless America -

Yes, God, please bless America. Please also bless Afghanistan and Swaziland, Mexico, Paraguay, and North Korea. God bless the planet, this fragile, lovely blue-green sphere swathed in veils of cloud where we all live very close together, broken hearts and all. God bless Earth, our home sweet home.

Love, Judy