Sermons
The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex
County
Anniversary Memorial Service
September 11, 2002
The Reverend Anthony P. Johnson, Minister
Mrs. Connie Blodgett, Organist
Prelude
Chalice Lighting & Opening Words
Responsive Reading 557: A Common Destiny
Hymn 127: Can I See Another's Woe?
Reading: All Souls by May Sarton
Minister's Reflections: The Rev. Anthony P. Johnson
Today began as a sunny day,
as did that day a year ago
when so much changed.
So much: lives ended,
the lives of the living changed,
the city in which I was born
losing buildings half my age,
buildings that should have stood for centuries.
So much has happened in the year since:
We have found much grace in solidarity
the solidarity of those who lived with those who died,
the solidarity of those who lost so much with all of us who have lost
something.
That day a year ago,
we lost a sense of security.
The false security that we were not subject to terrorism.
It will take the work of government to protect us from terrorism:
intelligence-gathering, policing, military action.
It will take the diligence of all citizens to maintain a free and open
society,
to guarantee that the intelligence-gathering, policing and military
ac-tion
do not violate the principles and practices that make an open soci-ety
worth protecting.
Today is a day of remembrance
of a day that began with sunny clear skies
before the planes crashed into
the Twin Towers,
the Pentagon,
and the field in Pennsylvania.
It is a day of remembrance of all those who died:
stockbrokers, fire fighters, police officers, public officials, janitors,
waiters, children…
whatever their income, wealth, or status…
citizens, green-card holders, undocumented aliens, visitors…
individuals from 87 nations…
all suddenly dead.
We remember and mourn the persons.
We remember and mourn the buildings.
I hated the Twin Towers…
But I miss them and I mourn them.
I take comfort in the realization that New York City is not Oklahoma
City.
The land will not remain empty.
It should not remain empty.
Let the time of rebuilding begin:
The rebuilding of lives,
And of the city at the heart of this metropolis…and this nation.
This anniversary service marks the events and remembers the lives that
were lost.
It marks the time when, traditionally, the rituals of mourning are
put aside for the resumption of every-day living.
But it does not mark the end of aching, of loss, of sadness.
Rather, it reminds us that death takes place within life…
It reminds us of the duty of the living, which is to live…
It reminds us -- the living -- that we must keep on keeping on.
Prayer: Adapted from Prayers of Theodore Parker
At times of darkness, when men fail before thee, in days when men of
high degree are a lie, and those of low degree a vanity, teach us to
be true…. Give us strength for our daily duty, patience in our
constant or unaccustomed cross, and in every time of trial give us the
hope that sustains….
Hymn 97: Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Muslim Prayer: No Matter Where I Turn My Head by Rahman
Baba
No matter where I turn my head in village or desert, deep silence has
en-gulfed the dead and they have left no message.
Candles of Memory
You are invited to light a candle in memory of a person or persons
who died as a result of the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Yahrzeit Prayer (adapted):
"O Lord, Thou has searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsit-ting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou measurest
my going about and my lying down. And are acquainted with all my ways."
Psalm 131.
O day of sacred, solemn and sorrowful memories! Annually thou renewest
the painful recollection of parting with the dear soul of my dearly
beloved and of those whom I did not know. Somehow I feel this day in
close communion with the souls of those who have died. Their spirits
seem to hover over me. Their memory penetrates my heart and my soul.
Yea, as long as I shall live, I shall keep sacred this Yahrzeit this
annual day of Memorial as a tribute to those whom I loved and to those
whom I did not know.
O God of Life, grant rest and peace unto their souls. May their spirits
find the ineffable good which Thou has prepared for the children in
Eternity. And may I who still live be permitted to share in the holiness
of their spirits, that I may become more worthy and acceptable in Thy
sight. O Lord, who givest and takest away. Praised be thy name forever
and ever.
Amen.
Reflections on the Future
Hymn 149: Lift Every Voice and Sing
Closing Words Written by Felix Adler
The dead are not dead if we have loved them truly. In our own lives,
we give them immortality.
Let us arise and take up the work they have left unfinished, and preserve
the treasures they have won, and round out the ascent of their being
to an ampler orbit in our own.
Postlude
