Something amazing happened this morning. I knew that the church I worked at over the summer was going to focus on remembering the events of 9/11 in their morning services. I didn't have any specific expectation that my home church, which I finally returned to this morning, would do the same. But I did not expect my Episcopal church to fill our souls with toe tapping, hand clapping African American spirituals. This was our opening hymn...
"I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield,
down by the riverside...
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more..."
Those words about war were the chorus. We sang them over and over. Not only is it strange to sing about studying war in a sanctuary, it was jarring to do so on September 11. It seems impossible to say that I'm going to stop studying war. Our country is still fighting the war that started that day. This is not something we can just walk away from (nor do I think this song is saying we should).
What was amazing is the liberation I found in the words of this song within the context of this day. We are still painfully and deeply entrenched in our post 9/11 world. But the promise of God is that we won't stay here! Someday we will indeed lay down our swords and shields. We will stop studying war. And the power of this music brought the joy of that day into my heart. I felt alive in God and in the promise of God's redemption of the world.
My heart goes out to all of those who spent today mourning. The sadness of that day will always be a part of all of us who lived through it and remembered it. But our story does not end there, as our final hymn can attest...
"What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
What a blessedness, what a peace of mind,
leaning on the everlasting arms...
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms,
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms..."