1. Ten years ago hijackers blew up the World Trade Centers, crashed a jet in Pennsylvania, and ran a jet into the Pentagon. I came to church this morning knowing that Father Bingham Powell would address this destruction and I wondered how. He addressed it perfectly in his sermon, putting the variety of responses persons in our parish have had in the context of the Scripture readings from the lectionary, all focused, on forgiveness. He didn't act like forgiveness is a simple or immediate act, but did explore what occurs within us when resentment dominates our inward being. Again, nothing is simple, immediate, or uniform about forgiveness, or about the larger act of reconciliation. I appreciated that Father Bingham Powell preached to the complexity of the Scripture readings and to the complexity of the day. I thought he performed a difficult task beautifully.
2. After church, I strolled over to Sixteen Tons for two pints of beer, two beers I'd never tasted before: a Pilsner Urquell and a Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest. Both were not only tasty, but smooth, easy to drink, without an abundance of hops (I prefer less hoppy beers). For about half of the first beer I sat and contemplated what I'd experienced in church and then the Troxstar appeared. He had been at a Sunday School teachers meeting and knew I'd be at Sixteen Tons and, like me, was eager to give the Pilsner Urquell a try. The Pilsner Urquell satisfied the Troxstar as well.
3. The Evensong service at St. Mary's gave worshipers a chance to pray and meditate upon forgiveness and reconciliation on the tenth anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, the plane crash in Pennsylvania, and the deaths at the Pentagon. The Holy Bible foresees a New Jerusalem. I got to read one passage about this promised world that came from the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation. Each of the service's prayers, each reading, each hymn was a measured and sane response to the grief, horror, and confusion that happened ten years ago.
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