Matt’s Musings

Dear St. Paul’s Friends & Family,

I had the honor of participating in the 25^th Anniversary Morning Observance Program at the Flight 93 National Memorial on Friday.  As we remember the terrible events of September 11, 2001, and lives that were lost and the many more lives that were forever changed, I share with you the prayer that I prayed on Friday.

May you experience God’s peace and presence as we reflect and remember.

Peace,

Pastor Matt

“O, God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come. 

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home.”   Isaac Watts, 1719

We gather before you today giving thanks for those whose lives were lifted up to you in the ultimate act of love and sacrifice so that the lives of countless neighbors would be spared from injury and death.  We humbly ask for your blessing upon the memory of the passengers and crew members of United Airlines Flight 93, whose actions and souls are forever linked to this sacred place.  We give thanks that 25 years ago, 40 strangers, each on their own journey, united behind a single purpose that not only saved lives, but whose actions will continue to inspire countless generations.

God of Many Names may your Spirit surround their families who continue to bear the burden of their loss.  Hold them securely in your love so that they may be joined eternally to you and to their departed loved ones.  Provide for them sustenance for life’s journey as they live out each day.  Grant to them the continued blessings of new life, youth and children, who will join in sharing the courageous stories of their loved ones who sacrificed themselves defending others.  Bind them together in your Spirit’s tether.  May sacred memory embrace them with continued healing and a future full of hope and abundant life.  

Encourage us, O God, to make of our lives a living sacrifice, dedicated to works of mercy, love, and generosity toward our neighbor.  Nurture among us a beloved community that cares for the grieving and courageously contends with the darkness of hate, bigotry, religious extremism, intolerance, and all forces that diminish our life together.

Grant that we, your people, of all faiths, and of no faith, be guided in the ways of peace and justice as we seek to respond to your love by loving you, our neighbor, and ourselves with all our strength and being.  May the courage and selflessness of the 40 passengers and crew members of Flight 93 inspire us to live lives committed to protecting the life, dignity, and freedom of friends and strangers.  Continue to shepherd us, O Holy One, from this sacred space into the worship that is our lives.

“O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guide while life shall last,

And our eternal home.”     Isaac Watts, 1719

Amen.