Direct and help us, O Lord, in all our deeds,
that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you,
we may glorify your holy name, and finally,
by your mercy, obtain everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
May God make safe to us each step,
May God open to us each door,
May God make clear to us each road.
May God enfold us in loving arms. Amen.
My children don't remember.
I mean, the younger children in my church don't remember. It was eleven years ago. The oldest of them was six when the towers were destroyed and we went to war. I'm wondering how I talk to them about it. I wonder how I tell them the story without subjecting them to the trauma so many people experienced that day.
So, no video footage. No point in giving the kids nightmares. I'm just going to talk about how many kinds of religions there are in the United States. No longer simply a liberal posture, it's an issue of national security, no? If we want to be at peace with our neighbors locally and globally, we need to understand them. We need to have something to work with, some kind of conecpt of how they live. Since I'm their pastor, I figure I should get them to think about the religious life of their neighbors.
That's what we started on Sunday. We talked about the various Christian groups first. I'm trying not to be boring.
Varying degrees of success.
Prayer is all I got.
Tripp Hudgins is a doctoral student in liturgical studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., and associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Palo Alto, Calif. You can read more of his writings on his longtime blog, "Conjectural Navel Gazing; Jesus in Lint Form" at AngloBaptist.org. Follow Tripp on Twitter @AngloBaptist.American flags commemorating 9/11, Vladimir Korostyshevskiy, Shutterstock.com
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