[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 126 (Tuesday, September 25, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1724]]
                     SERMON BY PASTOR CAROL CUSTEAD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2001

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring this great chamber's 
attention to a sermon I recently heard at Zion Lutheran Church in 
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. I fully believe that there is a message in 
the sermon for all of us to learn. There are many people across the 
United States of American who are continuing to deal with the effects 
of the recent deadly terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the 
Pentagon. I believe this sermon may help those people deal with this 
tragedy.

                         Things to Keep in Mind

                       (By Pastor Carol Custead)

       The scene is etched in our minds. It entered over our 
     television screens in the safety and comfort of our homes, 
     schools, and places of work; and it left us feeling 
     vulnerable and shaken. The scene seemed surreal: a beautiful 
     blue September sky over Manhattan, those magnificent human-
     made towers of the World Trade Center gleaming in the 
     sunshine, with a jet airliner in the background--and then, 
     suddenly we realized that that airplane was headed right for 
     the towers at full speed. It struck with explosive force 
     which ultimately toppled the tower with its thousands of 
     innocent people in a cloud of dust on the floor of lower 
     Manhattan. At first it looked like Hollywood's special 
     effects at work on our screens. But soon the reality of this 
     horrific scene sunk deeply into the American collective 
     consciousness--indeed into the world's: America was under 
     attack!
       Those headlines Tuesday morning were so unbelievable. For 
     those who lived through Pearl Harbor the headlines, and the 
     feelings that accompanied them, brought back memories of 
     December 7, 1941. For those younger who have never 
     experienced an attack on our great and powerful nation, it 
     left us feeling helpless, frightened and confused like never 
     before.
       What do we make of these things? So much has been said and 
     written these past few days in an attempt to answer that 
     question. I add my preacher's words in these short minutes to 
     suggest a few spiritual things to keep in mind in the 
     aftermath, and as we bravely face an uncertain future 
     together.
       First, God is still good. These terrible acts of terrorism 
     are in no way a part of God's plan. They are not God's will. 
     What we have seen in the acts is that radical evil exists. 
     Let me quote a basic definition of evil, which I have found 
     to be helpful. ``Evil is anything that twists, blurs or 
     destroys the goodness of God in His creation''. I repeat: 
     Evil is anything that twists, blurs or destroys the goodness 
     of God in His creation. God is good, and God's good will is 
     ultimately accomplished, but that does not mean that 
     everything that happens in this world is God's will. Evil 
     runs its course in opposition to God's will.
       We can illustrate this in this way. Picture a stream 
     running its course down the mountain and into the ocean. 
     Someone could try to stop that stream from coming down the 
     mountain. They might take some large rocks and build a dam 
     across the course of the stream. But we know what would 
     happen. The water would simply be diverted and find another 
     way down the mountain. It will get to the ocean one way or 
     another. So it is with God's will. We human beings can 
     obstruct God's plan, intentionally or unknowingly, but it 
     will ultimately reach its goal.
       We saw the face of evil on Tuesday. There are evil people 
     in this world. The hijackers were trained to be killer pilots 
     and indoctrinated with fanaticism--with an extremely twisted 
     understanding of God's will which made them embrace mass 
     murder and suicide, believing it to be a part of God's plan. 
     Make no mistake: this is not what traditional Islam teaches. 
     The Islamic or Muslim faith does not condone violence or 
     suicide. These Islamic extremists are very sick people who 
     have twisted their religion--we should keep in mind that the 
     strong majority of Muslims are good people who seek to do 
     God's will within a moral code shared by Muslims, Christians, 
     and Jews alike.
       Yes, we have seen radical evil at work this week, but 
     goodness exists even more strongly. God is still good, and 
     the goodness of God will ultimately prevail.
       Second, God is still in control. Part of what is so 
     frightening in all this is that sense of helplessness, that 
     sense that we have lost control. While evil seems to have 
     struck a huge blow we need to keep in mind that God is at 
     work healing and restoring goodness and order to our world. 
     This can be seen through the many actions of good people 
     following the attacks. Even though the scenes of horror have 
     been etched into our minds, so have the countless scenes of 
     heroism, bravery, mercy, kindness, compassion and goodness as 
     the American people and people across the world have come to 
     the aid of those directly affected. We must keep these scenes 
     before us and remember them. We must dwell on the goodness 
     and not on the evil so that evil will not win the day. Look 
     at all the good things that God is still working even in the 
     midst of this enormous tragedy. The world community is coming 
     together in a common bond against the evil. The people of 
     this huge nation are coming together like a close knit family 
     to face the task of grieving and healing and getting on with 
     our lives, knowing that if we stop living because this 
     happened then we give the terrorists what they wanted. The 
     words of encouragement from the people of Oklahoma City to 
     the people of New York and Washington D.C. were well stated: 
     ``Have hope. Life and goodness will return.'' Yes, God is 
     still in control.
       Third, God is still our God. God is not some remote force 
     out there that leaves us on our own in this desperate and 
     broken world. He calls and gathers us into communities of 
     faith where we can seek mutual comfort, assurance, and 
     guidance. This week more than ever we can see why religion is 
     not a private matter. We need these communities of faith. We 
     need each other especially at times like this and God has not 
     left us alone. We have the good resources of our faith--the 
     faith that has been passed down by countless generations that 
     have faced adversity. As the psalmist has written long ago, 
     ``God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in 
     trouble . . . The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob 
     is our stronghold.'' (Psalm 46)
       Finally, let me shift gears to answer a question that has 
     been asked of both Pastor Scott and me this week. ``Would it 
     be the Christian response to retaliate?'' While pacifistic 
     Christians may answer ``no''; our answer is deeply steeped in 
     the theology of Martin Luther--and St. Augustine and others 
     before him. It is the God-given vocation of good government 
     to maintain order, peace, and safety so that civilization can 
     function. Civilized society is based upon the free movement 
     and gathering of people for work, for school, and for the 
     basic production and exchange of goods and services. 
     Terrorism undermines the basic function of civilization--the 
     free and safe movement and gathering of people for these 
     purposes. The nations of this world do need to hold 
     accountable and responsible those governments that allow 
     these terrorists to function.
       A look back in history makes this clear. When the Roman 
     Empire fell, and when the Empire was no longer able to 
     provide for the safe movement and gathering of people; the 
     economy, education, and culture collapsed. Then, what we now 
     call the ``Dark Ages'' began--that period when Barbarians 
     ruled the forests and no one was safe to leave their homes.
       Another example: What if some one was wandering the streets 
     of this town and randomly shooting and killing innocent 
     people? Would we not need the police to act to put an end to 
     that so that we could safely leave our homes and go about our 
     business again?
       The situation we face in our world today is much the same 
     only on a much larger scale. More than ever, today we exist 
     in a global community or a global society. This means that 
     all governments must participate in fulfilling the basic 
     function of government--that is to maintain the peace and 
     order needed for civilization to function for the common good 
     of all people. That is their God-given calling.
       The nations of this world will need to come together to 
     take action as best we can against this new illusive enemy of 
     terrorism that has attacked not only America but all of the 
     civilized world. We must act not for the sake of vengeance or 
     retribution, but for the sake of restoring safety, order and 
     peace to our world. The very core of civilization has been 
     threatened this week. The Christian response is not one of 
     vengeance and retribution but one that will best restore 
     order to our world--and that may only be possible in this 
     broken world through military action. It is time for us to 
     band together to pray earnestly for clarity in this matter by 
     our nation's leaders, by all responsible and civilized 
     national leaders of this world, and by the military. God help 
     us! Amen.

     

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