[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18579-18580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

  Mr. GRAHAM. Madam President, throughout America the events of 
September 11 have touched our people and have brought forth a level of 
thoughtful eloquence which has contributed to our ability to understand 
and to be able to deal with the extreme shock and pain of those 
agonizing images we all hold of the events of September 11.
  On Sunday, I attended the services at my church, the Miami Lakes 
Congregational Church, where our pastor, Rev. Jeffrey Frantz, delivered 
an exceptional sermon. I would like his words and thoughts and message 
to be made available to a broader audience, and therefore I ask 
unanimous consent, Madam President, that Reverend Frantz' sermon, 
``Proud to be an American,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the sermon was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                      ``Proud To Be an American!''

               Living Out Our Faith in a Dangerous World

  (By Dr. Jeffrey E. Frantz, Miami Lakes Congressional Church, Miami 
                               Lakes, FL)

     Isaiah 42:5-9, Matthew 5:1-16


                                   i

       In these past few weeks, now, since the September 11th 
     nightmare, our lives have been jolted and challenged, 
     stretched and turned upside down, like never before. It's 
     like so many have commented: everything has changed.

       1. First, the sweeping impact, on all levels, of the tragic 
         event itself . . . the anger and rage, coupled with the 
         mourning and grief. We were left numb with disbelief.
       2. And then, later, the realization that we have to somehow 
         get on with our lives. We have to put our lives back 
         together. We can't let fear tell us who we are. We have 
         to dig deeply into our self-understanding, our identity 
         as a people, and affirm the best of our traditions.
       3. We've been dealt a deathly blow; and its reaches have 
         touched virtually every part of our lives: the economy, 
         all levels of our government, the entertainment world, 
         our psychological and spiritual life.

       I was reading an issue of Time Magazine this past week that 
     predated the September 11th disaster. And it was like 
     virtually all of the news seemed suddenly irrelevant and 
     inconsequential. Suddenly Michael Jordan's possible comeback 
     to the NBA seemed trifling and insignificant. We weren't much 
     interested in who Jennifer Lopez might be marrying and where, 
     or in the latest rumor about Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise.
       Suddenly all of the usual quibbling and whimpering that 
     clutter our lives seem out of place and so, so harmless. 
     Indeed, it's a new day. And a swelling patriotism is 
     everywhere. I've never seen America so united. We're coming 
     together as we never have in the past fifty years or more.
       People, all over, are coming together. There are problems, 
     to be sure, with some of the understandable, but inexcusable 
     profiling that has been going on. And we must do all we can 
     to curb any such intolerance or injustice. It is a difficult 
     time to be an Arab-American.
       Also, there's an eerie frenzy about the prospect of 
     biological warfare and chemical or germ warfare--scary stuff. 
     Still, people are coming together. Literally hundreds, if not 
     thousands, of relief efforts are underway around the nation, 
     even the world. The amount of money being raised in relief 
     support is already staggering.
       American flags have never been in such resplendent display. 
     Patriotic hymns and expressions of one kind or another are on 
     every radio station and on every street corner.
       American pride is rising to a magnificent height, and it 
     makes us proud.
       I say this because, at our best, America is a wondrous 
     land, a delightful rainbow people of God's creative hand. Our 
     freedom is our heartbeat, our pulse. But our marvelous 
     diversity is freedom's precious child.
       Reports suggest that people from as many as sixty nations 
     perished in the rubble of the World Trade Center. You see, 
     friends, we are the world! That's not a pronouncement of 
     arrogance; but rather it is a description of the incredible 
     variety of human beings that fill the reaches of our land.


                                   II

       Perhaps some of you saw the televised memorial observance 
     last Sunday afternoon from Yankee Stadium in New York City. 
     With some initial words from James Earl Jones, and emceed by 
     Oprah Winfrey, it was a moving and touching service 
     throughout.
       Along with tear-streaked cheeks and broken hearts, the 
     diversity of America was everywhere. In the stands, to be 
     sure, with family members, deeply saddened, holding pictures 
     of missing loved ones. And up front around the podium: 
     clerics and clergy, holy men and women--arrayed in their 
     sacred garments, gathered to pray and read holy writings--a 
     magnificent diversity.
       There were Christian and Jew, Muslim and Buddhist, Hindu 
     and Sikh, believer and non-believer--from every imaginable 
     ethnic group and tribe. America is the world!

     O beautiful for spacious skies,
     For amber waves of grain,
     For purple mountain majesties,
     Above the fruited plain.

       I'm proud to be an American

     America, America!
     God shed God's grace on thee.
     And crown thy good with brotherhood
     From sea to shining sea.


                                  III

       This is our vision; this is our dream. It's part of our 
     inheritance, part of our history and tradition. Almost from 
     our inception, we have been what Second Isaiah called Israel, 
     a light to the nations.
       This wasn't always Israel's self-understanding. She had 
     been God's chosen people, yes. But her chosenness didn't 
     necessarily extend beyond her borders. But, now, in exile . . 
     . seemingly defeated, a new vision of Israel emerged:

     I will give you as a light to the nations,
       said the prophet.
     That my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

       This universalizing of Israel's role and purpose marks a 
     break-through for Israel's self-identity. Israel's 
     chosenness, now, is to be shared . . . to the ends of the 
     earth. That my salvation may reach out to all people, says 
     the prophet.
       Friends, America too, is such a light! Whether chosen or 
     not, America has always felt that God's hand was on us in a 
     special way. There is a tantalizingly thin line, that 
     lingers: between the arrogance of presumption and the 
     humility of endowment.
       Still, no matter how we understand ourselves as Americans, 
     we are a nation of vast resources, of tremendous power and 
     wealth. We have so much to be grateful for. We have been so 
     wondrously blessed.
       Along with our power and wealth comes great responsibility. 
     Whatever salvation God can work through us comes most 
     abundantly and effectively through our humility. And no 
     matter how we choose to construe our present national crisis, 
     our responsibility--in the way we respond--is enormous. 
     Clearly, all of the world is watching our every move, picking 
     up cues from what we do.

       1. I'm proud to be an American . . . in an America that 
     indeed is a light to the nations. An America that stands 
     tall, to be sure, but an America whose greatness is seen in 
     its humbleness of spirit.
       2. Such humbleness of spirit, grounded in the teachings and 
     example of Christ, IS the key to our future, and indeed to 
     the future of the world, as we work our way through the chaos 
     and the complexity of these difficult times.


     Blessed are the poor in spirit,
       for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
     Blessed are the meek,
       for they shall inherit the earth.
     Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness,
       for they shall be satisfied.
     Blessed are the pure in heart,
       for they shall see God,
     Blessed are the peacemakers,
       for they shall be children of God.


                                   IV

       There's been much talk, since September 11th, of our 
     vulnerability. Our vulnerability is, however, nothing new. 
     We've always been vulnerable. It's the human condition. These 
     blessed conditions, the beatitudes of Jesus, are transparent 
     reminders of this truth.
       We cannot save ourselves. Understandably, we're frenzied in 
     our rush to make our lives safe again, to get our life back. 
     We see this abundantly exemplified, now, as we invest 
     enormous dollars and effort to beef up our national security 
     and intelligence on all fronts, as we clearly must do.
       And yet, as people of faith, We've never lost our life. Our 
     life is in God and in God's eternal love and saving grace 
     that have no end.
       Part of what is so vividly apparent in all of this is that 
     we live in a world that is irreversibly interdependent and 
     global; and we must increasingly see ourselves in this light.

[[Page 18580]]

     In no way, therefore, can we isolate ourselves from the 
     sufferings, deprivations and tribulations of any nation. 
     We're too interconnected; our power and influence are too 
     great.
       I'm proud to be an American . . . in an America that indeed 
     is a light to the nations. An America that rises to the 
     challenge of the requirements of greatness. We are a great 
     nation. And what are the requirements of our greatness.

       1. To be a good listener. Humility and love demand this of 
     us: to embrace the other life . . . the other tribe . . . the 
     other religion with respect and honor.
       2. To think long-term in whatever we do. We must be 
     deliberate and wise in our consideration of what kind of a 
     world--what kind of an Afghanistan, what kind of a Pakistan, 
     or any other nation--do we want to see emerge on the other 
     side of whatever action we take.
       3. To respond to evil run amok. Evil of the proportions of 
     the current global terrorism must be eradicated. Global 
     terrorism must be stopped. Most likely, we cannot avoid some 
     measure of violence and aggression. But how we proceed, and 
     with what level of international support, is of the utmost 
     importance.


                                   V

       Violence and war must never--too easily, too quickly--
     become options. Sometimes, when evil and demonic forces are 
     too out-of-control, we may well have no choice. But even 
     then, it is only with great mercy and sorrow in our hearts 
     that we act.
       All of which is to suggest that violence, and resolution 
     through violence, are never as easy as we think. It's never 
     just a matter of going in and taking care of business. Ethnic 
     and tribal hatreds endure, as we are seeing today, for 
     decades and decades . . . even centuries.
       We see that in Northern Ireland. We've seen it in Kosovo 
     and what was Yugoslavia, where ethnic and tribal hatreds have 
     been warning for centuries on end. We see it, now, in 
     Afghanistan: tribal warlords at odds, killing one another and 
     perpetuating the cycle of violence for generations to come. 
     And we see it, too, in the endless hostilities that continue 
     to cast a pall of gloom over Israel and Palestine.
       Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke prophetically to us about the 
     problem with violence: ``The ultimate weakness of violence is 
     that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it 
     seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies 
     it. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not 
     murder the hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate, 
     returning violence for violence, adding deeper darkness to a 
     night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive hate 
     out; only love can do that.''
       We're Christians, friends, children of God, before we are 
     anything else. That does not mean that we should not take 
     care of our own. It means that we understand that taking care 
     of our own is rooted, first, in an impulse of love and 
     respect, understanding and acceptance of all nations, all 
     religions.
       I'm proud to be an American in an America that understands 
     that when the international community is strong and healthy--
     when freedom and hope are finding their way around the earth, 
     when the dreams of people everywhere have hope of 
     realization--then America is strong. And then America is 
     safe.


                                   vi

       We're a light to the nations. I believe that. And I believe 
     it at the foot of the cross.
       We must spread the light of God's blessings to all peoples. 
     This is not easy. In fact, it is very complex and will 
     require great sacrifice on our part, as it has in the past. 
     It will take time, even decades and more.
       Yet, to work our way thru the rubble of September 11th, we 
     must make international coalitions and networks of 
     understanding our number one priority.
       We must improve our sense of geography--our awareness of 
     other cultures and religions. We must lead from a strength 
     that exudes love, charity, compassion and historical 
     understanding. Because then, and only then, will we begin to 
     bring a healing and peace that endure to our fragmented 
     world.
       Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 
     of heaven . . . blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
     the earth . . . blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall 
     be called children of God . . .
       You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine 
     before all the world . . . that the world may see your faith 
     and give glory to God in heaven .  .  .

     America, America!
     God shed God's grace on thee,
     And crown thy good with brotherhood.
     from sea to shinning sea .  .  .

     How beautiful, two continents,
     and islands in the sea .  .  .
     That dream of peace, non-violence,
     all people living free.

     America, America!
     God grant that we may be . . .
     A hemisphere, indeed one earth,
     living in harmony.

       I'm proud to be an American, O yes; and to be a child of 
     the living God, the God of the heavens and the earth and all 
     that is in it. Amen.

  Mr. GRAHAM. Thank you, Madam President. And to my colleague, Senator 
Torricelli, I say thank you for your forbearance.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.

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