We hardly know what to think

By Paulette Tobin

9-15-01

When we consider the events of this past week, we hardly know what to think. Can we get our minds around the horror? Can any of us understand the kind of fanaticism and hatred that could result in such despicable acts?

Yesterday I went to a local prayer service at which the pastor read some of the same scriptures we chose five years ago for our father's funeral. Among them were the awesome reassurances of Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change. ... The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter, He utters his voice, the earth melts."

And the words of the New Testament, one of my favorite passages, in II Corinthians, Chapter 4: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

There is so much talk now, so much speculation, so many horrible images on TV and in the newspapers, so much we still don't know. One of our first reactions is that we must do something! Many are calling for swift retaliation. My most fervent prayer is that our leaders will not succumb to pressure to act until they have carefully considered the consequences of their decisions. This September 11 attack cannot go unchallenged, but there is too much at stake, including the lives of more innocent people and the lives of future generations, to act out of a desire for revenge.

We have talked endlessly in our home over the past days about the events of September 11. We've wept and prayed, reassured each other, and have marveled at the strength and courage of so many who have lost loved ones, who are digging through rubble, who have the burden of the leadership. Perhaps this doesn't make any sense, but one of the things I've thought about this week is how glad I am to be an American. Do you ever think about how lucky we are to live in this country? Yet the very freedom we take for granted - to educate our children, to worship as we please, to live as we want - is at the heart of what makes our enemies hate us so much.

This is a time of year I love so much, as summer passes into fall and the colors of the Earth burst into orange, bronze, red and gold. But now it's become such a time of peril and uncertainty. The only thing we can know for sure is that everything has changed.

We're a people who are hardly ever still. We're always rushing somewhere. We're used to things being louder, bigger and more. We're people of action. Psalm 46, however, says: "Be still, and know that I am God." I think I'll try to wrap my mind around that thought in the days and weeks ahead.

(Paulette Haupt Tobin grew up on a farm near Eureka and graduated from Eureka High School in 1973. Today she lives in Grand Forks, N.D., where she is a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.)