The Hour of Evil,
The Triumph of Goodness
By the Rev. David M. Baumann, SSC
As the working day began on the East Coast on Tuesday, September 11, 2001,
an obviously well-planned and premeditated attack was carried out by
terrorists on the United States. The World Trade Center was destroyed and a
portion of the Pentagon was damaged by three of four hijacked planes. It was
an hour in which evil seemed to win the day. More than five thousand
innocent people were killed, millions across the nation were struck with
horror, and billions across the world were shaken as the events unfolded on
television screens around the planet.
Such moments have happened before, of greater or lesser impact—evil moments that captured the world’s attention and blackened history. The shootings at Columbine High School. The bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The riots in Los Angeles after the verdicts in the Rodney King trial were announced. The days of the assassinations of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and President John Kennedy. The attack on Pearl Harbor. These are occasions when the nation and the world watched unrestrained evil erupt and, briefly, were powerless before its expansion.
But though these moments are seared on our hearts and memories, and thousands have lost their lives, their families and friends forever bereaved—the nation goes on. None of these moments destroys a civilization.
The hour of evil wounds, and wounds deeply—but such occasions also inspire bravery, elicit many acts of heroism and caring, and bring together against a common enemy people who had been divided over lesser issues. In times such as this, we learn once again that whenever horrific evil rears its head, courageous acts and heroic resolve are brought forth as well in the hearts of many individuals.
There are demons among us and always have been, but among us there always walk also the hidden heroes and heroines whose courage and willingness to make enormous sacrifices are unsuspected—often even by the heroes themselves. Such persons have always overwhelmingly outnumbered those few who willfully dedicate themselves to evil. Courageous individuals, by choosing to resist the terrorists, apparently prevented the fourth hijacked plane from reaching its target. Their actions probably saved the White House or Capitol Building from destruction, and the lives of those who inhabited them.
The moment of need brings these virtues out. About 300 New York firefighters
and police officers gave their lives in service to the victims of the New
York bombings. Countless people across the nation and beyond donated a pint of their life’s blood to save the lives of people they will never know. Many
gave money. People who rarely if ever come into houses of worship flocked
there. Numerous volunteers offered time, expertise, and skills, often at great personal expense and inconvenience.
In hours such as this, the American people have always pulled together and
risen to the occasion. The financial heart of the nation continues to beat.
The military was not stopped, nor even slowed. The American people felt like
a united people again—something we haven’t experienced for a long time.
There were few calls for revenge, though there were many for justice. A
determination to defend ourselves quickly grew throughout the populace.
Though evil has come, and will come again, it cannot triumph. It comes for
an hour, but the hour passes. Those who choose evil will always, ultimately,
be losers. The desire in the human heart for goodness and its abhorrence of
evil, death, and suffering will triumph. It always has. It will do so now.
O merciful Father: Look with pity upon the sorrows of those who have been
injured or traumatized in the recent attack upon our nation. Remember in
mercy those who have died. Sustain those in positions of responsibility,
that they may have the wisdom to deal with the demands of the hour. Give us
comfort and strength that we may not resort to hatred but may remember the
love and healing that our Lord Jesus Christ has given, and the ultimate
invincibility that is the dependable hope given to all who look to him in
faith; in his Name we pray.
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