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Praying
for the Terrorists
Frank D. Macchia
Where was God on
September
11 th when the terrorists struck? Our times of prayer are bound to involve this
question
at some
point.
The sim- ple
answer is; Wherever there was
redemptive courage
and
faith,
love and comfort,
all of the virtues we come to recognize as fruits of the Holy Spirit- God was there in these.
Beyond that,
the answer becomes
exceedingly
dif- ficult and complex.
There is a certain
mystery
to
providence
that cannot be denied. John Calvin’s hominum
confusione
et Dei providentia
(according
to human con- fusion but God’s
providence)
comes to mind. Emil Brunner and Karl Barth have
helped
us to recognize that a theology of providence cannot
proceed
on the
assumption
that God’s will for history and creation can be simply iden- tified with “whatever
happens.” Instead, providence
must be discerned according
to a christological criterion in the midst of whatever
happens.
The idea of a “God
beyond
the God revealed in Christ” who ordained the evil that God then combated in Christ is a theological
absurdity.
Yet, there is a mystery
involved in the flow of history and the cycles of nature. We struggle to make sense of the chaos and wonder
why
God allows it or what
good
could
possibly
be made from it to make it all somehow worthwhile. As Dostoyevsky said in protest, the cost of human
suffering
is too
great
to warrant
any good
that could come out from it. In The Brothers Karamozov,
the
skeptical
voice of Ivan asks
why
we should know the good in relation to the evil “when it costs so much.” He concludes, “It’s
beyond our means to pay so much to enter on it. And so I hasten to give back
my entrance ticket.” Faith
disagrees, arguing
instead that the
price
of human suffering
cannot be
compared
to the
glory yet
to be revealed
(Rom. 8: 18). Grace makes
suffering
worthwhile.
However,
herein lies the
challenge. How can we
speak
of the fact that
grace
makes
suffering
worthwhile when we can see this
glory-to-come only
so dimly? How can we do this in
any other context than silent
solidarity
with those who suffer? How can we speak
in this
way
without
trivializing suffering
as well as the voice of a Dostoyevsky
that seems to speak with integrity on behalf of so many people today
who are touched
by pain
and
injustice?
Where was God on
September
11 th? God was involved
taking up another thread in the
tapestry
of
redemption
that will culminate in the Kingdom
of God to come. Whatever that means we are
only
now
trying
to figure
out as we see
through
a glass dimly. In the meantime, we
willingly
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confess our
ignorance
as we await final
eschatological enlightenment
and seek its wisdom in the here and now in the
light
of the Gospel.
And make no mistake about
it,
we must seek wisdom and
prudent action, despite
the unanswered
questions
that nag us day and night. Our task is to move out in the
Spirit
of Christ in harmony with God’s act of redemp- tion in the cross and nourished
by, and hopeful for,
the
power
of new life unleashed in the resurrection. The more
urgent question
of our
prayers, therefore, must be, where were we on September 11 th, as individual
persons, as faith communities, and as a nation? And where are we headed as a result of this terrorist crime
against
so many innocent victims? Were we compla- cent with
regard
to the obvious blind
spots
in U.S.
policy
toward Islamic peoples?
Were we complacent toward their
suffering
as well as their
spiri- tual and social needs? Will
September
llth
change
this for us?
I do not wish to deny that we must side with the victims of this crime of terrorism and seek
appropriate justice.
I also do not
deny
that the sub- stance of Islamic faith is being revealed to a significant
degree by the abili- ty of Islamic religious
leaders to stand
firmly
and
unambiguously
with the victims of the crime
perpetrated by the terrorists on September
11 th. But the American church is being tested as well.
Demonizing
the terrorists is too easy
and far too convenient. It allows us to rest secure in an American self- righteousness
that seeks
justice
without wisdom or
mercy, furthering
the blindness that helped to set the stage
historically
for Islamic
rage against
the West. The terrorists and we are
entangled
in a drama that has
apocalyptic implications
for us all. God have
mercy
on us as we seek to influence our political
leaders and media
representatives
to look beyond
casting
this drama simply
as a struggle between
good
and evil.
Something
other than bombs and court trials is needed. We need
repentance
and bold moves toward rec- onciliation and interfaith, intercultural
sensitivity.
We need the
God-given capacity
to pray for our enemies-not to justify them or demonize them, but to pray for them in the
hope against hope
that we
might
both be
changed redemptively
in a yet unknown future.
Only
then will we see the legitimate pain
beneath the twisted and self-centered
thinking
that drove these extrem- ists to their terrorist acts.
Only
then will we understand the baffling
sympa- thy that at least some
Muslims of good will seem to have for them.
In the quest for such wisdom, I offer the following prayer
given by Jerry Camery-Hoggatt,
our former
managing
editor and current
professor
of New Testament and Narrative
Theology
at
Vanguard University
of Southern California. It was
given originally
at a prayer service held at VUSC
shortly after the events of September 11th:
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A Prayer for our Enemies
O God of reconciliation and
healing,
We face
today
a challenge that defies our
understanding:
How are we to pray for the souls of those who have struck out against
us? How do we pray for the redemption
‘ of those who,
even as we pray for them, wish our destruc- tion ?
We confess the capriciousness of our broken hearts that demand
justice
for ourselves while
ignoring
the
ways
in which we have turned our backs on injustices
elsewhere in our broken and fallen world.
We confess the
capriciousness
of our broken hearts that
yearn
for
revenge rather than
redemption.
We confess the capriciousness of our broken minds that in our
anger
fail to see how terrible must be the inner bitterness of those whose
anger
has led them to take such action
against
us.
Such moments as this call us to reach
deeply
into the well of Thy grace, for only
in the
power
of Thy grace can we now
pray
for the families of those eighteen
terrorists whose actions have left so many of our families hurt and bleeding;
and only in the power of Thy
grace
can we now
pray
for the chil- dren of those who have left our children without fathers or mothers; and only in the
power
of
Thy grace
can we now
pray
for their
parents,
their
wives, their brothers and sisters, their aunts and uncles.
t And just as our Lord could
say
of those who crucified him, “Father,
forgive them… ” we now
pray
for the souls of those
eighteen men;
and we pray for the souls of the two hundred others who
provided ground support
for them; and we pray
for the souls of those in the terrorist
camps
in which
they were
trained,
and for those countries which harbored them.
We do not pray that
they
will come to see the justice of the American cause against
them, but that they will see Thee and that in seeing Thee
they
will be saved.
Only
in the
power
of Thy
grace
can we
pray
that in some future we cannot
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now
imagine
we may meet them in heaven, and feast with them at the Great Banquet
and call them brothers.
Amen
‘
October 2001 1
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