Church offers way to cope with Tuesday's attack

As rescue workers sift through the rubble in search of remains and answers to Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pittsburgh, people at area churches are sorting out answers to their own questions.

How can such evil exist in the world? Why was innocent life taken? Who could have orchestrated such an event? How shall the church respond?

Turning to faith for an understanding of the week's events is, for some, the only place to find answers.

"People will turn to the church for answers because the church is the answer," said Dan Skalnik, a member of Centenary United Methodist Church.

The church offers a way to cope with the loss and despair people feel. Christianity offers "a possibility for coping and that's the cross -- an unspeakable act of violence against an innocent person," said the Rev. Andy Pratt, campus minister and religion professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

Even if you were to go to ground zero in New York, amid all the rubble, "in some unspeakable way that's where God is," Pratt said.

The Rev. Bill Matzat, director of pastoral care at Southeast Missouri Hospital, said that Christians have the resources to handle the feelings because of the strength they find in God.

"God is our refuge and strength and our present help," Matzat said, reciting verses by memory.

Prayer services in the community and among local churches have been a source of strength for many, he said.

Kristi Howard's first reaction to the news Tuesday was to fall to her knees in prayer. "I asked him to make it stop," she said of her prayers.

Howard admits she questioned how someone could have such disregard for human life. She still has difficulty comprehending the tragedy.

She believes that people will be attending worship services Sunday in search of answers. "They don't know where else to turn," she said.

Lee Whitman, pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, said his sermon this morning will be about the day evil dies. "People are wondering what to do next. We have to look to Christ; that's where peace actually begins."

Past surface reactions

But talk of peace can be difficult when the threat of war hangs overhead.

People must know that God doesn't cause these things to happen, Howard said. "God is there for us to turn to in our suffering and our grief to pick us up in comfort and wrap his arms around us."

In as much as people look for a person to blame, God isn't it. The psalmists in Scripture lash out at God and offer praises at the same time, Matzat said. "That's really honest because it's a human reaction."

Yet people must get past the surface reactions of anger, retaliation and fear and pull closer together in their faith, Pratt said.

"There are some very clear words from the New Testament: Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Those are words we that need to be heard Sunday."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126