May 2007

“May God forgive thier evil.”
Etched at the center of the Cross at Ground Zero

Dear Members and Friends,

Evil is a good word. Evil is a discomfiting word. It is a disturbing word. It is not a politically correct word. But it is a good word, often used in the New Testament to demarcate thoughts and actions demonically and diametrically opposed to God.

There are some in our nation who are well-intentioned, and they feel that words like evil should not be used. The underlying principle seems to be that if we remove this term from our collective and personal vocabulary, it will disappear from our world. I would like to believe this, but I prefer to practice a faith based in reason and reality, not fantasy.

The events that recently transpired on the campus of Virginia Tech were evil. They were orchestrated by an individual beset by and bestowing unspeakable atrocity. To say that he had “issues” is an insult to the intelligence and sensibilities of the general population. We must not forget that he was human, but we cannot escape the fact that he was an undeniable and unmistakable manifestation of evil.

Yet it is an evil that cannot surmount the much wider and more powerful presence of good. When acts of singular depravity inflict themselves in our society, we take heightened notice because they emerge within a landscape that is largely beautiful. Indeed, enormous calamity always makes the front page because overwhelming kindness, sacrifice and joy are not news!

Just this past week I have personally encountered hundreds of fine people and witnessed numerous acts of love and charity – dynamics by which our daily lives are commonly defined. Yet none of these will be broadcast to the nation on the NBC Nightly News. There will be no televised discussions undertaken by investigative reporters attempting to peel away the layers of this self-less service and decency.

Yet we must speak of evil, partly because it is real, and mainly because it can and will be overcome. The sentiment etched into the Cross at Ground Zero with an arc-welder is crudely fashioned, imperfectly spelled, yet wonderfully conceived. The words of this simple statement were scrawled in seconds, but the labor prior to their delivery took many days and countless tears. It was not a theologian who was inspired to make this pronouncement, but an iron-worker, who may not have been highly educated, but he was profoundly blessed. The actual words have started to fade under the layers of corrosion that must always occur, but the principle will live on and be our salvation.

Human beings are capable of doing some inexpressibly hateful things. Yet even when we are victimized by the worst of evil, if we are allowed to express the deepest ugliness and anguish of our wounds, healing takes place, and grace begins to emerge. It takes time, but it takes place.

I wish our God and our Gospel did not have to speak to the reality of evil. Yet I am sustained in the truth that they can, they must, and they most assuredly do.

Godspeed,

From Reverend William J. Keane, Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford