The following hymn by Charles Wesley (1758) is offered as a help for you, your Covenant Discipleship group, and your congregation following the first anniversary of the horror of September 11, 2001.

In this powerful hymn Wesley expresses the human condition of suffering and struggle with the powers of evil and death. In the midst of despair, he reminds us who and whose we are: we are redeemed and set free from these powers by the love of God incarnate in Jesus Christ. We belong to the "universal Friend" whose will is shalom, the universal healing and wholeness of the world. This is a plea for peace and an encouragement for us, as disciples of Jesus, to be channels of his peace in and for the world.

Our Earth We Now Lament to See

Our earth we now lament to see
With floods of wickedness overflowed,
With violence, wrong, and cruelty,
The killing fields our constant abode,
Where men like fiends each other tear,
In all the hellish rage of war.

As listed on Abaddon's side,
They mangle their own flesh, and slay:
Tophet is moved, and opens wide
Its mouth for its enormous prey;
And myriads sink beneath the grave,
And plunge into the flaming wave.

O might the universal Friend
This havoc of His creatures see!
Bid our unnatural discord end;
Declare us reconciled in Thee;
Write kindness on our inward parts,
And chase the murderer from our hearts!

Who now against each other rise,
The nations of the earth, constrain
To follow after peace, and prize
The blessings of Thy righteous reign,
The joys of unity to prove,
The paradise of perfect love!

From A Collection of Hymns for the Use of The People Called Methodist, 1780, #430. For other resources and suggestions for observing the anniversary of September 11, see "Remembering 9-11" on the General Board of Discipleship's Worship Website.