The Moral

I received a letter that I would like to share with you. 

I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is 
lost! The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. 
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to 
hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By 
his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his 
faithfulness; his mercies begin a afresh each day. I say to myself, “The 
Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him!” The Lord is wonderfully 
good to those who wait and seek him. So it is good to wait quietly for 
salvation from the Lord. And it is good for the young to submit to the yoke 
of his discipline.

Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands. Let them lie face 
down in the dust; then at last there is hope for them. Let them turn the other 
cheek to those who strike them. Let them accept the insults of the enemies. 
For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though he brings grief, he 
also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love. For 
the Lord does not enjoy hurting anyone people or causing them sorrow. 

But the leaders of his people trampled prisoners underfoot. They deprived 
people of their God-given rights in defiance of the Most High. They 
perverted justice in the courts. Do they think the Lord didn’t see it? 

Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission? Is it not the Most High 
who helps one and harms another? Then why should we, mere humans, 
complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and 
examine our ways. Let us turn in repentance to the Lord. Let us lift our 
hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “we have sinned and rebelled, 
and you have not forgiven us. 

You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down and slaughtered 
us without mercy. You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers 
cannot reach you. You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among 
the nations. All of our enemies have spoken out against us. We are filled 
with fear, for we are trapped, desolate and ruined.” Streams of tears flow 
from my eyes because of the destruction of my people. My tears flow 
down endlessly, they will not stop until the Lord looks down from heaven 
and sees. My heart is breaking over the fate of the women of Jerusalem. 
My enemies, whom I have never harmed, chased me like a bird. They 
threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. The water flowed above 
my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”

But I called on your name LORD, from deep within the well, and you heard 
me! Yes, you came at my despairing cry and told me, “Do not fear.”

I don’t know about you but as I read this letter I felt sick to my stomach.
Sick that such power hungry driven individuals could destroy the lives of
innocent people. That those who were there and survived asked the 
inevitable question, “What have I done wrong to deserve such punishment 
for my sins? What have I done wrong that God wants to destroy not only 
me but everything I have worked so hard for? What have I done wrong that 
God wants to let my loved one die?

Today in the United States of America is known as Patriotic Sunday in 
honor of those individuals, who died at the hand of terrorist on September 
11, 2001. 

The letter I have read to you was not written from someone who was at 
Ground Zero in New York City, or at the Pentagon, or related to anybody 
aboard the four planes that were used to terrorize the United States of 
America and the entire world. 

The letter I have read was written by the prophet Jeremiah and can be 
found in your Bible in the Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3:18-57. For
Jeremiah was an eyewitness to a disaster when the unthinkable had 
taken place. The holy city of Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians. 

The Book of Lamentations, the short book that follows the long 52 chapters 
of Jeremiah’s prophesy, is Jeremiah’s formal composition of his grief and 
lamenting over what had happened around him. 

When events happen in our lives it is important that we memorialize them 
in a proper, dignified manner. It is important that the tribute should 
communicate what happened that makes the tribute so significant.

I have reflected on the destruction of the city of Jerusalem that was to such 
a magnitude that the original Jerusalem has never been found. I have 
reflected on the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and I see a message from 
both of these separate but similar situations. 

How many left home for work to never return home again? How many left 
mad or loved ones were mad at them when they left? Now the survivors 
are left with that memory to fog any other memories they may have. 

Sadly humans often fail to realize in their lives… 

Lamentations 3:21-24,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies 
never come to an end; they are new every morning; great 
is thy faithfulness.” The LORD” is my portion, says my soul. 

I believe we should never leave home without telling the ones you love, I 
love you. For in the end, all that are left are photographs and memories. 
Let the ones you love know that I love you and never take it for granted 
that they or you will be home that night.

His name is Mr. Miller and he owned a farmer’s market in a community that 
was economically depressed. A small boy, delicate of bone and feature, 
was in Mr. Miller’s farmers market looking at a basket of freshly picked
vegetables. “Hello Barry, how are you today?” “I’m fine Mr. Miller, thanks 
for asking.” “How’s your Ma’ Barry?” “She’s fine sir, thank you for asking.”
“That’s good to hear Barry. Anything I can help you with?” “No sir, I was 
just admiring those fresh vegetables.” “Would you like to take em’ home 
Barry?” “Aw no sir, I don’t have anything to pay for them with.” “Well, 
what’ve you got on you Barry?” “All I’ve got is my prize marble Mr. Miller.”
“Is that right? Let me see it Barry, boy that’s sure a dandy Barry but I
really wanted a red marble. Do you have one?” “I think I’ve got one at 
home sir.” “Well then Barry you take these fresh vegetables home for you 
and your momma. When you come back the next time bring me that red 
marble, you hear?” “Yes sir I will.” 

There were two other boys in the community who Mr. Miller bartered with 
for marbles knowing they could not afford to buy fresh produce. The years 
passed and Mr. Miller died. As Mrs. Miller stood at her husband’s side, 
she watched three young men walk up to her husband’s casket. With 
tears in her eyes she recognized the three young men who touched her 
husbands hand and gently came him a kiss then turned with tears in their 
eyes and silently walked out after they gave her a hug. Mrs. Miller told her 
friend, “Those three young men who came to pay their respect to my 
husband told me that they will always remember how my husband could 
never make his mind up about what color of marble he wanted. But they 
appreciated how he had traded with them so that they could have fresh 
vegetables to eat when they were little boys.”

As Mrs. Miller walked up to pay her last respects to her husband, she
started uncontrollably sobbing. You see when she kissed her husband 
goodbye, and she grabbed his hand, under his hand laid red, green and 
white marbles. They had never had a lot of wealth but at that moment her 
husband was the richest man she had ever known. 

Psalm 124:

If it had not been for the LORD who was on our side, let 
Israel now say, if it had not been for the Lord who was on 
our side, when men rose up against us; then the flood 
would have swept us alive, when their anger was kindled 
against us; then over us would have gone the raging 
waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has given us as prey 
to their teeth! We have escaped as a bird from the snare 
of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven 
and earth.

No matter what tragedies may happen in our lives, there is a moral to the 
fall of the city of Jerusalem and September 11, 2001. 

The moral: 

I’d gladly walk across the desert with no shoes upon my feet to share with 
you the last bite of bread I had to eat. I would swim out to save you in your 
sea of broken dreams. When all your hopes are sinking, let me show you 
what love means. Love can build a bridge between your heart and mine.
Love can build a bridge; don’t you think it’s time? Don’t you think it’s time? 
I would whisper love so loudly every heart would understand. That love 
and only love can join the tribes of man. I would give my heart’s desires 
so that you might see. The first step is to realize that it all begins with you 
and me. Love can build a bridge between your heart and mine. Love can 
build a bridge; don’t you think it’s time? Don’t you think it’s time? When 
we stand together it’s our finest hour, we can do it anything, anything, 
anything if we just keep believing in the power. Love can build a bridge 
between your heart and mine. Love can build a bridge; don’t you think it’s 
time? Don’t you think it’s time?

Father God, love can build a bridge between your heart and mine if I 
am open, if we are open, to your unconditional love. May we 
follow your example Father God, in our daily lives. 
Amen.





07/10/2006JWM



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