New Canon Pastor appointed - Truro Cathedral

From
Canon Perran...
hope springs eternal
Ten years ago the world changed. Ten years on as we
recall the horrific events of September 11 th 2001 we will
no doubt experience again some of the raw emotions
that we felt then – the shock, the outrage, the numbing
fear, the questioning, the crying out for revenge, the
desire to do something for those most affected by the
tragedy, the sense that nothing could ever be the same
again. Some of us had a more personal involvement – a
friend of ours was flying that day from Boston to Florida,
and we waited anxiously until we received a reassuring
email that they had not been involved. Up and down
America and all over the world the same drama was
replayed as people sat waiting for news of their loved
ones. All of us planning to travel by air thought long and
hard about whether we should cancel our journeys. And
our Cathedral, like places of worship everywhere, was
full of people leaving flowers, signing books of
remembrance, sitting in silence while they waited for the
darkness to pass.
Less than four months later, as 2001 turned into 2002,
Rainy and I flew to Florida to stay with some friends in
Orlando, and to spend a day or two with them in Walt
Disney World. The suburban landscape that we
remembered from a previous visit had altered
dramatically. Everywhere the Stars and Stripes were
flying as a gesture of solidarity and national unity, and
once we had negotiated the rather incongruous
temporary security cordons that now encircled Walt
Disney World, we found the same scene of optimism
and idealism for which Disney is famous. Our friends
spoke too about the increase in church attendance in the
weeks following 9/11, and the way in which members
of the Church were caring for each other as they came
to terms with their national grief. This was in distant
Florida: in New York itself there were even more striking
stories of solidarity, love and care that have already
become the stuff of modern day legends.
Ten years on, there is still unresolved tension around; still
suspicion of the person of a different creed, colour or
background; still an unwillingness to confront some of
the global issues that contributed to the background of
9/11. No one can pretend that the world is safe, or that
violence may not flare up in all kinds of places and
circumstances. But as we discovered at the beginning of
2002, so now in 2011 there is a renewed sense of
hope, hope that the human spirit will always triumph in
the end over adversity, that love and not hatred is the
most powerful force in the world, and that death does
not lead to despair but to victory. These are beliefs
shared by many throughout the world, of all faiths and
of none, but perhaps most clearly by Christians who
place a sign of despair and hope, the Cross of Christ on
that dark Friday afternoon, at the centre of their
understanding of the universe, and dare to call that
Friday Good.
This year the anniversary of 9/11 falls on a Sunday.
That afternoon at 4.00 p.m., in place of Evensong, we
invite you to a special service that will reflect once more
on the events of 2001, and on what we have learnt and
continue to learn from them. Do come and share that
time with us. Do come and confront the darkness and the
questions that 9/11 brings. And share with us too the
conviction that hope springs eternal, and that nothing in
all creation can separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
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