This past week I watched our church's Easter worship on April 16, 1995. It was an amazing worship experience. There was incredible music (the congregation even sang the "Hallelujah Chorus"), excitement, lots of joyful clapping to the music, an impassioned sermon, eight baptisms, and an incredible spirit of optimism. Little did those 1,200 people in attendance know that just three days later their lives and their church would be changed forever.
At 9:02 on that Wednesday morning, April 19, 1995, the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history struck across the street from Oklahoma City First Church. 168 people were killed, including 19 children, over 700 were injured, over 300 businesses, homes, and buildings sustained damage, and thousands of lives were changed forever. If you were living in Oklahoma on that day you remember where you were when you heard the blast or heard the news of the bombing.
But then, there were signs of hope. Signs like lives that were miraculously spared, acts of heroism of first responders, selfless actions by strangers on the street, people lining up all across the state to donate blood, leather gloves, work boots, water, and food for the recovery workers, outdoor chapels constructed, pancake breakfasts served, Easter lilies still standing, stained glass unbroken. There was kindness in the midst of the hate that fueled that evil act of the bombing, life in the midst of all the death and destruction, hope in the midst of all the fear and chaos. It's that same kind of kindness, life, and hope that carries us through during these dark days today.
Pastor Lesly
