However, the peace and tranquillity which the Cape offers were shattered by the terrible news of the apparent terrorist attack that resulted in the downing of TWA Flight 800, killing all passengers and crew members aboard, and in the death and injuries sustained by the explosion of the pipe bomb placed in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Village.
The Summer Games -- which should have been dominated by the heroic feats of Kerry Strug, Amy Van Dyken, Shannon Miller, Angel Martino, Dot Richardson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gail Deavers, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Dan O'Brien, Kurt Angle, the Dream Team, the U.S. women's soccer, softball, basketball and gymnastic teams, and so many others who won or who did not win -- were overshadowed by the mindless and horrendous violence perpetrated by cowardly terrorists.
Many commentators, columnists, governmental officials and grassroots folk have spoken more eloquently or have written more poignantly and insightfully about these tragedies than anything I might share. These brutal and barbarous acts underscore the evil that exists in our world and the fragile nature of the freedom and security that we as a society have taken for granted.
Another terrorism
These events, however, also call to my mind, at least, the fact that there is another form of terrorism present in our land. It is more subtle and less physically threatening than the explosive weapons employed by the perpetrators of the TWA and Olympic Village bombings, but it has long-term consequences that are equally, if not more, frightening.
I am referring to the fact that our country seems to be in the moral free-fall. Families are disintegrating. Children are being victimized as never before. Nearly one-third of all births in our nation are out of wedlock. Poverty, as well as racial and religious bigotry, is increasing. And our country ranks as the world leader in violent crime, abortion, divorce, alcohol and drug abuse, and illiteracy.
Ours is a society, then, which has wandered astray from God's plan of life and which, therefore, needs to hear afresh the Gospel message of peace, justice, forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.
Spiritual basis
We as heralds and bearers of the Good News will be successful in combating the crime, violence, terrorism, family dysfunction, racial discord and class warfare that surround us only if we recognize that those problems are spiritual in nature and are primarily matters of the heart -- and only if we bring two indispensable ingredients to the endeavor: civility and spirituality.
With regard to civility, it must be underscored that there is a sickness loose in our land, a sickness that if left unchecked, threatens the political, social and religious institutions of our nation. Such sickness is everywhere in evidence: in the disappearance of respectful dialogue, the disdain toward those who hold contrary views, an unease with people of another color or of another ethnic or language background, and a contempt for those whose lifestyles seem to mock our own.
Those attitudes are fostered by shock radio and TV, yellow journalism, and a new low in political discourse. In varying degrees, we are all caught up in it. We have all been affected by and perhaps have contributed to this environment of anger and hostility that poisons the debate, polarizes the options and prevents us from finding real solutions to the problems that vex us. Consequently, we all have a stake in seeing that this assault on decency and fairness is met by a new civility.
Image of God
Or to put the problem more spiritually, much of our social and political discourse today dishonors the image of God in each of us and in the human pursuit of a just and peaceful community.
Therefore, we must do more than change our rhetoric. We must learn to honor the process of civil discourse and of sensitivity to its participants by treating disagreement with respect.
Civility, however, is not sufficient in itself to cope with this moral challenge; rather spirituality is also needed. I underscore this point because in my 32 years of priestly ministry, I have seen so many persons, well-motivated and well-intentioned, in their desire to do good and to be of service to others, who quickly become discouraged and disillusioned, because in placing all emphasis on human measures and natural solutions, they forget that, first and foremost, they are called to be believers, believers in someone and in something -- namely, Jesus Christ and His Good News.
Grounded in the Lord
When that happens, people frequently fall by the wayside or move on to other pursuits or become burned-out cases, because they find themselves bringing to others not the Lord but only their own ideas, values and opinions, which cannot withstand the test of time nor endure the heat of day.
They find then in others not the Lord but only petty weak human beings like themselves who quickly sap their strength, harden their hearts and dampen their spirits.
That such occurs is really not all that surprising, because God has revealed (and history has taught us repeatedly) that without trust in the Lord and reliance upon God's providence, our lives become like ship without rudders or cars without motors.
People of prayer
It is imperative, therefore, in seeking to cope with the surrounding malaise of terrorism, crime, violence and abuse of all sorts -- physical, sexual and psychological -- that we be people of faith and people of prayer.
We must continually open ourselves to the Lord in all of our weakness, powerlessness and vulnerability, and allow God's truth to enlighten the darkness of our mind; to allow God's plan of life as revealed in the beatitudes and the commandments to be our guide on the road of life; and to allow God's love to be the source of our own continued growth in wisdom, knowledge, holiness and maturity.
If we root our lives in civility and spirituality, then, I believe, we will have the appropriate tools necessary to address the root causes of violence, terrorism and abuse in our midst; and we can contribute substantively to a more just, civil and peaceful world and society in which to live.