Wiping Away A Tear

by John C. Westervelt

On the Sunday after September 11, 2001, Asbury’s 9:30 congregation spontaneously stood when a men’s quartet closed the service with "I’m Proud to Be an American." Two rows in front of me was a family with a four-year-old girl and two elementary age boys. I have noticed this loving family on several occasions, since they normally sit a few rows in front of me during worship service. After this week’s tragedies, the husband squeezed his wife against him with his left arm and held his daughter in his right arm. The two boys stood attentively.

When the song was over the mother leaned across to her daughter. The four-year-old, not understanding the sadness of our nation, reached for her mother’s face with her tiny finger and wiped away a tear.