"How could we tire of hope?-so much is in bud. How could desire fail?-we have only begun to imagine justice and mercy." ("Beginners" by Denise Levertov, Reading 648 in Singing the Living Tradition.)

I must make a confession to you. I am thoroughly tired of hearing and thinking about September 11. Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to belittle the seriousness of 9/11 or the shock and disbelief we felt on that day. It's not that I don't feel sadness at the damage and terrible loss of life in New York City, at the Pentagon and in that field in Pennsylvania. I'm not immune to loss of innocence we experienced with the knowledge that we were not immune from terror. And I agree that a beautiful and wonderful memorial should be built at the site of the World Trade Center. Yes, all this is important to America.

What led up to 9/11 shouldn't be swept under the rug. It should be exposed to the light of truth... known or to be known. The controversy over the Disney/ABC docudrama so full of lies and distortions only highlights the need to the truthful. This event is too sacred, too important, to be misused as mere entertainment or abused for political gain. Many of us are catching on. Many patriotic Americans who aren't normally cynical now believe the story of 9/11 and its aftermath of fear and terror are being manipulated for the sake of electoral politics.

Disney, that company I loved and trusted so much since early childhood... how could it betray us so? How could the creators of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and Jiminy Cricket be anything but good and honest? Where is this company's conscience? Doesn't it whisper, like Donald Duck's conscience, in its ear?

But I confess again, I'm darn tired of 9/11 on its five year anniversary. I'm darn tired of the cynical manipulation around it. Such hype, you and I know, is just an attempt to fan our fears of terrorism. Such hype just draws our attention away from other important matters, like poverty, the violation of civil liberties and global warming. Such hype robs us of hope. Without hope, we have lose heart and don't see the point of working toward the future.

9/11 was a turning point in our nation's history, but it should not be the defining moment. The world has changed, but the world goes on. "Surely our river cannot already be hastening into the sea of nonbeing?" Surely we can survive. Surely the world will survive and even thrive and be made whole again.

How could we tire of hope when so much is in bud? There are so many possibilities of beauty, truth and goodness that lure us forward to greater creativity.

In the Book of James in the Christian bible, it was written, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen." (James 11:1) To lose hope is to be in despair. To lose hope is to lose faith in the future.

There have been times in my life when I felt despair. This was particularly true in my early teens, when I felt powerless and of little value to the world. Although I was a good student, no one recognized that I was often lonely and sad. I didn't know what the future would hold and didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I felt that whatever I did, I wouldn't amount to much. And I didn't talk about these feelings with anyone. I pretended that everything was normal. Sure, I would someday go to college like most of my classmates. Then, after that, who knows. The future looked pretty dim.

Then something happened that changed my life. One was the growing popularity of folk music across America. I fell in love with the songs of Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez, with their messages of hopefulness and social protest. I heard them on the radio and sang them as a camper in the evening sitting with friends around a campfire. Their words inspired me and gave me great comfort.

Another thing happened. Some of my friends at Newton High School believed that by coming together, we could make a real difference. We could stop a war. We could end racial segregation. We might even end poverty. And the rabbi in my Reform Jewish temple reinforced that same message. This was really an incredible, mind-blowing revelation. Me be a part of changing the world? My parents had never taught me such a thing! They never taught me that I or my generation had any real power. Yet I came to believe that nearly anything was possible.

Today, I still have times of fear and despair. And I have times of disillusionment. Yet I continue to believe that you and I have the power to change the world. My hope is more tempered and less optimistic than when I was young. But my hope still persists.

Now no one can look into a crystal ball and tell the future. But I'm cautiously optimistic. I believe we can be reasonably hopeful ... if the wise and good-hearted people of the world can cross barriers of nation and culture, religion and race and work together for peace and justice and economic security for all. I believe a global consciousness is developing. And that we can join together like Higgins the water drop and become a mighty stream. We can become a powerful, roaring stream of justice and compassion.

No one can will people to have hope and faith. We can only nurture a culture of hope and faith; and then hope that hope and faith catch on. We need each other to help in this transformation of the spirit.

In the words of Denise Levertov, "We have only begun to know the power that is in us if we would join our solitudes in the communion of struggle. So much is unfolding that must complete its gesture, so much is in bud."

Dear friends, let us hold tightly to our hopes. May it be so. Amen.