Tomorrow morning, I will leave from First Congregational Church along with six ninth grade students of our confirmation class for a weekend in Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts. My wife and two other leaders will complete our group for a long-planned pilgrimage to the historical places of the Congregationalist Church tradition. This has been an annual trip for this church's confirmation classes for about ten years now, and I have been leading the trips since 2008. It is a significant experience to visit our church's heritage and a great city with a new group of people. This year's visit will be all the more so.
We travel to Boston on April 19, four days after the bombing of the marathon finish line, and we will carry to Boston the support of many people here in Ohio. We know that although most of the city has returned to normal routines outside of the crime scene investigation, the spirit of the city is altered. From all of the people with whom I have communicated this week, I know that they are burdened by grief and betrayal of trust, just as they are strengthened by the courage and generosity of their neighbors, and bonded in solidarity by their shared experiences. They are grateful for our support, and they have much to teach us.
Our Boston trip takes us to the Congregational Library, the historic cemeteries, the Old South Meeting House, Plimoth, and Harvard University, among others. These are the places where our ancestors in faith lived through difficult and heartbreaking times, and did so with bold faith, sacrifice, and a passion for God's peace and justice. I think it is important to learn from our history, because knowing the stories of our spiritual grandparents gives us the wisdom and the inspiration to meet the challenges of our own time.
Update: this trip was canceled when the city of Boston went into a lockdown mode on Friday, April 19. We had been scheduled to travel to Boston on Friday. The trip will be rescheduled for a weekend in the next year.
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