Pastors focus on Sept. 11 lessons

Clergy nationwide sought to draw moral lessons from tragedy and comfort churchgoers during the Sunday services before Sept. 11.\nA Texas pastor urged congregants to let go of their anger over the terrorist attacks and "live with mercy." The nation's top Mormon official said the devastation was a reminder to cherish life. Several preachers urged Americans to pray for the nation as the war continued.\nBaltimore Cardinal William Keeler, speaking to students and families at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, noted the victims were from many economic, social and religious backgrounds.\n"They were American," Keeler said. "They were you and me and all of us, and our hearts were profoundly troubled by what happened on that day."\nAt Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, a 22,000-member Southern Baptist Convention congregation, pastor David McKinley urged worshippers to overcome their bitterness "to do justly, to live with mercy and to walk humbly with your God."\nHe also asked them to pray for America's leaders and show support for police, firefighters and other emergency workers who he called "real heroes."\n"You can stand up and prove we are a nation under God," McKinley said.\nThe Madison, Tenn., Church of Christ posted a sign that read "Honor Our Heroes" and draped a giant U.S. flag behind the pulpit. The more than 1,000 worshippers sang "God Bless America," and Nashville Police Sgt. Terry Ashley, wearing his uniform, led the congregation in prayer.\n"For our country, Lord, we ask you to surround us with your angels, to protect us and keep us safe from those who would wish to see us fall," he said. "Build us up and keep us strong in those Christian principles that made us a great nation."\nIn Utah, Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, released a statement in advance of Mormon memorial events scheduled for Wednesday. He said the United States remained "shocked and dismayed at the infamy of the cowardly attacks," but continued to respond with great resolve.\n"From the smoke and ashes of New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania has arisen a greater sense of unity and purpose in ridding the earth of evil and providing for the freedom and security of all people," Hinckley said. "Occasions of this kind pull us up sharply to a realization that life is fragile, peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile"