Article September 9, 2002 Issue

What I learned IN THE PENTAGON COURTYARD

By Janet Horton

Chaplain (Col.) Janet Yarlott Horton is a military chaplain working in the Pentagon, outside Washington, D.C. Last September, she ministered to the injured and grieving in the courtyard in the middle of the Pentagon, where rescue workers brought out casualties after the crash of American Airlines Flight 77. While doctors and nurses treated those who were most critically injured and in terrible pain, Horton knelt beside victims and tried to allay their fears. She talked with many of them, and was struck by the fact that not a single person refused prayer. Some repeated Psalm 91 or Psalm 23 with her, with others, she prayed the Lord's Prayer. They responded well to her care and love, and several said they were grateful for the calmness they felt.

I will never be in the same place I was a year ago. I am wiser in my prayer. I am more alert and more clearly at a position of attention, spiritually. I am listening to God. My eyes are focused forward.

This is an attitude of honor and praise for God's omnipresence and power. It is a quieter stance, in which I am less affected by bad news in any given situation.

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