Riley Joe Evans, 32º
P.O. Box 4500, Chapmanville, West Virginia 25508

As darkness fell upon formerly busy streets, the hum of machines and human voices was noticeably absent, and a very different kind of quietness fell upon the glittering city and me. It was a solemn stillness, a pause in the natural scheme of things. Life itself seemed to be holding its breath, and time stood still in reverence. It was a strange and moving sensation I had never felt before, although quiet has been the constant companion of my life's work. Having been in the funeral profession for over 34 years, I was accustomed to overwhelming grief, sudden loss, sympathetic sadness, and solemn quiet. Yet, this was different-vast, heavy, all encompassing, permeating the very soul.

On Thanksgiving Day, my family and I had traveled from our very small town of Chapmanville, West Virginia, to New York City. Our Thanksgiving Day evening was usually spent in peaceful repose after an abundant dinner or visiting with family and friends. Instead, we found ourselves walking the temporary plywood paths and broken concrete streets of the financial district of New York City. We had come to view the devastation and pay our respects to the thousands who had perished in the charred ruins of the World Trade Center. We found a sea of flowers and walls of photographs memorializing the dead. The stillness of the night had an eerie, uneasy feel as huge artificial lights revealed the disaster area with columns of acrid, foul smoke rising into the dark sky. Grim firemen were coming and going at their slow, tired pace, and somber policemen stood guard.

As a husband, son and father, I stood in silence, a dazed American, struggling to envision the mass of people rising, going to work that morning, and never returning to their homes and loved ones again. Though history has recorded this tragedy, mere words cannot convey the human loss and its devastating effect on others.

Standing in this historic area of this glorious city, where on April 30, 1789, Brother George Washington was inaugurated the first President of our country, visions formed in my mind of all the past Masons who, for hundreds of years, met here, laid cornerstones here, and served as civic, financial, and religious leaders. They labored mightily to build this great nation. They fought and died to defend our form of government and way of life. Surely, these Masons of the past, shapers of our great nation and defenders of her liberties, cried with us that night at the sight of her wounds. We, the Masons of today, offer our humble, silent prayers not only for the dead but also for the thousands of survivors who must somehow carry on. Let us also pray that our future leaders, children, grandchildren, and all their generations continue to enjoy, honor, and defend the same freedom that has cost so many so much to preserve for us. May we, as Masons, continue to hope that, under the canopy of Heaven and with the guidance of Freemasonry, all men will one day finally share a common brotherhood and reciprocal love for one another.

Riley Joe Evans was raised a member of Aracoma Lodge No. 99 at Logan, W. Va., in 1977. A Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, he is also a member of the York Rite Bodies, the Scottish Rite Valleys of Logan and Charleston, W.Va., and Beni Kedem Shrine Temple. This is his first article published in the Scottish Rite Journal.

Our Mission As Americans And Masons

I was the age of Adam, one of my grandsons, when December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy," occurred. America responded by defeating a clearly defined enemy. September 11, 2001, does not have a clearly defined enemy. Osama bin Ladin is only the most prominent representative of a largely invisible network of terrorists whose sole purpose is to establish an oppressive and repressive worldwide government. Again, as in its reaction to Pearl Harbor, the United States has responded decisively to the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. We are not motivated by greed but by need, the need to have human rights for everyone. This is our mission and legacy as Americans and Masons: to ensure that all people, everywhere, have the rights-political, religious, social, and economic-due all humankind.

Ill. Bruce A. Dehlin, 33º, Dual Member Washington, D.C.
and Miami, Florida, Scottish Rite Bodies