As Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” On Sept. 12, John Brown University students got to partake in such a time to mourn, with leadership from the university organizing a time of communal prayer for students and faculty on campus — a solemn symbol of community in a time of distress and heavy hearts.
Heads were bowed, stances of surrender were taken and hearts were crying out to God as students engaged as the body of Christ. Prayer, in this case, worked as powerful in intercession and lament.
Earlier that morning, university chaplain Dr. Keith Jagger filled the inboxes of students, calling for them to join him that afternoon in prayer in remembrance and mourning of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the shooting of students at Evergreen High School in Colorado. The tragedies had not been addressed in the prior day’s Chapel service, and students, concerned about the absence of a communal response, had reached out to Jagger. In response, he organized the prayer time for 1 p.m. Although some missed his email and joined merely out of curiosity, all were welcome and encouraged to meet at the clock tower.
Freshman Abby DeSpain had been one of the students who responded to the invitation. “I heard about prayer time via Professor Jaggers' email! I had been wanting to go to something like that and was hoping JBU would do something. My heart had been heavy with the news of that week, and I needed time to go to the Lord with the JBU community.”
As the 1 o’clock hour was approaching, students and faculty began to fill the paved steps and grass surrounding the tower, pausing their days to share in a moment of lament. Jagger and Vice President for student development Anne Tohme were two of the representing faculty members at the prayer gathering.
The Cathedral bell sounded out a lonely ring to signal the time, and Jagger addressed the student body. He introduced the gathering and set the solemn tone, sharing that this was a time to prayerfully lament.
The clock tower worked as an appropriate meeting place for such a solemn time. The clock tower is adorned with a plaque that says “Maranatha,” an Aramaic liturgical expression, which Paul is quoted as saying in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!”It is commonly translated as “Come, our Lord!” and is an expression of hope and yearning for the coming of Christ into glory. Jagger set this as the theme of the gathering, asking God to come and touch these places of destruction and pain.
The gathered crowd was led through a time of prayer, first remembering those lost and impacted by the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Then they lamented the violence against political leaders and students in schools. A moment was set aside for the Kirk family and the students of the Colorado high school shooting earlier in the week. Finally, there was a prayer for peace and for each of the students and faculty to seek to become peacemakers.
DeSpain expressed that she felt the impacts from the gathering throughout the remainder of the day, “I couldn’t help but cry during the prayer session. After I sat in silence for a long time and played some Christian songs like, “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott and the Scott Family and “Why God” by Austin French. I knew I couldn’t stay in a state of sadness for much longer, and gave all my worries and anxieties to the Lord. Later that night I read my favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:6-7.”
The impacts of the gathering expanded beyond lament and mourning. “I am now thinking of joining the Turning Point chapter at JBU, and hope to be able to petition for rights in my future job in the Psychology field,” DeSpain added.
The clock tower was not the only place where prayer was pumping through the veins of the campus, as those in one of the in-session classes shared a time of quiet reverence.
Dr. Jonathan Himes’ British Literature class spent time during the same hour for their own prayer service, taking time out of class to focus their hearts and minds, petitioning for peace and for the comforting of hearts across the states.
Himes commented about his choice to hold the time of prayer in class. “Yes, I had some students who wanted to attend the prayer event, and they said they would be late to class, so I decided to use the first 10 minutes of class going through Dr. Jagger’s prayer list, devoting two minutes of silence after a brief introductory prayer for each one,” Himes said.
“I didn’t set out to do it with an expected outcome; I just thought it was appropriate to mourn with those who mourn. I do think, though, that these collective moments of spiritual silence, listening together for God’s voice, can sharpen our focus for why we are on this earth,” he said.
As Himes said, taking time to mourn with those who mourn is an opportunity to participate in the body of Christ and provide support for those around us in strength and solidarity.
Photo courtesy of Juliana Jones.