Doral's Voice - Community Courage During 9-11

As the women of San Lorenzo have done in the past, we were planning Mission Springs 2001 (our Regional Church women's retreat), with the theme, “2001: A Spiritual Odyssey”. On September 11, 2001, the day we were suppose to leave, I remember waking up to news report of plane crashes and buildings falling.

With frantic calls to the Regional Associate Minister, and with her guidance, we decided to move forward and not cancel the retreat. We piled in our cars with a lot of apprehension and loads of stuff. We had met monthly over the last year and now we were gathering together to see our hard work come to fruition. Little did we know the extent of the tragedy and what was lying ahead and how it would unfold.

Our beautiful weekend was to be highlighted by our keynote speaker, Rev. Sue Bowman. Unfortunately, Sue lived on the East coast and because of the situation; she was not able to get a flight to California. Sue tried for several hours and several attempts to catch a flight. Frantically, Sue faxed her material to us and Rev. Marty Williams stepped in. Part of Sue’s message was centered on her home in Connecticut and hearing the names of those towns with a Texas accent made for quite laugh which we all desperately needed. Another one of our guest workshop leaders lived in the state of Washington and also was not able to be with us. My daughter, who had been on the planning committee and had a part in the evening Vesper program, was stuck in Florida on a business trip.

With courage, commitment and a deep sense of faith we moved on. Several in our midst had family or friends that were unreachable. Emotions ran high. But few who had planned on attending actually canceled. We needed to be together.

In an impromptu attempt to fill the void, we gathered together the first evening (during both sessions) in the grassy area with candles lit and words of hope on our hearts. The retreat became a dedication and renewal of our faith and hope for the future.

All that we had planned, our theme, our workshops, our prayer room were the work of God in our midst. This will always be one Women’s Fall Retreats that I will hold dear to my heart.