Crowd pays tribute with candles

By Carla Hinton

Published: April 18, 2005

Thousands of candles flickered around the Oklahoma City National Memorial's reflecting pool as Oklahomans gathered Sunday evening to celebrate their faith in God.

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The Day of Faith candlelight ceremony paid tribute to the sustaining power of faith during the decade since a truck bomb shattered the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

"At a place where Satan intended to display evil, here we stand giving glory to God," minister and author Max Lucado told those gathered.

"Thank you that you responded to calamity with faith," Lucado said. "Something was taken from you, yet you still gave. We pray tonight that that courage be rewarded and rekindled."

Lucado, minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, was joined by Gospel singers Sandi Patty and Clay Crosse in recognizing the role faith played in the healing and recovery after the bombing.

The crowd sang with Crosse as he crooned words fitting for the occasion: "I will sing of your mercy that leads me through valleys of sorrow to rivers of joy."

Patty sang several songs and brought the audience to its feet with her rendition of "Holy Ground."

Both Lucado and Patty visited Oklahoma City in the months after the bombing to encourage survivors and victims' families.

Lucado said in these "bizarre" and "frightening" times of terrorist attacks and war, feeling fear is understandable. He asked how one faces those very real fears.

Lucado said millions have faced their fears with the five words of the psalmist, David: "The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalms 23)."

"These words are quoted by the living, whispered by the dying" and brought hope to the discouraged, Lucado said.

In uncertain times, the faithful can look to a Shepherd that never changes, Lucado said. Knowing that God will always be in the midst brings peace, he said.

"We stand in a place that is testimony to the fragile nature of our passing time. You need a Shepherd that will never change," Lucado said.

As the crowd encircled the memorial's reflecting pool and the 168 chairs representing lives lost because of the bombing , Lucado asked those gathered to keep faith in mind as they helped light each other's candles.

"As you light their fire say a prayer for their peace and a pledge to do your part to stand against evil and to stand for what is right," Lucado said.

Minutes before the ceremony started, members of the Wickline United Methodist Church youth group circled the Survivor Tree, clasped hands and listened as fellow member Roderick Kohl, 15, said a prayer.

Another member of the Midwest City church, Mariah Jackson, 13, said faith has been key to many Oklahomans recovering from the bombing.

"Lots of people lost loved ones," Mariah said. "I don't think they could have made it if they didn't have faith."

Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, said organizers gave away about 3,000 candles at the ceremony. She said she was pleased with the gathering and expected the Week of Hope to continue in the same positive vein.

"It was amazing to see the numbers of people turn out," Watkins said. "It was powerful to come together on this site all day long and celebrate our faith."