Charleston

In the year of our Our Lord 1685, King Louis signed the edict de Nantes

And so the protestants left France. They fled to England and then to Carolina

In their quiet conquest, these Hugenots founded Charleston.

There they were free to build and practice their own religion.

And in fifty years, they built the most beautiful churches in this country

St. Phillips, still keeping history alive.

St. Michael’s they built just to show the world they were masters now.

The Hugenot Church, and that great and silent structure- St. James, forgotten but watching over its charges on the Santee.

 

In these places,  all came together.

Rutledge- signer of the Declaration of Independence

Pinckney, whose most famous daughter brought indigo to the shores

Where rice was grown and the frontier kept by such adventurers as Barnwell

In the churches, all came together.

Those who labored, and were of a different race were there, too.

But they learned and established their own community, their own church.

Yes, there was fire and war and tragedy.

But the churches still stand.

The descendents of these builders still stand.

On Sunday, you enter the church and see them- old and young, black and white

The churches are full and vibrant.

 

 

But on this Sunday, the bells will ring in unity for a tragedy.

For on Wednesay, a deluded soul- perhaps one of the devil himself

Broke the great peace.

He came and listened. While they spoke the words of Christ, and called him to listen

He did not hear the words of the Lord.

The words that said, “Come unto me and rest. Come and you will have peace.”

Instead, he did the unthinkable.

He broke the peace, or so he thought.

But he was wrong.

 

On Sunday, the bells of the churches will ring together in harmony.

St. Phillips, St. Michael’s- the church named for the fighting angel, the Church of Grace,

And every church bell in the city-for color doesn’t matter to God

And at Emmanuel- named for the God who became man and who still dwells with his church,

He will see no discord.

Instead, for a moment, the bells will ring.

With one voice, the people and the city will be silent and hear the bells.

And in Emmanuel these words will be spoken:

“I am the resurrection and the life. All who live and believe in me shall not perish.”

And the souls a corrupted soul sent to Christ will be at rest.

And in the churches, you will not hear the songs of lamentation,

You will hear the words and songs of Easter- of the man who conquered death.

The words of resurrection will ring loudly and long.

And on a distant shore, they will be heard.