Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
First United Methodist Church

April 19, 2005

Thank you.

Governor, thank you for the introduction and your leadership. Mr. Vice President, thank you for coming and for what you did before you were vice president for the magnificent memorial. Mr. Hill, thank you. Pastor Cosby, thank you for bringing us into this church, itself a symbol of the rebuilding of Oklahoma City.

Mr. Welch, the other family members that are here. To the children who led the Pledge and those who read the memorial mission statement, and all those they represent. To Ernestine Clark, the other survivors. Congressman Istook, Mr. Mayor.

Let me say I'm especially glad to see Frank and Cathy Keating here. And I haven't seen former Mayor Norrick, but I thank them for their leadership in this difficult time. I came back a few years later, and I said, you know, when Frank Keating and I were college classmates at Georgetown, we were in different parties even then. But I was very proud of him and his wonderful wife, and proud of how Oklahoma City made us all Americans again.

When the vice president was up here talking, I reminded myself that he was kind enough to call me when I had my heart trouble, because he's had some. And I was talking to him on the phone and thinking, you know, our respective supporters don't think the other one has a heart -- and here we are talking about how -- two old politicians with their heart problems.

Oklahoma City gave us our heart back as a country. For those who lived through it, as Hillary and I were talking last night, it seems almost impossible that it's been a decade, doesn't it. The memories are still so clear. I remember coming down here, meeting with the victims' families, knowing that six people who worked for the Secret Service, including Al Whicher, who had just left my presidential detail because he wanted to come to Oklahoma City and asked for this duty, had perished.

I remember Billy Graham. I remember telling you that you had lost a lot, but you had not lost America. I remember saying that if people thought that love and caring and compassion had gone out of our country, they should come to Oklahoma, just like it was yesterday.

And even after 10 years, the scars remain on bodies that we can see, and in hearts that we cannot, but we can feel. We can see it in the lives of the survivors, the family members of those who were lost, the friends, the co-workers, the fellow citizens, and the brave people who came here from all over America to help in the rescue work.

Yet by the grace of God, time takes its toll not only on youth and beauty, but also on tragedy. The tomorrows come almost against our will, and they bring healing and hope; new responsibilities and new possibilities.

So Oklahoma City mourned its losses, embraced its survivors, built a magnificent monument to honor and remember, and then built the new federal building to serve its citizens and show that a terrorist act could not prevail.

And Pastor, you all rebuilt this sanctuary to show that God is a God of love and not destruction.

Ten years later, we still grieve and remember, but we should be very proud that Oklahoma City was not paralyzed by its pain or hardened by its hatred. This is the triumph of the human spirit, symbolized by your Survivor Tree. Boy, that tree was ugly when I first saw it. But survive it did, and then you sent the branches to other communities who lost people here, so they will have their survivor trees.

And you planted those loblolly pines in the memorial. We planted a dogwood for you, Hillary and I did, on April the 23rd, just before we flew down here 10 years ago. It now flourishes on the White House lawn, and I imagine President Bush and Vice President Cheney can see it when they meet, blooming.

Trees are good symbols for what you did. You can't forget the past of a tree; it's in the roots. And if you lose the roots, you lose the tree. But the nature of the tree is to always reach for tomorrow -- it's in the branches -- and to always find regenerative power from season to season.

The book of Job talks about a tree, and says even if you cut its limbs, it will return; the shoots will grow again, the branches will come again.

We owe it to the 168 people who perished, to their family members, to all who lost here, never to forget them, never to stop mourning, never to stop missing, but to be like a tree: to keep our roots and to reach for tomorrow.

To let time heal the tragedy so that we can honor their lives through living; to defeat terror; to take good care of our children who remain. To honor those in public service and never demonize them; to build bridges across the lines that divide us. Because as important and interesting as our differences are, we've shown again today that our common humanity matters more.

St. Paul once said, speaking of our ultimate destination -- that those who worship in this church believe in -- "I will tell you a secret. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed."

In this life, Oklahoma City changed us all. It broke our hearts and lifted our spirits, and brought us together and reminded us of what is truly important in life.

Because of how you responded and what you did, you changed us all and gave us a great and enduring gift. God bless you.