Mayor offers statement of hope on behalf of Logan City

Joseph M. Dougherty

In a hopeful prayer offered during the invocation of the Logan City Council meeting, Wednesday, council member Tom Kerr expressed a plea for comfort for those affected by Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon.

“We ask for the Heavenly Spirit to be with our loved ones in this great tragedy,” Kerr said. He asked for guidance and direction for leaders to “recognize what can be done to increase safety without punishing the innocent.”

Council member, Alan Allred, then read from an official statement penned by Mayor Doug Thompson.

“Observing from the safety and security of Logan and Cache Valley, the events of yesterday are beyond comprehension. Seeing on our televisions, hearing on our radios and feeling in our hearts the instruments of evil attack on our nation, the taking of untold numbers of human lives, and attempts to alter the will of the American people, left us shaken and unbelieving. In stark reality, however, it reminded us that freedom is not free and a price must sometimes be exacted for its blessings. It is abhorrent that those who paid the price were innocent and unaware they had been placed on the altar to preserve our freedoms. In their memory and in gratitude, we must pledge ourselves to be ever more faithful, ever more vigilant, and ever more willing to do what must be done to protect our blessed land and what it stands for. As years go by, the memory of yesterday’s horrors may fade, but we must never allow our resolve to weaken. We must always stand ready and willing to defend our Constitution and the ideals it embodies.

“For a time, that commitment should be to pursue and stop those who would violate our country in such a way. Bless our leaders that they may do so appropriately. The longer commitment must be, to let peace and love govern our paths so that hearts will change and violence will no longer be the chosen means to settle differences. Let that change begin with us.

“Our thoughts and prayers call for blessings on the families of those who gave their lives and those who have been injured. Comfort them and heal the injured quickly. We pray for the leaders of America and all nations to make good decisions now and for the future. We pray for our nation. May we all emerge from this hour of travail stronger and better and more ready to serve.”