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a Lp _ shat- tered windows. Then I saw it. » * € ‘ iagON THE EAST SIDE of the church were pre- Ao ae epee a ee ee viously had been a deorway and stairs lead- ing to it was now an opening large enough to drive a big truck through. What had been the basement of the. church now looked like rem- nants of war-torn buildings I had seen in pic- tures. The church had been bombed. The thick cement and brick wall, symetrically and power- fully built to last for years, now was reduced to a mass of rubble. No floor was visible through piles of rock and debris. A_ toilet bowl was lying on top of some of the rocks as if it had been casually offhandediy thrown there. Blood was all over the side walk ap proaches to the church and people were being - helped into the many ambulances which had now arrived, ‘Father,’ one of the bystanders said te me, “they are trying to kill all of us.” I could only agree. A well-dressed Negro man was now pleading with the crowd to refrain from violence, It was his church that had been bombed. ‘The ‘bolice will find those responsible for this," he said. A group of young men in the crowd were loudiy disagreeing with him. About then helmetted police quietly and cautiously tried to move into the crowd now massed all over the street. A patrol car slowly eased through one section of the surging mass and someone - bounced a large stone off the top of it. Another ’ followed. Other stones began to fly toward the line of police who did their best to dodge them. The minister was stiil pleading for order. -_* © MANY OF THE PEOPLE I passed were an- xious to speak. All of them who did so spoke respectfully and quietly. ‘‘Reverend’’, one man said, ‘‘isn't this terrible?” A well-dressed man who looked like he might have been an usher in the bombed church said, ‘Father, we've got to be patient. ‘Vengence is mine saith the rd.' We must not become violent.” A young ¥, with a Bible in his hand walked by cursing foudly. . Accidentally I bumped inte a girl who was al- eady in motion to throw a large rock toward the police in the middle of the street, When she saw me she paused and then dropped the rock when a Negro man standing nearby and tightly holding on to his wife told her not-to 3 a > be, . \ Low ane ee it. I shook hands with a ‘-of curteins waved through broken and i “dressed exactly as I was who told me ‘that this was the fortieth bombing in recent years and then he asked rhetorically, ‘‘How jong can we keep our people from serious retaliation?” This statement struck me immediately as being ‘very similar to the “How long, O Lord, how A long!’ of the oppressed people of Gadein the Old Testament. : More police were now arriving. Fire trucks with tights burning brightly even in the day- light were slowly moving toward the area. Crowds of people were running here and there, some getting away from the rocks that were flying about, others were calling for children or for loved ones who seemed to have been in the church. ea 6 AS | WAS WALKING away from the church, an elderly looking gentleman’ approached me and asked, “Reverend, why can't they catch the ones who did such a thing? Why don’t they get those who are trying to kill us?” A short time later the second question would have been stated differently for they found the bodies of, four little girls who were killed by the explo . sion. KB * * &£ A LAST LOOK at the scene which was bet! coming more and more frightening by the min; ute brought once again to my attention the “How long?” of the minister. On this Sunday morning which had begun so quietly and con- tinued so violently this same prayerful ques- tion must surely have been in the hearts and on the lips of many of the good people of Bir- mingham. i Birmingham — a city that is truly beautiful; a city which glories in @ history that was ‘so remarkable it merited for itself the title “the Magie City.” Birmingham—now a name which epitomizes for many throughout the world hatred and violence and brutality. Birmingham —a city whose people now, if not in times past, truly know real fear. My sincere prayer as I walked away and the prayer of many others who, like myself, were born in this city and who love this city, my prayer was that the time would not be so long before this city once again would be known for her beauty, for her good people, for her tranquil and peaceful way of life, for charity towards all men, rather than { for such as happened on this overcast and . , tragic Sunday morning. ¢ . ia he a