"My son is still working out there, so pray hard," Estelle Doyle asked a gathering of Roosevelt Islanders at Good Shepherd Chapel last night.  Christopher, a paramedic, was deployed to downtown Manhattan as soon as the attack on the World Trade Center happened.  "He stepped out of his vehicle and, a few minutes later, it was destroyed.  I thank God for having saved him."

Doyle spoke during an hour-long non-denominational prayer meeting held last night in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd to help residents deal with their grief over Tuesday's events.  Over 70 attended to connect with others who had been through a day of turmoil.

Speaking first, Sister Regina Palamara said that in ten years of praying at the Chapel, she had never seen nor heard anything like what she had witnessed a few minutes earlier, just before the prayer meeting began.  She said a man had walked up the aisle, knelt down, raised his arms and yelled at God for over fifteen minutes.  "I witnessed someone really experience the prayer of Job," she recalled on Wednesday, "...the man who has nothing left."  Concerned, she called Public Safety officers, who stood by and later escorted the man out of the Chapel.

He was Anthony Deligia, not an Island resident.  He had witnessed the carnage at the World Trade Center earlier in the day, then had walked to the Island with a colleague who lives here. "I worked on a U.S. military submarine from 1980 to 1992," said Deligia.  "I slept on missiles and realized that fifteen minutes was all it took to blow everything away.  I left the service when the Cold War ended, and I thought that really was the end of the war.  Today, I saw it start again."

Since his release from the military, the 43-year old Deligia has worked as a Unix programmer at a Japanese bank located on the 50th floor of one of the now-demolished World Trade Center Towers.  He said he saw women with their skin peeling off as he descended 49 floors to the street.

"Once I got outside, I saw people jump out of the building.  They looked like toys falling into a ball of smoke.  It was unreal, like a game," said Deligia.  "I am angry with God, who let all this happen."

While some felt anger, others felt betrayed by God. "I am having a hard time believing in God today," said Kate Halpern, 21, who has lived on the Island all her life. She said she had believed the United States was an invincible superpower, but now she felt unsure and unsafe. "I saw two buildings collapse before my eyes – two buildings that I had seen out of my window all my life."

Pointing out that, just the way the previous generation was asked where they were when Kennedy was assassinated, her generation would be asked where they were when the Twin Towers were sabotaged.  "I just hope there'll be something better tomorrow," she said.

The audience cried when 11-year old Genevieve Holmes sobbed that she did not understand why people hurt one another and why wars are fought.  She said she feared for the safety of her uncle, who is in the military and might be hurt in a war.

Sheila Chazin struck a chord when she said she had spent the day thinking about what is really important in life.  "I realized that a lot of what I spend time on is not really important.  The important thing is to talk to and spend time with those we care about.  I spent the day calling people to see if they were all right and if they needed to talk."  Her thoughts were backed by Ronnye Halpern, the coordinator of Grief Services at Cabrini Hospital, who said that it was important to stay connected and talk.  "Talking will help us get through this," said Halpern.

Several people felt unable to protect their children and said that made them feel vulnerable. "I am afraid for the children," said Joe Strong. "This was a violent act towards them, my family and this country."  He then asked everyone to join him in singing "God Bless America."  They did.

A mother of two young boys, Hsien Tan, said her sons wanted to know why this violent act was committed and, though her first instinct was to sugar-coat her explanation, she thought it necessary to tell them the truth.  Nneka Pope suggested parents tell their children to remain focused and "centered on doing good."

Prayers were offered in different ways: kneeling and praying silently, through singing hymns, in the Jewish tradition by holding hands, and in the Christian tradition by reading psalms aloud.