as we begin, my dear friends, and suggest we be mindful of those who were also involved in the accident and their families. i have only one point i would like to make concerning senator ted stevens. that is to say that senator stevens was a man of god. there are certain circles that would find it rather surprising, if not difficult, to put god and a politician in the same sentence. [laughter] however, think about it. each of our senators and congressional delegates are challenged to love those whom they serve. certainly, if we think of the words of st. john the apostle, who wrote one of several of the letters of the new testament, he showed a pattern for linking the love of god with love of neighbor. he put it very simply and very straight. if you cannot love your neighbor, you cannot love god. the two are inseparable. the two are mutually demanding. if we could borrow a line from one of the ancient, one of the long ago broadway plays, they both go together. you cannot have