Have you ever felt like that you couldn’t do anything correctly?  That you were your own worse enemy?  That you kept bumbling and stumbling every opportunity presented to you?

If so, you’re in a great company.  Let’s look at a young man who went from missing the mark to making his mark.  His name was John Mark, all puns intended.  But we’ll just call him Mark.

Piecing together the evidence from the and Acts, it seems that Mark lived in Jerusalem and his mother Mary was a supporter of Jesus of Nazareth.  (Incidentally, Mary is the Greek version of Mariam, Moses’s big sister and prophetess.  That’s why there are so many Mary’s in the New Testament.)  It also very probable that when Jesus held his famous Last Supper, he did so in the upper room of Mary’s house in Jerusalem.  Mark may even have helped set up for the Last Supper and perhaps eavesdropped as Jesus explained that he would soon be betrayed by a friend.  When Jesus and the disciples left, Mark seems to have followed from a distance, following them to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Like the disciples, Mark could have fallen asleep during Jesus’s agonizing prayer.  Or maybe he was the only human being to have heard Jesus’s desperate prayer for comfort or guidance.  Then things got bad.  The religious leaders showed up with the SWAT team and for a few moments it looked like that they were going to round up all the usual suspects.  One of the soldiers saw Mark, reached for him, and grabbed his robe. Mark not wanting to be hauled away, slipped out of his robe, and “barely” got away.  On a night of high drama, Mark was in the embarrassing situation of trying to get home without being seen – by anybody.

In Acts 12, we read that when Peter was imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa I, Mary held a prayer meeting at her house.  When Peter was miraculously freed by an angel, he ran to Mary’s house to tell the good news.  The very last verse in the chapter reads, “When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them.” (Acts 12:25 NLT).  Mark had arrived.  No longer would he be in his mom’s shadow.  He was about to make his mark.  He had the honor of being part of Paul’s first mission trip as they went to the island of Cyprus (Acts 13:1-5).  That would look good on anybody’s resume.

But then unlucky number 13 comes into play, twice. Acts 13:13 states that “Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.”  In 8 verses, Mark went from a member of a groundbreaking mission team to being a deserter.  It was one thing to land at nearby Cyprus, but when they traveled on to Turkey, Mark got cold feet and ran.  Once again, he was making an embarrassing journey back to his home in Jerusalem.  He was the kid who could follow Jesus and Paul, but when things got thick, he would bail out.

I’m sure back in Jerusalem, his mother Mary came to Mark, whispering words of wisdom,  – no, not let it be, – but try again.  Likewise, I’m sure that his cousin, Barnabas, the encourager, also encouraged Mark to try again.  But one person disagreed, the Apostle Paul.  For the second mission trip, Luke writes that “Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.” (Acts 15:37-40 NLT).

Mark’s resume and job history were not looking good at this point: he was streaking when Jesus was being tried, sailing back home when Paul was preaching, and splitting up the renown mission team. Streaking, sailing, and splitting.  That’s rough.  Talking about missing the mark.

Paul was the Apostle of Grace.  But he thought that John Mark was a disgrace.  He adopted Timothy as his adopted son, even though Timothy wrestled with fear and timidity being a young man.  Barnabas must have mentored Mark in a similar way, behind the scenes in one of the many untold stories in Acts.  And apparently, Mark crossed paths with Peter again and heard his firsthand accounts of the apostles.

At the end of Acts, we find the Apostle Paul under house arrest in Rome, awaiting his first trial before Emperor Nero.  There he writes several letters to local churches.    In Colossians 4:10, the Apostle Paul writes “Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way.”  At the end of his personal letter to Philemon and family, Paul writes, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.”

Several years later, Paul is imprisoned again.  The Christian faith is outlawed.  Paul will be executed after his second trial.  In his last letter to Timothy, Paul writes, “Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:11).  Mark met Paul one more time.  All had been forgiven.  Mark had finally caught up with Timothy as part of the second generation of Christian leaders.

The executions of Peter and Paul must have had a powerful impact on Mark.  The first generation of Christian eyewitnesses were dying out through old age and persecution.  Meanwhile, the Romans were assembling a massive army to retake to Judea and the capital Jerusalem that had recently revolted against Roman authority.

Mark was no longer the young man filled with fear.  He was now the mature leader, realistically facing the bleak future.  What could he do?  What should he do?  Mark took up the pen and composed a book, The Good News by John Mark. Based on what he learned from Peter and a few of his own experiences, he told the story of Jesus of Nazareth, who had warned that his generation would not pass away until Jerusalem had been destroyed.  The Gospel according to Saint Mark is interesting.  Originally written in Aramaic, it got translated into a very rough Greek.  Along the way, the last page got lost or purposely destroyed, and some scribe thought he would help God out by composing a few verses to end the story.  Thus, we have the infamous snake-handling verses.  Other scholars, not least of which is NT Wright, believe that there is also a missing first page, which explains the choppy beginning.  While not perfect and scarred by missing pages and a bad translation, Mark broke new ground with his gospel.

A Jewish-Christian took 90% of Mark’s Gospel and along with some new material that he learned from the surviving disciple Matthew and wrote The Gospel according to Matthew for the Jewish community.  A few years later, Paul’s old friend and personal physician, Dr. Luke used 50% of Mark’s Gospel to write what he considered to be the ultimate gospel for the Greek community.  Matthew and Luke may have written better gospels, but it was Mark who had prepared the way.  Mark had finally made his mark on Christian history and scripture.  The boy who had been written off to tell the good news of Jesus Christ was now the man who was the first to have written the good news of Jesus Christ.

As you look on your Christian life, are there some Mary’s and Barnabas’s, people who love you and encourage you, but you also feel like that you’re always in their shadow?

Are there some Apostle Paul’s, people who have written you off, because you failed in a big-time manner?

Are there some Timothy’s, people that you feel are your rivals for attention, people whom you are competing with?

Or do you know a Mark who needs encouragement to try again?  Is there a Mark who you have prematurely written off?

Let us always remember that no matter how many times we may miss the mark, with the support of others and God’s amazing grace, we can still make our mark.

Being dysfunctional is part of being a family.  Look at Adam and Eve and their two kids, Cain and Abel.  Or Abraham and his “blended family” of Sarah and her son Isaac, and Hagar and her son Ishmael.  Think of the Father of the Prodigal Son and the Older Brother.  Think of Hank Williams, Jr. who sang about his “Family Tradition.”  Think about the dysfunctional family caused havoc across the universe in a galaxy, far, far away.  If any family needed Dr. Phil, it would have been the Skywalker family. 

In the book of Acts, we find two characters Herod Agrippa I and his son Herod Agrippa II who, like Hank, were carrying on some family traditions.  And like the Skywalkers, his family was causing chaos in a frontier kingdom in the Roman Empire, far, far away in what is now modern Israel. 

It started with King Herod the Great.  He was the Godfather of the Herod family.  He kept his friends close and enemies closer. He wasn’t Jewish, but his pal, Mark Antony recommended him to the Roman Senate as a perfect candidate for king of the land of Judea.  Naturally, the Jewish people were not thrilled to have a foreigner imposed on them by the Romans as king.  The young King Herod the Great proved himself to be an able ruler.  He was resourceful in times of famine.  He was obsessed with building.  He built the great port city of Caesarea.  And like all good politicians, he was capable of doing the right thing for all the wrong reason – most famously for expanding the Jewish Temple, not that he believed in the One True God, but because every capital needed to have a nice temple.   

He was also politically astute.  He advised his pal Mark Antony that his new girlfriend – Cleopatra aka Elizabeth Taylor was bad news.  He advised Antony to dump Cleopatra and mend fences with Julius Caesar’s nephew – Octavian Caesar, later known as Augustus Caesar.  Antony, however, ignored his advice and joined forces with Cleopatra in taking on Rome.  The Egyptian forces were destroyed, and Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.  King Herod the Great should have been either exiled or executed for taking part (albeit reluctantly) in this rebellion.  But when he met Octavian Caesar, he told him that he only did it, because he was Antony’s friend.  Octavian was so moved by King Herod’s honesty and sincerity, he asked him to be a friend and ally to him as he was to Antony.   

Thus Herod remained king.  But as the years went by, he became paranoid.  He executed his favorite wife, Mariamme, something that he soon regretted, as well as her grandfather.  And a mother-in-law. And drowned his brother-in-law, who happened to be high priest.  And executed three of his sons.  And at the end of his life, he had prominent citizens rounded up with orders that they would be executed at his death – to ensure that there would be mourning in the land.  It was in this atmosphere that a mysterious caravan showed up in Jerusalem.  These Iranians were looking for a Jewish King who had been born.  “Who told you of such a king?” Herod demanded.  The Iranians replied, “We saw the rising of his star in the east and have come to worship him.”  And here, Herod the Great made his greatest mistake. The old king who was filled with fear, hiding in his castle, missed the opportunity to meet the Prince of Peace who was sleeping in a cradle, just a few miles away in Bethlehem.  Instead of reacting with joy, Herod through cunning and deception acted out of fear and greed, and tried to destroy this baby.  But the crafty king got fooled by these three wise guys who took an alternate route back home. 

Soon afterward, Herod the Great died.  Octavian Caesar, now Caesar Augustus, soon caught on that none of Herod’s sons, the ones who survived at least, had the goods to hold the country together.  So instead, he placed a Roman governor in charge of Judea and Samaria, and divided up the rest of the Herod’s kingdom between the sons.  For the small province of Galilee, Caesar Augustus installed one of the most reckless, crafty New Testament characters ever, Herod Antipas. 

Like his father, Herod Antipas was a builder.  He built the capitol city of Tiberias (named after the new emperor) and rebuilt the city of Sepphoris.  Sepphoris was only a few miles away from the village of Nazareth.  Perhaps a certain carpenter named Joseph would walk to Sepphoris with his young sons to work on a construction site. 

Like his father, Herod Antipas had family troubles, but unlike him, he had little political sense.  Americans are used to having leaders with marriage problems.  Americans are used to having leaders with bad foreign policy.  Herod managed to have both through a rash decision.  First, he stole his brother Philip’s wife.  Talk about an awkward Thanksgiving.  Then on top of that, in order to marry her, he dumped his current wife, who just happened to be a princess of the kingdom next door.  Needless to say, her father King Aretas IV was unhappy.  Later, he would send his army in to attack Antipas as vengeance for violating the family’s honor.  Antipas’s army suffered defeat, and the Jewish people said that it was punishment for another one of Antipas’s sins.  What sin was that? 

Enter John the Baptist.  He was a rough wild-looking man who preaching a river side revival at the Jordan River.  John the Baptist called Herod Antipas out, ordered him to repent and send back his brother’s wife.  So Herod Antipas arrested him and threw him in the dungeon.  But Antipas begrudgingly began to like John the Baptist.  John the Baptist was honest – a straight shooter.  Antipas would sneak down to the dungeon and listen to John. 

This did not escape the notice of his wife, Herodias.  She considered herself to be a queen, not an adulteress.  Why didn’t her husband execute this rabble rouser?  She waited her time, and the opportunity presented itself at Herod Antipas’s birthday party.  Herodias’s daughter, Salome, performed a dance that greatly pleased Antipas who probably had too much to drink.  He offered her anything – “up to half of my kingdom.”  Salome asked her mom, Herodias, for what she should ask.  Her answer: the head of John the Baptist.  If Antipas had been a real leader, he would have said no.  But instead, he didn’t want to be embarrassed, so he reluctantly gave the order for John to be beheaded. 

Thus, Herod had a marital scandal, a foreign policy crisis, and an unfair execution.  He needed to rebrand himself.  The opportunity presented himself when the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, hung some Roman shields in his palace in Jerusalem.  The priests saw the shields as having pagan connotations.  The Herod brothers asked Pilate to remove them.  Pilate refused.  So, Herod Antipas wrote a letter to Caesar Tiberius.  Caesar wrote back to Pilate a very angry letter and told him to remove the shields.  Antipas was now an elder statemen, defender of the faith.  But Pilate was angry at him. 

But then the plot thickens.  Antipas began hearing news of a prophet who attracted large crowds in Galilee.  Some said he was Elijah.  Other said he was Jeremiah.  But the theory that scared Antipas was that this was John the Baptist, raised from the dead.  Herod Antipas said to himself, “John, I have executed.  But who is this that walks my kingdom?”  Matters struck close to home (or the office).  Antipas had a steward named Chuza.  Chuza had a wife named Joanna, who had been ill.  The doctors offered her no hope.  She went to this prophet, and the prophet laid hands on her and healed her.  She became part of the prophet’s entourage.  Antipas wanted to see this prophet for himself. 

Word got back to Herod Antipas that some Pharisees had warned the prophet that Herod was looking for him. They were afraid that Antipas would execute him as he had John the Baptist.  To Antipas’s surprise, the prophet had some strong words for him: “Go tell that old fox, that three days I walk, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead.  And then I shall reach my goal – Jerusalem.  For it is wrong for a prophet to perish anywhere but in Jerusalem.” 

Antipas was bemused.  The prophet had called him a fox.  And apparently he was also going to Jerusalem for the Passover.  That next Friday, Antipas and his soldiers were drinking and partying when a Roman escort with the priests arrived.  They were from Pontius Pilate.  The priest has brought a man to Pilate to be condemned.  But Pilate did not want to sentence the man to death since he was Herod Antipas’s subject.  Who is this man, Herod asked.  Jesus of Nazareth.  Antipas could scarcely believe his luck.  Now he would see this prophet that he had heard so much about. 

At first, Antipas was surprised at the difference.  John the Baptist wore camel fur.  Jesus dressed simply and humbly as a carpenter.  John the Baptist would not shut up.  Jesus held his peace.  Jesus refused to perform any magic tricks for the Fox.  As far as he was concerned, he was the murderer of his forerunner John the Baptist.  Antipas was irritated.  He knew that he should set Jesus free – but that would anger the priests.  He could find him guilty and sentence him to death – but he already had one dead prophet on his resume.  So instead he and soldiers mocked Jesus and sent him back to Pilate and eventually death upon a Roman cross.  But at least he and Pilate had reached a truce. 

That Saturday, Herod Antipas could not have missed noting how Chuza and Joanna were mourning the death of Jesus.  But Sunday evening, he noticed a change.  They were joyful.  Joanna explained that how early that morning, she and several other women had gone to the tomb to give Jesus a proper burial.  When they arrived, they found the stone rolled away, the tomb empty, and two messengers saying Jesus is risen.  When they left the tomb, they saw the risen Jesus and talked to him and touched him.  Jesus is alive.  Herod Antipas couldn’t believe his ears.  The Fox had been outfoxed!  Like his father before him, he missed opportunities and responded with violence – first to John the Baptist and then with Jesus of Nazareth.  HIs father will forever be known as the bad guy of the Christmas story.  Antipas would be known as one of several bad guys with the story of Easter. 

The next few years proved to be a turning point for the bad guys of Easter.  Pontius Pilate had put down a rebellion in Samaria.  The Samaritans complained to the governor of Syria, who temporarily relieved Pilate of his command, and told him to report to Tiberius.  The interim governor soon clashed with the high priest Caiaphas – and fired him!  By the time Pilate made it to Rome, Tiberius was dead.  Caligula was emperor.  He told Pilate that he could either retire or be fired.  Meanwhile, Herod Antipas and Herodias rushed to Rome to make the claim that he should be king of all Israel.  The result was a case of family court.  Emperor Caligula was the judge and in one corner was Uncle Antipas and in the other corner was Nephew Herod Agrippa, who just happened to be childhood buddies with Caligula.  Agrippa accused Uncle Antipas of treason.  Caligula agreed.  He told Antipas that he was going to exile in France.  Herodias, however, could stay in Jerusalem, because, after all, she was Agrippa’s sister.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Herodias was Antipas’s former sister-in-law, wife, and…..niece.   But she decided to stand by her man – even in exile.  Caiaphas – fired.  Pilate – retired.  Herod Antipas – exiled.   Herod Agrippa had just inherited nearly all of his grandfather’s kingdom. 

Herod Agrippa was well-received in Jerusalem.  He expanded the city, extending the city walls to incorporate more neighborhoods, including Calvary and the nearby garden.  When a deranged Caligula decided to have a statue of himself built and placed in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Agrippa got him drunk and got him to change his mind.  And for the temple leadership, Agrippa cracked down on this new cult.  He arrested James the brother of John and had him beheaded.  Then he arrested Peter during Passover and had him locked up in the dungeon. To escape that prison would be like trying to escape from Alcatraz.  Peter was chained between two soldiers with sixteen soldiers watching him. 

Meanwhile the Mary Circle of the United Jerusalem Woman was having an all-night prayer meeting.  And while they were praying, the maid Rhoda heard a knock at the door.  She went to the door and asked who it was.  “It’s me, Peter.”  She recognized the Big Fisherman’s voice. And such was her joy that she left Peter locked outside to tell the others.  Then in a parallel to the Easter story, when the disciples doubted the women coming from the empty tomb, the ladies doubted Rhoda.  “Bless her.  She’s out of her mind.  It’s past her bedtime.”  Others thought that perhaps that it was Peter’s guardian angel, letting them know that he taken Peter to be with the Lord.  Well, this guardian angel was knocking the door even louder.  They opened the door, saw Peter, and began screeching.  Peter told them to hush; he didn’t need the police to be paying a visit on a noise violation.  And he told them how the Lord had delivered him in a miraculous jail break.  An angel had broken his chains and lead him through the prison past all sixteen guards. 

The next morning, as the King James Version put it, “There was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.”  King Herod Agrippa was furious.  The plan was to execute Peter so his approval ratings can go up.  Instead, he was in the embarrassing position to explain how the Big Fisherman escaped Alcatraz.  The soldiers on the night shift were executed for such a blunder.  (Remember that next Easter, when some “historian” suggests that the Roman soldiers accidently let Jesus, a condemned man, escape death.)  Once again, a member of the house of Herod missed an opportunity and responded with violence and was surprised by a fishermen and a handful of women. 

The years went by, Herod Agrippa I died suddenly, and the Roman governors came back.  One of them, Festus, was trying to figure out The Case of the Tent Maker that had been in legal limbo for two years.  He asked King Agrippa II to help with this case.  The Tent Maker gave his testimony about how he had met Jesus – years after he had been crucified.  Festus couldn’t believe such nonsense. “Paul,” he said, “your learning has driven you mad.”  

“I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.” Paul then pointed to King Agrippa II and said “And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” And King Agrippa II interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” (Acts 26:25-28 NLT) 

Paul was right.  King Agrippa II did know the truth.  He had heard stories about his great-grandfather and a child born in Bethlehem.  He heard stories about his great uncle who played pivotal roles in the deaths of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.   He heard about how his father had executed James and tried to execute to Peter the Big Fisherman.  And now here he was, the fourth generation listening and rejecting the Apostle Paul. 

Another missed opportunity for the Herod family. 

Are you missing opportunities to meet God?  Are you responding with humbleness or with anger or mockery?  What sort of spiritual legacy are you leaving your children and grandchildren, and nieces and nephews? 

Will you be like the House of Herod and reject God at every turn?  Or will you, like Joshua, say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”? 

What will be your family tradition? 

A couple of weeks ago, Katie Bursley, a daughter of David and Karen Siklosi and also a daughter of Keith Church, emailed me to inquire about how our church was addressing the question of wearing masks as we anticipated returning to in-person worship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Katie is serving as the lay leader of her United Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was interested in some guidance she might be able to share with their church leadership in their own preparations. I responded that our conference’s leadership had resolved the question of wearing masks for us by making it a non-negotiable requirement for all in-person worship services to be held in the Holston Conference. But I suggested to her that the Wesleyan Quadrilateral might provide some guidance on this question, and then I sought to “unmask” some of the ways in which this might be so.

For more information on what the Wesleyan Quadrilateral is and how it can help us engage in robustly biblical and theological reflections on any number of questions that Christians may face, I would refer you to my colleague the Rev. Andrew Lay’s podcast on it which came out last Monday (see “The Methodical Methodist Podcast” at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-methodical-methodist-p-59418523/episode/ep-16-the-wesleyan-quadrilateral-65224114/).

Andrew describes how a Wesleyan scholar Albert Outler coined this term after witnessing how John Wesley wove these four sources together – scripture, tradition, reason and experience – in his sermons, essays and other writings. Even though it may sound a little too much like mathematics for some folks’ tastes, the Wesleyan quadrilateral continues to provide a helpful framework for exploring some of the questions Christians face today.

So what might the Wesleyan quadrilateral have to say about wearing masks during a time of pandemic?

Scripture (Part 1)

Because Wesley considered scripture the primary and foundational source among the four (thus the quadrilateral is not really an equilateral, but maybe more of a trapezoid, but again, that’s starting to sound too much like math!), I want to both begin and end with scripture. So what does scripture say about wearing masks? Truthfully, not much. At least, not directly.

In the Old Testament, there is the story of Rebekah wearing a veil at her match-making with her future husband Isaac (Genesis 24:65). There’s the scandalous story of Tamar wearing a veil to disguise her identity so that she can seduce her father-in-law Judah (Genesis 38:15). There’s the story of Moses wearing a veil to shield his fellow Israelites from the blinding brightness of his face shining from his encounter with the Lord upon the mountain (Exodus 34:33-35). There’s also a lot of veiling and unveiling in the interactions of the newlyweds in the Song of Songs. But other than that, the wearing of masks or veils figures very little in the Old Testament.  

In the New Testament, it’s even sparser. Paul wanted women to wear veils while praying and prophesying but not men, but his words perhaps reflect more the misogynistic practices of the time than any relevant practices today (1 Corinthians 11:4-7). So the scriptures do not seem to directly and explicitly address our question of whether to wear our masks in the midst of a global pandemic. But the scriptures do address this question indirectly and implicitly, as I will suggest in a moment.

Tradition

What about the second resource that Wesley used, tradition? Tradition has to do with how the church has interpreted and applied the teachings of the scriptures over the years. Fortunately, Wesley himself has already done a lot of the heavy lifting for us in his distillations of the scriptural guidance that he provided in his sermons and essays. One of those distillations is found in the “General Rules” that he laid out for small groups to follow in their sharing of life and faith together. (Andrew has another episode on the “General Rules” in his podcast to which I would also refer you!) There are three General Rules, and though they are simple to state, they are not always easy to follow. In summary, the three rule are:

1. Do no harm and avoid evil of every kind
2. Do good and be merciful in every kind
3. Attend upon all the ordinances of God (or as the late Bishop Reuben Job paraphrased it, “stay in love with God”)

The wearing of masks has been shown to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others (more on this in a moment), so it seems to satisfy the first general rule. It seems to help do, if not absolutely no harm at all, then at least less harm than not wearing a mask. It also seems to satisfy the second general rule in that it appears to actually help do some good in preventing the spread of the virus. In other words, wearing a mask might help meet two of the three “General Rules,” and as Meatloaf reminds us, “two out of three ain’t bad!”

We also have within our tradition the witness of one of the most famous Methodist evangelists of a century ago whose name is not only found on an elementary school in nearby Cleveland, TN, but also adorns the mammoth auditorium on the Methodist assembly grounds of Lake Junaluska, NC – George R. Stuart. He is quoted in the Birmingham, Alabama Age-Herald on October 14, 1918, during that pandemic, musing on what we might learn from this experience.

Stuart insisted that “intelligent Christians” turn to science rather than trying to “tempt God to perform a miracle in the preservation of our health…Christians do not discount their faith in the omnipotence of their God by keeping their bodies and homes and streets clean and nongerm producing; by using care in traffic and travel, accepting vaccination, sprays and disinfectants and keeping God’s own laws of health and life. Any other course is the fruit of ignorance and false teaching.” (Quoted on the Facebook post of First Christian Church of Chattanooga, March 25, 2020). Although Stuart doesn’t specifically mention masks, I can imagine he would include the wearing of masks if that is what the scientific and medical community was recommending.

Reason

This reliance upon the recommendations of the scientific community and the findings of scientific research represents the third resource in the Wesleyan quadrilateral for our theological reflection, reason. Wesley lived in the midst of the European Enlightenment, as new horizons of scientific inquiry and understanding were opening up in all directions. He saw our human faculty of reason as a God-given gift to help us better understand and appreciate the beauty and the glory of God’s bountiful creation and our responsibilities within it. 

John Wesley was something of an amateur scientist himself. He published a book of home remedies called Primitive Physick that can certainly seem primitive by today’s standards but represented his best effort to provide practical help for the people of his day to be as healthy in body, mind and spirit as possible. I would like to imagine that if Wesley were writing his book today, he might have included not only insistence upon wearing a mask in a time of a pandemic but also instructions on how to make a homemade mask.

So, how does our human reason as exercised and expressed in the scientific enterprises today speak into this question of wearing masks? Well, three things must be said at the outset. First, the science about all of this – not just the effectiveness of wearing masks but also the transmission and potential mutation of the virus itself, the progression of the disease, the protection provided by antibodies, etc. – is continuing to unfold and it seems there are new developments nearly every day. This means, second, sometimes the recommendations from the scientific community can change over time, as it has over the past few months on the subject of wearing masks. And third – believe it or not – scientists, medical experts, health care professionals, etc. don’t always agree with one another!

But with those disclaimers in mind, I did find it interesting to hear a report on National Public Radio of an article published June 1 in the British medical journal Lancet of a meta-analysis of 172 different observational studies from across 16 different countries and 6 continents that found that wearing masks, along with physical distancing and eye protection, was demonstrably effective in reducing the risk of the transmission of the virus. (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext#%20) One of the co-authors of the study, Holger Schunemann, an epidemiologist at McMaster University, says that “what this evidence supports is that, if there is a policy around using face masks in place, it does actually come with a fairly large effect.” (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/21/880832213/yes-wearing-masks-helps-heres-why)

But the article that grabbed my attention the most was one my wife Tracy shared with me as I was contemplating whether to shelve my own clippers and go get my hair cut by a bona fide professional. She shared with me an article about a Great Clips hair salon in Springfield, Missouri – I’ve gotten my hair cut many a time at a Great Clips – where two of the stylists contracted COVID-19 and went on to risk exposing at least 140 customers to the virus. But because the salon required masks to be worn by both the stylists and the customers, the wearing of masks was credited with preventing the potential spike that could have caused. In the weeks since this happened, none of the clients have come down with the virus. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/17/masks-salons-missouri/)

I am aware that not everyone believes these reports, and that there are some reviews that purport to show the opposite, that the wearing of masks is actually ineffective outside the hospital setting. Again, scientists don’t always agree with one another. But the escalating and overwhelming volume of scientific research supports the idea that wearing masks, along with other practices like handwashing and safe distancing, actually does help to prevent the person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus. It helps protect not so much the wearer from contracting the virus as it does from our (inadvertently, unknowingly) transmitting to others through talking, coughing, sneezing, shouting, singing, etc. Thus it seems to be true that we wear our masks not so much to protect ourselves as primarily to protect others. I wear it to protect you, you wear it to protect me, and so we all look out for and protect one another.

Scripture (Part 2)

Which brings me back to our first and foundational source in the Wesleyan quadrilateral for theological reflection on the questions facing Christians today – scripture. As I said earlier, even though the scriptures may not directly or explicitly address the question of whether or not to wear a mask during a pandemic, they absolutely and unquestionably address this question implicitly, indirectly, and they do so in at least four instances. Three of these four are found in the words of Jesus, and the fourth comes from the Apostle Paul.

First, when Jesus is asked in the Gospels which of all the commandments of God is the greatest, he answers, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40, see also Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28). Therefore, if wearing a mask reduces the risk of our neighbor – the person near to us – contracting this deadly virus, then that is what loving our neighbor looks like in a time of pandemic.

Second, on the last night Jesus was with his disciples, the night before he went to the cross, he gave them a new commandment. “I give you a new commandment,” he told them, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). If our wearing a mask helps protect one another from this virus, then that is what loving one another looks like. (And – bonus – it is also how others in the community will know we are Christian.)

Third, one of the teachings for which Jesus is most famous is the so-called “Golden Rule.” Found in some form in most of the major world religions, Jesus put it like this: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and prophets” (Matthew 7:12). If you expect me to do whatever I can to protect you and your health in this pandemic, and I expect you to do whatever you can to protect me, then both of us wearing a mask during a pandemic fulfills the Golden Rule. Again, this is not just according to Christian scriptures but other religions’ sacred writings as well.

Finally, this can also be inferred from Paul’s letters. In both Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-9, Paul is addressing a question about whether it is appropriate for Christians to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. There are some in the Christian community who see no problem with this. Idols aren’t real, they say, so the fact that the meat has been sacrificed to an idol shouldn’t be cause for any real concern. Paul calls this group the “strong.” But there are others who are concerned about being contaminated by consuming food sacrificed to these false gods. After all, aren’t our bodies “contaminated” in a way with the life and spirit – the body – of Christ when we partake of food that has been consecrated in his name? Paul calls this group the “weak.” 

Perhaps the terms he uses here are unfortunate. But although Paul himself agrees with the “strong” position – with those who say there’s no problem with food sacrificed to idols – he says he would rather go without eating meat than risk wounding the conscience of the “weak” for whom Christ died just as much as for him. Remarkably, Paul refuses to insist upon his own right to eat meat out of an even greater sense of responsibility for his fellow brother and sister in Christ. Why? Because that’s what love – the agape, self-giving, other-oriented, Christ-like love that Paul describes so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13 – looks like.

In Paul’s eyes, there’s something even more compelling than our own individual rights and liberties and freedom, and that is our responsibility to others in our community. For Paul, the we is greater than the me (in mathematical terms, we>me). How relevant Paul’s rhetoric is to our day and to our question about masks! 

There are those today who don’t believe this virus is a big deal, who believe it’s all been blown way out of proportion, that perhaps it’s even a hoax, a conspiracy, and that wearing a mask is useless and ineffective – and who want to assert their “right” not to wear one even when it’s requested or even required by state or local or church authorities. Let’s call this group, following Paul, the “strong.” Then there are others who aren’t so sure about that, who are taking the virus very seriously, who maybe have contracted the virus themselves or have lost someone very dear to them from this virus, who are following the recommendations of the scientific and health care experts to the letter. Let’s call this group the “weak.”

Would not following Paul’s argument and example here mean refraining from exercising our “right” to not wear a mask and wearing one anyway out of a greater sense of responsibility toward those who are worried and concerned? Not only would that be the even “stronger” thing to do – it takes more strength to refrain from exercising a right than to exercise it – but this is also, according to Paul, what love – Christ-like love – looks like.

So ultimately we can see that the scriptures join together with tradition and reason in commending the wearing of a mask during a time of pandemic as an expression of our Christ-like love and care and compassion for others. But wait – that’s only three sources? The quadrilateral is four sources. So what about the fourth – experience? 

Experience

One of the things I mentioned in my email to Katie are the experiences of churches who have returned to in-person worship where the wearing of masks may have been recommended but not required nor apparently very widely practiced in those congregations. Several of these churches have had outbreaks of the virus traceable back to their worship services or choir rehearsals or fellowship suppers or other gatherings. Consequently, many of those churches have made the decision to re-suspend in-person worship services.

As I wrote to Katie, “No church wants that PR. Nobody wants to be that church.” No church wants to go through that experience. But my heart still sinks every time one of these stories comes across my news feed, and frankly, sometimes it makes me wonder what on earth we are doing going back to in-person worship so soon ourselves.

But if wearing a mask in worship can help reduce the risk of spreading the virus, then why not? What’s the big deal? Really. It is so sad to see how wearing a mask has become so politicized. I don’t care what your politics are or aren’t. A mask is not a political symbol. You shouldn’t wear it or refuse to wear it because you’re a Democrat or a Republican. I would hope we would wear it because we’re something even more definitive – a Christian! But even setting both politics and religion to the side, it’s such a small, simple, easy thing to do. And if it can stop the spread and save lives, then why on earth not?

Plus it can be a lot of fun to buy or make or give or receive masks that show a little personality, a little pizzazz, a little flair! You can sport a mask in the colors of your favorite team. You can even order a mask with a depiction of your mouth and smile on it! I kid you not!

I know it takes a little getting used to at first, but you actually get used to wearing one after a while. Some people – surgeons, dentists, welders – wear a mask all day long and think nothing of it. If wearing a mask for maybe 30 minutes in a grocery store or in a place of business or in a worship service helps to prevent the spread of this deadly virus and may even prevent a second wave of infections and allow an even quicker return to some sense of normalcy, then it is quite literally very nearly almost the absolute least I can do. And if it turns out in the end that all those naysayers were right all along and that wearing a mask doesn’t do a darn (trying to keep it PG here) bit of good for anybody, then it won’t have set me too far back anyway.

Finally, based upon the experiences of those who have contracted this virus and have been hospitalized in ICU units and have fought for – and so many have lost – their very lives while cut off from the love and presence and support of their family and friends and faith community, I can unapologetically and unequivocally say I would much rather wear a mask around my face than a ventilator down my throat.

So let’s do whatever we can to keep one another as safe and healthy as possible in the midst of this pandemic. Wash your hands. Watch your distance from others. And on the authority of at least four witnesses – scripture, tradition, reason and experience – when you’re out in public, wear a mask.

Pastor Dave

When Tracy and I got married 20 years ago this spring, we asked a fellow student at the seminary to be our wedding coordinator. Leah Gunning Francis was born and grew up in the same town where Tracy was born – Willingboro, New Jersey – so they had that connection. And Leah and I had been in the same small group for our introductory preaching class. Leah could preach circles around the rest of us. She could pack more punch into one of our five-minute mini-sermons than most preachers could in an entire career. Whenever it was her turn to preach, she showed up with a stick of dynamite, whereas I always seemed to show up with a box of wet matches.

Leah had been doing some wedding coordinating on the side, and she was really good at it. In fact, most of what I do now as a pastor when I am also called to do a little wedding coordinating on the side, I learned from her. Fortunately, at my own wedding, there wasn’t much for me to do, which meant there wasn’t much for me to mess up. She showed me where I needed to stand, when I needed to move, what I needed to say. And the wedding all came together beautifully and went off, as I like to say, with a hitch!

As has happened with so many of my classmates from both college and seminary, after graduation we all went our separate ways and did our own things and lived our own lives. But we would eventually catch up with one another through the advent of social media. Leah went on to serve as a pastor, to earn a PhD and to teach as a seminary professor, and now she serves as an academic dean. She got married (I wonder if she coordinated her own wedding!) and she and her husband have two sons, just like Tracy and I do. While I haven’t heard her preach since we were in class together, I have seen some of the videos she’s posted to help her seminary community navigate the current COVID-19 crisis with confidence and care.

I’ve also been thinking about Leah recently with the resurgence of the awareness of and protests against racism in the aftermath of the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks this spring. Five years ago, Leah wrote a book in the aftermath of the shooting and killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. The book is called Ferguson & Faith: Sparking Leadership & Awakening Community (Chalice, 2015). 

On Saturday, August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18 year-young black man, was shot and killed in the middle of the day, in the middle of the street, in the middle of a residential neighborhood in the city of Ferguson, Missouri. Witnesses say he had his hands up in surrender before he was shot. He laid there in the street for over 4 hours. The place where he died was only eleven miles from where Leah and her family lived at the time while she taught Christian education at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. This tragedy hit home hard for her.

In the days, weeks, and months afterwards, Leah knew she had to do something. So she did. She prayed, she preached, she protested, she marched, and she advocated for social change and justice. In the introduction of her book, she writes, “as a woman of faith, I did not separate my actions in pursuit of justice for Michael Brown from my faith. My faith, or my belief and trust in God, motivated me to join the efforts to seek justice and provide care. My faith was integral to my works, and, together, enabled me to embody my idea of faithfulness in this time of communal distress.” (p. 3)

Leah knew she was not alone. She was already connected with several other clergy in the area who were involved in this work, and she met many others along the way. She interviewed two dozen local clergy and over a dozen other young leaders and community organizers and activists. Her book tells the story of how these people from various walks of life and backgrounds came together to transform this moment into a movement, as Jim Wallis put it in his foreword to her book. It’s a compelling narrative – told in so many of their own words – of how they put their own lives on the line and risked arrest and incarceration themselves to advance the cause of justice in their community.

I pulled Leah’s book down off the bookshelf in my study at the church a few days ago with a mixture of sadness and hope. Sadness in that here we are all over again, a handful of years later, wondering whether we have made any progress at all, and worried that we have, in fact, regressed in many ways. But hope, too, that maybe her words then could still speak to us today and help us find a way forward together. Her words, as I expected, did not disappoint.

In her final chapter, she writes that “there are at least three things we must do to #staywoke in order to be able to demand systemic changes that promote the fair and equitable treatment of black people. We must awaken to the awareness of our own privilege, build relationships in our own communities, and connect this awareness and the corresponding action in order to effect change for a more racially just world.” (p. 158)

As I reflect upon her words, I would want Leah to know that I’m working on these three things. I’m working on recognizing my white privilege, the “benefits bestowed upon white people that non-white people do not receive.” (p. 158) I’ve read her book, and I’ve read other books, and I’ve got more books to read, more movies to watch, many more lessons to learn. And I’m trying to help some of my white brothers and sisters in Christ recognize how our white privilege functions in our society. “Recognizing white privilege,” she writes, “is a step toward using it as a resource to bring about a more just and equitable world.” (p. 159) I’m learning not to be afraid of my white privilege or ashamed of it either, but rather to be educated, empowered and equipped to put that privilege to use for good instead of for ill, to help and to heal rather than to hurt and to harm.

She also encourages us to build relationships in our own communities, especially with the young people. I’m heartened to see that very thing happening here in Athens. The very first of the protests here in town over the killing of George Floyd was organized by young people, which resonates with what Leah observed in Ferguson. The young people get it, and perhaps they can often lead us older folks along the way we should be going. And I was also heartened to see our law enforcement officials present and supportive at these protests as well. I have seen bridges being built among blacks and white, young and old, laity and clergy, law enforcement and people of color in ways that maybe have never happened quite so intentionally, so purposefully before. We are getting to know one another. We are listening to each other’s stories, hearing the pain that is being expressed, honoring the anger and the frustration, and sharing in our collective hope for change for the better.

And I pray we are strengthening our resolve at least as a local community to connect the dots to the corresponding actions that we will need to take to start to right the wrongs, to repair the damage, and to build the kind of loving and just community that comes to resemble more and more closely the kingdom of God that Jesus came to proclaim.

It’s been twenty years since Leah was our wedding director. But it turns out she is still helping me know where I need to stand, when I need to move, and what I need to say.

Pastor Dave

I was standing in my backyard in a dirt spot worn from countless hours of learning to hit a baseball. We had been sent outside indefinitely so my mother could clean the house, and since I was the kid who would always say just one more just one more and would play forever, I was in heaven. And then it happened. I saw a pitched baseball that was in my wheelhouse, (baseball term for it was right where I could hit it), and hit it I did.

In a scene that was years later repeated in the movie, The Natural, the ball left my bat perfectly, and everyone in the yard saw it in slow motion, because we could see where it was headed. In what seemed to me like an eternity the ball flew toward my house and not just toward the house, it was headed toward the kitchen window. I had grown up in church, and knew not to pray for things like this, but I stood watching and hoping, if this was in- deed heaven, God would help me out. And then, we heard the breaking of glass as the ball went right through the window and into where my mom was cleaning. Talk about a walk-off hit, everyone in the yard ran but me, and the game was instantly over. Part of me felt good because it was one of the best balls I had ever hit and then I heard my mom crying hysterically.

Once I figured out I had not killed her, because no one could scream that loud if they were dead, I got my nerve up to go in the house where I found my mom crying and my dad doing his best to console her. I remember him telling her it was too late to get a glass company out and he would just have to put a piece of cardboard in the window, which made her cry even more. You see we lived in a very small house and it was my mom’s turn to host the women’s Circle the next day. My mom wanted everything perfect, because of the small space, and now she was picking up glass and faced with a big piece of cardboard for a prominent window. I was sent to my room, thankfully, where I spent the rest of the evening.

Throughout the whole ordeal my dad never seemed very upset with me which I found surprising but comforting. The circle met the next day, and my mom must have had a good time explaining the cardboard window, because she was smiling when I got home.

Years later, my dad and I were walking through his high school school gymnasium. The gym could have been used as the gym in the movie Hosiers, and you could sense the aura from all the games and activities that had been held there. It was even more important to our family because my grandfather was the principal and basketball coach and my dad was a known athlete there. It had been many years since that gym had seen a basketball game but I could tell it brought back memories for my dad. When we got to mid court my dad smiled and told me this story.

During an assembly my dad and a few others had skipped and opted to play a baseball game instead. Skipping was a bold move, but skipping when your dad was principal even bolder. My dad went on to explain that during the game he had hit a ball that was one of his best ever. He said he stood and watched as the ball elevated to home run height, and then it happened. The ball went through the gymnasium window where my grandfather was speaking.

As he told the story I could just picture in my mind the ball going through the window and coming to a stop at the base of the podium. I asked my dad what he did and he said one word, “ran”. I then asked if grandaddy ever knew it was him and he said, “I’m sure he did, but he never said anything about it.”

As my dad and I continued our walk, I suddenly realized why he was so under- standing that day I broke the window, screams and all. I went to school the morning after my broken window feeling like I had ruined a Circle meeting. When I got home I was so excited to see my mom smiling about all the church women laughing with her as she told the story. It seems that my hit was the hit of the meeting.

Over the years I saw the women of my home church running bazaars, dinners, holding meetings in various houses, being cub scout leaders, Sunday school teachers, band parents, and overall models to the youth of our church as they lived their Christianity. In my 33 years at Keith Church I have seen the same, and it continues to this day.

Now, I hear people saying that it may be hard for people to get back in the routine of going to church, and I just do not believe that. I don’t believe that because a bunch of ladies proved it to me when they treated my mom like that piece of cardboard was made of diamonds. I don’t believe that because I know the Circles at Keith never stopped working, I don’t believe that because I know Keith Church and its members can’t possibly feel that way because of all the things the church has done, and has left to do.

James 1:12 says, Blessed are those who remain steadfast under trial, for when they have stood the test they will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

When I broke the window the window broke the Circle didn’t because those women loved God. I know the women of Keith love God and will be back, I know the men of Keith love God and will be back, I know the children and youth of Keith love God and will be back, and I know I will be back. Hope you join me.

When I was young, I remember hearing stories of my mom growing up in Smyrna, Tennessee. She told me one story of her driving to church at night. As she drove by the highway, she passed by a large field full of Ku Klux Klan members carrying torches. She saw around 50 hooded figures standing before a burning cross. Even as a sixteen-year-old white girl, she talked about feeling absolutely terrified. She said she remembers thinking, if I’m this scared, I cannot imagine how scared the black people in the community are. Listening to these stories made me think, “How could this blatant racism occur in the wide open? This sort of thing would never happen today.”

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota was murdered by police officers. Officers responded to a call accusing him of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, George Floyd was pinned down by three police officers – cutting off his air supply. This happened shortly after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Both were innocent and wrongfully killed. It seems not much has changed since my mom was a kid. Today I am still asking the question, “How could this blatant racism occur in the wide open?” The truth is, blatant acts of racism have been going on this whole time, and it is time for it to end.

Our nation has a long and drawn out history of racism. From slavery, to Jim Crow laws, to continued discrimination that black people experience today. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well today. But Enough is Enough.

The Book of Disciple of the United Methodist Church describes racism and the ways it is manifested in our world today:

“Racism is the combination of the power to dominate by one race over other races and a value system that assumes that the dominant race is innately superior to the others. Racism includes both personal and institutional racism. Personal racism is manifested through the individual expressions, attitudes, and/or behaviors that accept the assumptions of a racist value system and that maintain the benefits of this system. Institutional racism is the established social pattern that supports implicitly or explicitly the racist value system. Racism, manifested as sin, plagues and hinders our relationship with Christ, inasmuch as it is antithetical to the gospel itself. In many cultures, white persons are granted unearned privileges and benefits that are denied to persons of color. We oppose the creation of a racial hierarchy in any culture. Racism breeds racial discrimination. We define racial discrimination as the disparate treatment and lack of full access and equity in resources, opportunities, and participation in the Church and in society based on race or ethnicity. Therefore, we recognize racism as sin and affirm the ultimate and temporal worth of all persons. We rejoice in the gifts that particular ethnic histories and cultures bring to our total life. We commit as the Church to move beyond symbolic expressions and representative models that do not challenge unjust systems of power and access.”

 – From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 

So, you may be asking yourself, “What can I do? How do I respond?”

I don’t have all the answers, but I think this might be a good start.

1. Speak up and Speak out. Now is the time to speak out against racism. The silence of those failing to call out the evils of racism is deafening. You may be thinking, “I don’t need to call out racism. It is already understood.” But here is the thing… It is not understood. We are in a place right now, where you have to speak up and speak out. I recently heard one African American pastor say, “I always grieve when good people do or say nothing.”

2. Listen. Not only do we need to speak out, but we also need to listen to one another. Specifically, we need to listen in order to amplify the black voices in and around our community. Listening to the struggles of our black brothers and sisters will allow us to learn and grow as we strive to address the evils of racism. 

3. Stop Changing the Narrative. I recently heard a message from a pastor in Knoxville who said we often change the narrative with two words, “Yeah, but.” For example, at the beginning of our nation’s history someone said, “All men are created equal.” But then someone else came along and said, “Yeah, but not slaves.” When we say, “Yeah, but” we are often changing the narrative. This is not an issue of good people versus bad people. This is an issue of systemic racism. When people say, “I don’t see color,” then we are missing the point. When we “don’t see color” then that means that we are not recognizing the effects that systemic racism has on our black brothers and sisters. We need to stop changing the narrative and call out the evils of racism.

4. Peacefully Protest. One thing that we can do in response to this epidemic of racism is peacefully protest. As Americans, we have the right to protest peacefully which is ensured in the first amendment of the United States Constitution. This is a fundamental and important step in enacting change in our world. Lifting our voices and sharing our presence in the community will allow us to share our message with our leaders and local government. This step is tricky, considering we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. Consider ways you might protest while still keeping your distance and wearing a mask. 

And as we engage in protests, it is important for us to remember that the majority of our police offers and law enforcement are trying to do the best that they can to bring about peace, uphold law, and support a sense of positivity in our community. Yesterday I attended a peaceful prayer vigil at the courthouse, and it was heartwarming to hear our mayor, sheriff, and chief of police all speak out against police brutality and the evils of racism. We have both current and past police and law enforcement in our church community, and this is a time to offer support to them as well. We can make it known that our prayers are with our law enforcement and their families during this time as well.

5. Write Your Representatives. In order to enact change, we must let our representatives no that these acts of racism are no longer acceptable. We need to hold our government leaders accountable. We need bold legal reform, and in order to make the necessary changes, we must enable and elect leaders who are willing to bring about that change.

6. Make Your Vote Count. Another way to enact change is through electing folks who will stand up against the evils of racism. Make your vote count by researching candidates and making educated decisions on who you vote for.  Often times folks only exercise their votes in Presidential elections, but this is a reminder to exercise your right to vote in local government elections as well!

7. Give to the Cause.

– You can make donations to:

– The Official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

– Nationwide Bail Fund. 

– You can sign the Color of Change Petition to end violent policing against black people. 

– You can support black owned businesses.

8. Call to Pray. As Christians, we believe in the power of prayer to change things. We can pray for our black brothers and sister who are dealing with the effects of racial discrimination firsthand. We can pray for our government leaders to bring about the necessary change. We can pray for our church and community to take the necessary steps to combat the evils of racism. Together, we can lift our voices to God as we seek to transform this world and spread the love of God.

9. Love God and Love Neighbor. As a community, we can love God by loving our neighbor. God formed humanity out of the dust and breathed life into us. God formed us in God’s own image, and there is sanctity in human life. Together, we are called to treat others with the love of Christ. Black or White. Rich or Poor. Male or Female. Gay or Straight. Republican or Democrat. We are called to love our neighbor, even if they don’t look, act, or think like us.  

We are called to live by these words of Scripture: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen! This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also” – 1 John 14:18-21 (CEB).

I was asked the question, “Is Christianity a crutch?” during a recent Bible study.  It really made me start to think of my profession and how faith and the crutch are similar.  Here are a few things that after the Bible study, I thought about in length.

First, the crutch (walker/cane) is used after an acute injury whether this may be a broken bone, sprain, or wound.  It is vital to the healing process and in many cases takes the full weight off the injured limb.  Think now of your Christian walk.  We are all wounded and broken at times and need our faith and our God to be present and help to carry us.  I remember the quote from the “Footprints in the Sand” poem.  The author tells us that during the most troublesome times there were only one set of footprints, and Jesus’ response was to let the author know that during those times He carried him.

Second, as the healing takes place and we are progressing with our injury, it is time to rely less on the crutch.  It is a time to begin exercise and other activities that require us to be an active part in the healing.  It is a time to follow the orders of professionals to begin engaging in appropriate activities and lifestyles.  It is a time for us to read and obtain knowledge of our condition.  We still are using the crutch, but in a less passive way.  We are starting to lean on the “wounded leg more”.  As Christians this is when, after we have been wounded and broken, we begin our journey from that place where only God is sustaining us to the point that we begin to engage more in prayer, look to the scriptures for assistance, and allow our church family to be a part of the healing.

Last, we are able to rid ourselves of the crutch.  That is not to say that our healing is finished.  There is still the lifestyle change, the home exercise program to continue with and our follow up with doctors and professionals.  It is at this time the crutch can be recycled.  It is time to offer this crutch to a friend who has had an injury.  Don’t put it in a closet waiting for another injury to yourself.  Our Christian faith calls us now to share our faith, to give hope to those who are wounded and NOT to keep it to ourselves.

With one final observation regarding “crutches/canes/walkers”.  Some are never fully able to rid themselves of that crutch.  They must keep it for safety and to prevent re-injury.  It is highly important.  There are many who are so wounded, hurt, broken, that they will not be able to fully give their “crutch” away, but they can share their journey.  It is those people that I remember in my career.  They still are cheerleaders to others in their road to recovery.  They still see how far they have come in their healing process and they continue to spread cheer, joy, encouragement to those who are on their road to recovery.  They are the MARY YOUNGERs of the world. 

So, to those who feel Christianity is a crutch, I say “YES, IT IS”.  It helps us heal, it provides us support, and it can be given to others to use in a time of need.  Can it be used the wrong way?  Of course it can. Just as a crutch or cane is not meant to trip someone or even hit someone, it is possible to use it in this way.  That is why we need to be “trained” to use our crutch/FAITH in the correct manner.

– Michelle Crafton is a physical therapist who has helped an incalculable number of persons in our congregation and community find healing. She also serves as a Stephen Minister.

Every morning without question, my granddaddy would get up early and go see Miss Dolly. When I stayed overnight at his house he would ask if I wanted to go. Since it involved literally getting up at the crack of dawn and walking to her house, I generally just rolled over in bed. Miss Dolly didn’t really have anyone else and my granddaddy took care of her religiously.

One day my granddaddy waited on me to get up and I walked with him to Miss Dolly’s house. As always, he carried a pail with him because every time he went to see Miss Dolly, she would give him something to take back. We walked out the back door, past the well house, through the yard and across the pasture until we got to Miss Dolly’s place. My granddaddy went right inside, but I just could not do it. Miss Dolly scared me, always had. Sometimes, I would see her out when I was by myself, and I would try to be nice, but she looked at me with that long face and those great big eyes and intimidated me.

On this day though I told myself I was going to throw caution to the wind and go for it. With my granddaddy’s encouragement I waited for just the right time, and then I ran toward him with all the speed a 6-year-old could muster, and I made it. Miss Dolly had managed to barely swat me as I ran by, but now I was safe in the arms of my granddaddy. Miss Dolly turned and looked at me and with the loudest up-close MOO I had ever heard she let me know she knew I was there.

Granddaddy asked if I wanted to try my hand at milking and I did, without much success, other than eliciting a few more MOO’s, and for some reason I don’t think that was the objective. When granddaddy was finished milking, he said it was time to go and I ran past Dolly’s swinging tail, this time without being swatted. As we walked back to the house with our bucket of milk, my granddaddy said he was pleased I made it past the tail that morning.

A few years later my parents informed me that my cousins, Ike and Art, were visiting granddaddy. Since they were from another state, we did not see them often and I was excited. Ike and Art were a little mischievous, to say the least, and were several years older than me. Knowing this my mother had a cousin briefing and checklist before visiting. Wear old clothes, take no toys of value with you, and be ready for anything, you know the usual cousin things.

As we got to granddaddy’s house Ike and Art were waiting on me in the back and grabbed me before I could even go in the house. As we walked toward the pasture, they said the magic words, “You know how we have always wanted a horse?” They had me. What kid has not dreamed of having and riding a horse? As we walked, they convinced me it was not the horse, but the riding of the horse, that was important. Then they explained that they had been riding Dolly all day and wanted me to have the experience. They turned the water faucet on that filled Dolly’s water bucket because we all knew she would come to the pasture gate if we did.

As she walked toward us my cousins taught me the ins and out of cow riding. Perhaps the most important thing was that when I wanted to go faster, I was to shoot Dolly with a water gun, and she would run. Being the smart kid, I thought I was I asked my cousins to show me how to do it first. They explained that Dolly was getting tired and only had one more ride in her and they had saved it for me. With Dolly waiting impatiently, and with the encouragement of Ike and Art, I climbed the gate and had one leg on the cow when my cousins quickly grabbed me and said we were just kidding.

As Dolly walked away, I could swear even she gave me a look of, I can’t believe you fell for that. Ike and Art were just playing a joke on me and are some of the finest people I know so laugh at the story but not at them please.

Over the last few weeks, I have watched and listened as numerous people have tried to convince me what is best for me during these tough times. As with you, some things I hear and laugh at and know they are instantly not true or good for me to do. Some things pique my interest and I may investigate a little and then I usually see the truth of the matter. And some things are like horses. I want to believe them so much, that I often overlook the facts and truth of the matter, and I am ready to climb on for the ride. But then, I am pulled back by people of faith who know the truth.

In 1 John 4:6 it says “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the spirit of truth and spirit of falsehood.”

Sometimes we fall for things because our minds, the internet or others convince us that something is right, even though we know it is wrong. But the true spirit of truth is that we must continue to support our church, listen to our ministers, and pray for a time when we can all safely worship together. Recognize that and you will also be recognized as a person from God. There is an old saying that goes “If wishes were horses beggars would ride,” and that pretty much sums up the truth about wishes.

As we continue through this unique journey, pray we all keep our eyes on the truth that is Jesus Christ. Otherwise you must be careful, because your cousins may not be there to pull you back at the last minute.