Good Sunday morning! “God doesn’t come to pity parties.” — Rev. Gary Henderson, Executive Director, Global Health Initiative of The United Methodist Church This nugget of wisdom sheds light on the diverse responses we observe and may experience in the midst of life’s toughest challenges. For example, some good people manage equanimity in the face of life-threatening disease, while other good people flounder. Rev. Henderson provides a wonderful clue to finding peace amidst life’s storms. The opportunity to receive insights like this is why I’ll go to hear a good preacher not just on Sunday but any day. Rev. Gary Henderson delivered this enlightening pity party observation last Tuesday morning as part of his weeklong series of messages on the theme, “Building a Tunnel of Hope Through a Mountain of Despair” at Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio. Henderson knows despair. As the point man for the United Methodist Church’s effort to eliminate malaria, he’s seen mothers endure the deaths of their children due to mosquito bites. We’ve eliminated malaria in the U.S. but we struggle with other menacing diseases. As with almost everyone, I have loved ones and friends fighting illnesses that could be terminal. As a senior citizen, I’m more aware that earthly life is not forever, but getting the unthinkable test result brings this elephant into the living room. Our everyday busyness that keeps us comfortably distracted can be abruptly disrupted by a jarring confrontation with our mortality and an emotional rollercoaster ride—for both patient and caregiver—of treatments and tests. A friend whose husband has just been moved to hospice emailed this week, saying she’s “struggling in my faith with God right now…do not understand why this is happening.” I stand back in my current comfort zone of good health and wonder how to help her. I don’t want to be harsh in sharing my view that God doesn’t promise that we will not get sick or leave this earthly life. Indeed, his only son experienced both unthinkable suffering and death as did Christ’s disciples. (God’s promise is not that we will avoid these things but that we will not go through them alone—“for thou are with me.” We can go through the valleys of life with hope, confidence, and serenity.) In the same week, another friend, who has already long outlived her prognosis, greets the news that she has about a year left to live with a surprising reaction: gratitude. “A bit of grace” she calls it, to have another year, and her next email brings a photo with exuberant comments about a beautiful meal made of fresh Ohio harvest she’s prepared for her family. There’s quite a contrast in these snapshots of people dealing with life’s biggest challenges. We cannot avoid physical and emotional pain in life (in truth it may be required of us, with unexpected benefits), and I’m not recommending an assumed Pollyanna response. Instead I’m suggesting that we can tap into a genuine, extraordinary peace in all storms. Rev. Henderson’s message shed light on this capacity. He said that depression and gratitude cannot coexist. He explained that thankfulness, expressed in exuberant praise to God, is an antidote for depression and despair. It dawned on me that the most successful cancer survivor I know is one of the most grateful people I’ve ever encountered. Even as she gets a dose of bad news, she is back to not just her usual daily busyness but to an acute awareness and openly expressed appreciation for the everyday blessings of each extraordinary day. I don’t know how anyone faces the awesome mountaintop moments and the deep valleys of life without faith. But, how, when we’ve been kicked in the gut and knocked off our feet, can we get back up and grasp our faith and the peace it promises? Rev. Henderson tells us: Express gratitude; banish despair with praise to God for the countless blessings in life. Raise thanksgiving prayers. Worship. Seek the guidance of spiritual leaders. Work at your faith. The word “peace” riddles the Bible. It’s one of the great gifts that the Apostle Paul often references. We can either ride life’s storms with it or without it. It is a grace of God to have this peace. If we don’t have it, we can be proactive in seeking it. We can humble ourselves (humility in prayerful and anger at God are also incompatible) and ask for God’s peace. Rev. Henderson’s helpful message is echoed by Paul’s hopeful advice on the peace within our grasp whatever our circumstances: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. —Philippians 4:4-9 (NASB) Have a great week.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:11:41 +0000
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