DAY 84
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
WEEK TWELVE: SATURDAY 6 JUNE 2020
Wrung Out by Grief
The People of Wuhan Begin to Explore a Life Where Hope
is Possible
“For more than two months,
the people of Wuhan, China, lived under lockdown as their city buckled beneath
the weight of the coronavirus that emerged there. Then, gradually, cases ebbed.
On April 8, the lockdown was lifted. Now, the residents of Wuhan are cautiously
feeling their way toward an uncertain future, some of the first in the world to
do so. There is trauma and grief, anger and fear. But there is also hope,
gratitude and a newfound patience.” - Recent newspaper article by the same
title.
Yesterday we explored
hope, the loss of which can lead to despair. Hope is something that does not
emerge from a vacuum but is, by definition, contingent on context. Nothing is
more available and susceptible to the emergence and cultivation of hope than
grief, for grief and hope are polar opposites. Grief sustained cannot be
sustained, the forcing of hope a desperate act for the sake of survival, a
spiritual and psychological existential response.
Our English noun ‘grief’ while
variously meaning a wrong or injustice, comes from a Latin verb meaning ‘to
burden or make heavy’ – we get our word ‘grievance’ from the same linguistic
source. Grief also conveys the concept of ‘weight’ – so that when some
experience significant loss they sometimes say that it is almost more than they
can bear or carry.
God extends to us a
promise in Isaiah 45:3 when he says, “I will give you the treasures of
darkness, riches stored in secret places …” Here is a secret embedded in
grief that the people of Wuhan are discovering: “There is trauma and grief and
anger and fear. But there is also hope, gratitude and a newfound patience.” God
has built certain things into us as human beings that, regardless of faith
perspectives, can be observed across the spectrum of cultures as native to all:
out of trauma, grief, anger and fear the discovery of hope, gratitude and a newfound
patience that are not being experienced apart from the pandemic, but because of
it.
Reflective question: What do you think God has embedded in this pandemic
for you?
Reflective
Scripture: Romans 8:28 – “In
all things God works together for good…”
Reflective hymn:
“What a friend We Have in
Jesus” Joseph Scriven (1820-1886)
What a friend we have in
Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often
forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not
carry everything to God in prayer.
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