Day 131: “Getting God’s Attention: ‘A Cemetery Wedding to End a Pandemic’”

DAY 131

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

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Nineteen – Thursday 23 July 2020

“Getting God’s Attention: ‘A Cemetery Wedding to End a Pandemic’”

“Weddings were among the first large gatherings banned in most places after the pandemic took hold in March… But a century ago in New York City, a very large wedding took place not in spite of the Spanish flu epidemic ravaging the city but precisely because of it … . In Mount Hebron Cemetery, Miss Rose Schwartz stood beside Abraham Lachterman, and before them stood Rabbi Unger, who performed the wedding ceremony. The tradition upon which the couple acted is an ancient Jewish one which declares that the only way to stop a plague is to hold a marriage ceremony in a cemetery. Some 2,000 people cheered the couple for offering themselves up to stop the epidemic. This ‘black wedding’ was based on the belief that ‘the attention of God would be called to the affliction of their fellow human beings if the most humble man and woman among them should join in marriage in the presence of the dead.’” - From a recent newspaper article by the same title

If there were something you could do to get God’s attention to bring an end to this pandemic, would you do it? Of course – we all would. Unfortunately, but probably fortunately, God has declined to allow any activities on our part to sway His weighing of responses to human predicaments and tragedies. But there is a way to get God’s attention, whether in a global pandemic or an individual ‘plague.’

One day Jesus was passing by two men plagued by the darkness of blindness. They had heard talk about a man who could heal, so when hey heard a commotion and found it was Jesus passing by they cried out in their blindness, “’Have mercy on us, Son of David.’” Matthew 9:27. Then as now this remains the only way to get God’s attention whether it be in a global pandemic or a personal plague. ‘Black weddings’ in cemeteries won’t get God’s attention: calling out to Him will.

Today while millions try all sorts of things to get God’s attention, all we need do is cry out to Him.

Reflective question: Within what private plague do you need to cry out to Jesus?

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 34:6 – “This poor man called, and the Lord heard him … .”

Reflective hymn:

“Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” – Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.