DAY 250
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 Thirty-six Thursday 19 November 2020
Those We’ve Lost
Bishop Harrison Johnson, 65
“Harrison Bradley Johnson, Jr. was born on September 22, 1955, in El Paso, Texas, the second oldest of 12 children. Praising the Lord was and remains the family business. His father, the Rev. Harrison Bradley Johnson, and his mother, Stella Pearl Johnson, were both in the ministry, as are most of his siblings and children. Mr. Johnson, a senior pastor at Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church, was also a funeral director and mortician. After a stint in the army, he earned multiple degrees in religious studies and developed a passion for gospel music. He served 15 years as choir director of the Gospel Music Workshop of America. Mr. Johnson died on October 15 at a hospital in El Paso. He was 65. His son Deacon Toraino Johnson said the cause was complications of the novel coronavirus.” - From an ongoing newspaper series on those lost to COVID-19.
Perhaps not worded the way you might word it, “praising the Lord was and remains the family business” is a summary of an extended family tree worth pausing and looking at. While the qualifier involves multiple family members involved “in the ministry,” the larger portrait is of related individuals wanting their lives to reflect the One to whom they belong, to ‘praise the Lord’ through their life choices and the ways in which they go about conducting themselves and relating to others.
What would you say ‘marks’ you as an individual and your immediate or even extended family? What would others say? We are all known as projecting or exhibiting certain things that say who we are, that communicate what matters most to us in our lives.
Reflective question: In what ways does your life ‘praise the Lord’ through choices you make?
Reflective Scripture: Psalm 150:1 – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
Reflective hymn:
“Praise Him! Praise Him!” – Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children;
In His arms He carries them all day long.
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!
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