Day 105: “No matter what happens, God always has a plan.”

DAY 105

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 FIFTEEN: SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2020

“No matter what happens, God always has a plan.”

“Thirty years ago, Julio Guzman, a refugee from El Salvador, founded a Hispanic evangelical church in New Jersey that grew to some 200 members. His wife served as co-pastor….Then in April Pastor Guzman died of Covid-19…He was 64. Like so many families whose members have been hospitalized during the pandemic, the Guzmans were forbidden to visit. But Pastor Guzman was able to text a final message to his eldest son, William: ‘I love you. No matter what happens, God always has a plan.’” - From a newspaper series “Those We’ve Lost” 

It’s easy to say ’God always has a plan’ when a circumstance is something to celebrate. “God is good – all the time; all the time – God is good” goes the popular call and response between Christians. To say it while watching a loved one die a slow painful death from cancer, when your dream job has been eliminated and you are without definition of your person and you’ve lost your source of income, to watch in emotional numbness as your marriage is being dissolved by divorce, or to lose a child at age 5 as Pastor Guzman did  – does this work then, this “No matter what happens, God always has a plan”?

The problem with needing to have a plan is that when we don’t have a plan or can’t see one, we feel untethered, lost, out of control. For Christians, faith by definition is a commitment to, a trust in, that which we can neither see nor prove. There is only one alternate belief system when it comes to Pastor Guzman’s last words: God doesn’t always have a plan and sometimes we are left on our own, left to fend for ourselves, left to decipher life on our own, a frightening scenario.

One of the core tenets of Reformed theology is the sovereignty of God, a belief that ultimately God rules over everything, that nothing is outside the scope of His gaze and care, and that what Pastor Guzman articulated in his dying words to his son is trustworthy and true: “No matter what happens, God always has a plan.”  Believing this can be a source of hope and peace and even joy.

Reflective question: Where do you have the hardest time seeing God in your personal history? Talk to Him about it and ask him to show you His plan embedded in that chapter of your life.

Reflective Scripture:  Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord …”

Reflective hymn:

“Trust and Obey” – John Sammis (1846-1919)

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, but is blest if we trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Day 104: “They seek the holy, quiet square by quiet square.”

DAY 104

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 FIFTEEN: FRIDAY 26 JUNE 2020

“They seek the holy, quiet square by quiet square.”

“People have worshiped in the Brooklyn Quaker Meetinghouse on Schermerhorn Street since 1857. The room’s walls are bare and white, and when you look up to check the time, there is no clock. When the meeting could no longer continue because of the pandemic, some felt unmoored. Then the Quaker ministry and council came up with a plan: the meetings would resume over zoom. ‘In order to foster stillness and quiet, you’ve been automatically muted upon joining this meeting,’ the worship host now announces.” - From a recent newspaper article by the same title

We began with one minute, then each month increased the time by a minute until five months after we began we were sitting still, quiet, silent for five minutes each Sunday in the middle of the worship service. When we first began the experiment some of us felt like one minute was an eternity. By the time we got to the five minute mark we were beginning to feel comfortable with, even appreciate, the break from noise, from talking, from singing, from movement. Then one Sunday at the end of the silence a person rose and quietly shared an amazing experience they just had during our time of ‘doing nothing.’ Then several others rose to share similar inner  experiences, ‘awakenings,’ insights that came to them through the inner working of the Holy Spirit during the silence. Such times became the norm, moving and memorable.

This is the Quaker tradition, except that for them it isn’t a matter of five minutes but of the entire ‘service’ with the only voices those of individuals sharing what has come to them from ‘the Spirit’ during the silence. Opposite the Quaker tradition are software programs that allow churches to schedule down to the minute every single thing that happens in a sixty-minute worship service. God help us – our belief that church should last no more than an hour and be filled from start to finish with our singing ad praying and speaking and…when does God get His time slot? Silence is one of the primary ways He uses to speak to us – perhaps that is why we avoid it, as we don’t know how to handle such encounters. Absent a time of silence in worship, we never will.   

Reflective question: Are you willing to sit in silence and see what God wants to say to you? If not, you’ll never know.

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”

Reflective hymn:

“Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord” – David Evans © 1968

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here;

Come bow before him now with reverence and fear.

In him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground.

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy One, is here.

Day 103: The Resource of Relationship

DAY 103

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 FIFTEEN: THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020

The Resource of Relationship

“We typically use the term ‘natural resources’ to refer to things like water, forests, and land deposits containing minerals and fossil fuels. We could make a compelling argument, however, for an even more precious natural resource: human relationships … . Curiously, it’s often a crisis … that strengthens our relational wealth by drawing us closer together. In the aftermath of 9/11 people didn’t want to be alone or apart from loved ones…What makes the coronavirus pandemic such a different situation sociologically is that we’re actually being asked to push away from one another. Social distancing requirements physically separate people, just as quarantine measures isolate them. Both deliver stress to the very social connections we depend on.” - Editorial in the current issue of a Christian magazine

“Curiously, it’s often a crisis that strengthens our relational wealth.” The phone rang late at night on the east coast as a friend of many years called from the west coast to tell me that three of their four adult children had been in an accident, two were gone, and the third was hanging on by a thread. My wife and I discussed it briefly, and I was on a plane the next morning. It never crossed my mind not to go. I lived with this pastor and his family a semester and a summer on an Indian reservation while in college and had ongoing personal contact throughout the years. This was a relationship resource of immense value to me and has continued to be so to this day.

Relationships as a relational resource: in the midst of the worldwide pandemic, take an inventory of your ‘natural resource of relationships’:

• Immediate family -
• Extended family tree -  
• Circle of friends -
• *Church family -
• Workplace -
• Neighborhood -
• Other -

     *‘Body of Christ’ – church relationships are unique, for they will last into eternity.

Reflective question: What relationships in your church are of great value to you? Elsewhere on your lists above? Give them a call and let them know it.

Reflective Scripture: John 13:35 – “’By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another.’”

Reflective hymn:

“Bind Us Together” – Bob Gillman (1946-    )

Bind us together, Lord; bind us together with cords that cannot be broken.

Bind us together, Lord; bind us together, Lord; bind us together with love.

Day 102: A Pandemic of Domestic Abuse

DAY 102

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 FIFTEEN: WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2020

A Pandemic of Domestic Abuse

“More than 90 countries are under lockdown with four billion people confined to their homes. However, little do most people realize that for millions of women ‘home’ is not a safe place during a lockdown. As the world scrambled to flatten the coronavirus curve, the domestic violence curve surged across the globe. In France…by 30 percent…in Argentina by 25%...The UK, US, Spain, India and other countries have all witnessed a rise in violence at home.” - A recent article in an overseas English language newspaper

The church where I was serving had installed posted notices in all the women’s restrooms with tear off slips alerting women of resources available should they find themselves experiencing domestic violence in their home. While some of the tear tabs were taken by women who either needed the information for themselves or someone they knew sadly, disturbingly, someone removed the entire posts from all the women’s restrooms. We can only guess why.

While some men experience domestic violence, the vast majority of the recipients are women who, from the time of the fall in the Garden of Eden up to now, have disproportionately borne the brunt of the sinful brokenness that marks the human race. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately “1 in 3 women in the U.S. experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.”  Second Samuel 13 recounts the rape of Dinah in what should have been a safe place, her own home, by her own brother and the subsequent tragic fallout of that abuse. Whether sexual, physical, verbal, emotional, mental or spiritual, abuse is abuse. 

“Husbands, love your wives,” says God in His Word, and it is not a suggestion, “and do not be harsh with them.” Colossians 3:19. Disobedience to this command harms both. 

National Domestic Violence Hotline

1.800.799.7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522

Reflective question:  Are you, or is someone you know, in a domestic violence relationship? If so, please contact the 24/7 hotline above.

Reflective Scripture:  1 Corinthians 13 is read at weddings but it applies to marriages: read it together, and share what each phrase means to you in your relationship.

Reflective hymn:

“God of Love, We’ve Heard the Teaching” – Carolyn Gillette © 2016

God, we’ve heard a world of teachings; show us what is really true –

That you weep with those who suffer as they daily face abuse.

You want couples to be loving and to listen, share and give,

This is mutual submission; this is how we’re called to live.

Day 101: “A Covid Safe Home: Fall in Love, Be Safe and Happy.”

DAY 101

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 FIFTEEN: TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2020

“A Covid Safe Home: Fall in Love, Be Safe and Happy.”

“Everything you need is here, exactly where you expect it to be. Everything is connected and running smoothly. There is abundant, wonderful food in the refrigerator, spa goodies in the baths, and the beds are made up with wonderful linens. The intent is to heal, to provide safety and security, to nurture and to comfort, to bring safety and peace.” - A full page ad in the current issue of a national magazine

Incredible – real estate that is listed as ‘covid safe,’ with 5,223 square feet of living space, 2,468 square feet of decks, fully furnished with ‘heirloom furnishings,’ food in the refrigerator and the nearest neighbor 10 acres away – talk about social distancing. Plus this house also comes with “healing, safety, security, and peace, and it will nurture and comfort you.” All this can be yours, an escape from the pandemic, for a mere 2.39 million dollars. In the absence of funds I fantasized and ‘lived’ for a brief moment in this alternate universe at yourcovidsafehome.com.

Spotting me as a tourist walking through his neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, the man had come out of his mud-walled home to see if I spoke English. Once he discovered I was a Christian as was he, I was ushered into his home, an honored guest of total strangers, in a walled enclave of poverty inhabited by Christians who worked in the homes of wealthy Muslims. He and his family served me tea and cakes and excitedly told me how much their faith meant to them and the other residents of this Christian ghetto. They were ‘dirt poor’ – but were they really?

The reality is that hundreds of millions live in houses that we would find repulsive in their primitive construction and lack of clean water, electricity and sanitation. We are blest to live in comfort, but we can’t live forever in the houses we call home and, contrary to the real estate ad, no house can provide what is only found in God’s ‘house,’ safety,  healing, and peace. Surrounded by the stunning art and architecture of the Vatican, Pope John Paul II’s last words were, “Let me go to the house of my Father.” He knew the location of the only home of lasting value.  

Reflective question: Where is your true ‘home,’ where you live spiritually?

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 23:6 – “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Reflective hymn:

“This World is Not my Home” – Mary Reeves Davis (1929-1999)

This world is not my home I’m just a passing through,

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;

The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,

And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

Day 100: We’re All Monks Now

DAY 100

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 FIFTEEN: MONDAY 22 JUNE 2020

We’re All Monks Now

“Because of Covid-19, many of us are living, in a way, like monks, enclosed and isolated in our homes. But unlike the monks, we did not ask for or want this situation, nor is it one for which many of us were spiritually prepared.” - Article by the same name in a current Christian magazine

The Franciscan monastery was up the mountain a half hour from our home. On my first day visit I was invited to take a room, leave things there for my own use, and come and stay whenever I wanted. It was a retreat within a retreat, and while I rarely stayed the night, my day stays of shared meals gave the gift of enjoyable conversation, and the set times of prayer were meaningful and moving, times of structured slowing down, of listening to the a cappella chanted rhythm of the Psalms, the quiet reading of Scripture, of silence for prayer and contemplation.   

Years ago I read a book by Paul Wilkes, professor at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, entitled “Beyond the Walls: Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life.” Following many  visits to a nearby monastery he wanted to share what he learned and experienced there ‘beyond the walls’ with the rest of us. “Monasticism resonated with me,” he wrote, “my imperfect, impulsive self, because it encompasses all human activity and asks that the disparate parts and moments of our lives be not merely tolerated, or managed, but sanctified.”   

For an exploration of the best of the monastic tradition, go to osb.org and explore the deep and spiritually enriching Order of St. Benedict and the resources available to all of us who live ‘beyond the walls.’  Benedict, whose approximate dates are 480-547 AD, wrote his “Rules” which has been prepared in a way that non-monks like us can benefit from its use.

Lectio divina – mandated in the Rule of St. Benedict, is an intentional form of reading Scripture as well as Christian classics interspersed with times of silent contemplation. Learn more about it at the web site above. Once this difficult discipline settles in, you will be a changed person.     

Reflective question: During this pandemic, if you consider your home a monastery, what benefits would be yours?

Reflective Scripture: Mark 6:31 – “‘Come with me to a quiet place …’”  Jesus

Reflective hymn:

“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” – 4th century hymn sung by Benedictines

and which I grew up singing in our Presbyterian church – it is a traditional Advent hymn.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand

Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.

Day 99: The Foundation of God’s Loving Kindness

DAY 99

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 FIFTEEN: SUNDAY 21 JUNE 2020

The Foundation of God’s Loving Kindness

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer – Prayer for the Sunday closest to June 22             

‘Hesed’ – every seminarian encounters this Hebrew word early on and often in graduate school, for it conveys a fundamental stance of God in a covenant relationship with His people Israel. A central attribute of God more often than not translated ‘loving kindness,’ it is also considered a core virtue required of those who follow the God of ‘hesed,’  lovingkindness reflecting who He is in who we are.  Pandemic time calls for an experience of this loving kindness.

‘Hesed’ has been and remains a difficult word to translate precisely into English, ‘loving kindness’ being a word Miles Coverdale invented for use in his English version of the Bible published in 1539, and various English versions since then have translated it as loving kindness, mercy, grace, steadfast love, and occasionally as covenant loyalty. Luther used ‘.Gnade’ or grace, for both the Old Testament ‘hesed’ and the New Testament ‘charis’ in his translation of the Bible.  Psalm 63:3 reads, “… your lovingkindness is better than life.” The Spanish translates ‘lovingkindness’ as ‘misericordia,’ mercy. Thus we are reminded that we read God’s Word in translation as well, a Word subject to the nuances of various languages and cultures.  

Two relational exercises can assist us in gaining a measure of insight into the meaning of this word, a listing of responses to both that will offer surprising similarities:

1. In what ways do we experience loving kindness, however we define it, in our relationship with the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
2. In what ways do we experience loving kindness, however we define it, in our relationships with others who love us?

Reflective question: Experientially, how would you explain God’s loving-kindness to a non Christian?

Reflective Scripture: Jeremiah 31:3 – “… I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Reflective hymn:

“Awake, my Soul” – Samuel Medley

Awake, my soul, in joyful lays, and sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;

He justly claims a song from me, His loving-kindness, oh, how free!

Though numerous hosts of mighty foes, though earth and hell my way oppose,

He safely leads my soul along, His loving-kindness, oh, how strong!

Day 98: Shepherding This Formative Time

DAY 98

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 FOURTEEN: SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2020

Shepherding This Formative Time

“Our faith is being formed by this pandemic in ways we have yet to fully understand. As theologian and author John Westerhoff reminds us, ‘Formation takes place whether we like it or not. You are always being formed by something.’ How can we shepherd this formative time by not racing to programming or busyness and still support each other even in times of physical distancing?” - From the current issue of a Christian denominational magazine

It was without question for me the most difficult time in all my years of pastoral ministry. Three of us pastors came and went in rapid succession and in the midst of painful conflict. Not only was I caught off guard by the extent to which church people can be hurtful, I was equally caught off guard by the depth of my sinful nature their behavior revealed within me. I quickly refocused – turning my gaze from them and who said what, to who I was and my desperate need for God’s intervening grace. So overwhelming was the bitterness rising up within my own soul that it eclipsed what anyone else had said or done. I knew that if I was to survive this chapter I had to let go of everyone and everything and focus solely on my own relationship with the Lord. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was engaging in spiritual formation triage, a shepherding of my faith.

The author of the above-referenced article asks the question: “What might faith formation triage look like …” Here’s her answer in terms of foci no matter where we are or what we are experiencing, written in the context of the coronavirus pandemic:

1. “To belong to Christ and his body;
2. To know God’s story and one’s place in that story;
3. To have a sustaining hope;
4. To find one’s calling and be equipped for it.”

As Christians we have the luxury of choosing how we are formed in and by life’s experiences, and it is a choice. Had I parked in my bitterness toward others I would have formed a bitter heart that probably would still be with me today. A pandemic faith formation triage exercise involves assessing what is going on around and within us, identifying choices and their consequences, and then choosing, and in the process learning how to ‘shepherd’ our faith formation.

Reflective question: Which of these four foci do you most need to choose during the pandemic?

Reflective Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:19 – “… choose life …”

Reflective hymn:

“The Lord’s My Shepherd” – Psalm 23, The Scottish Psalter of 1659

The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want, He makes me down to lie

In pastures green; He leadeth me the quiet waters by.

Day 97: Maternal Devotion: Sheltering Assisting Moms During Pandemic

DAY 97

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 FOURTEEN: FRIDAY 19 JUNE 2020

Maternal Devotion: Sheltering Assisting Moms During Pandemic

“The coronavirus pandemic may be new, but pro-life organizations are no strangers to big challenges. ‘When 9/11 happened, that was a trying time for our organization as well,‘ said Madge Osborn, executive director of Pacific Pregnancy Clinic in Coos Bay, Oregon. “But you know what? God has never failed us. We’re just going to trust him … We’ve had clients that are struggling with what to do with their pregnancy now: ‘He was working, but now he’s not. How are we going to support a baby?’ We had one that just said, ‘Forget it: I’m going to have the baby. This was the plan. We’re not going to abort the mission.” - From a recent article by the same title in a Christian newspaper

An unborn human being at the moment of conception is oblivious to the external circumstances of timing, economics and historical context like the present pandemic as if, really, there were ever any ‘safe’ or ‘convenient’ time to have a baby. Egg and sperm have met and the spark of life from the Creator has joined their union from that moment on, someone known by name to God: “This is what the Lord says – he who created you, … he who formed you … ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1.

From the ‘perspective’ of an unborn child, nothing is any different than if this were the best of times, but from the perspective of expecting parents the circling coronavirus compounded by  job and income loss can make this the worst of times. According to Kim Hagan of CareNet Pregnancy Centers of Southern Maryland, “Our calls from pregnant women considering an abortion have skyrocketed 150% since the pandemic began.” If that hurts to hear out of concern for all involved – unborn child and parents, how it must hurt the heart of God for whom all of life is his personal property. All this makes the Incarnation all the more remarkable: ”’The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” “… what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit … and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God with us.’” -  Luke 1:35. Matthew 1:20,23. And He is.

Reflective question: You once lived in a womb – so did God. How do you think this helped form who you are?

Reflective Scripture: Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image…”

Reflective hymn:

“We Praise You, O God” - Julia Cory (1882-1963)

We worship you, God of our fathers and mothers;

Through trial and tempest our guide you have been.

When perils o’ertake us, you will not forsake us,

And with your help, O Lord, our struggles we win.

Day 96: Pandemic’s Six Signposts

DAY 96

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 FOURTEEN: THURSDAY 18 JUNE 2020

Pandemic’s Six Signposts

“Much debate has ensued over the past couple of months as to God’s role (or lack thereof) in the current pandemic … it is highly unlikely that we as a people will gain absolute confirmation on this topic that we are seeking. … As the pandemic persists, it does appear, though, that general themes are emerging that suggest keys for all of us to finding meaning during this difficult time.” - From a recent article by the same name in a Christian newspaper

The whole world is on this journey through uncharted and unfamiliar territory. Having explicit signposts on any journey can make the difference between peace and panic. Here are the six signposts suggested by the Christian writer of the above article who assumes Christian faith.

1. “Nothing replaces direct human contact. Nothing.
2. “Some aspects of health are uncontrollable; but for those that are, we have a responsibility to take this seriously.
3. “The natural world demands our utmost respect and care. It is one of the greatest resources available, and we should regard it as such.
4. “Most of our lives were moving too fast, and we needed to slow down.
5. “If we continue to bicker, divide and disparage, it will only bury us further.
6. “Life is not an expectation but a gift. Nothing will ensure it, and the only thing more important than learning from it is embracing it.”

In the absence of a literate world, God’s ‘signposts’ for millennia were verbal until reduced to manuscripts centuries later, when God cried out to His people through the prophet Jeremiah: “Set up road posts; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return…” (31:21). It is not a matter of whether or not we have signposts in our lives, for we all do, but rather to what signposts are we looking for direction. Whatever signposts we choose, we will end up where they lead us.

Reflective question: Which of these six signposts speaks to you? Why? Spend some time in prayer regarding it.

Reflective Scripture: Jeremiah 31:21 – “Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take.”   

Reflective hymn:

“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” – William Williams (1717-1791)

Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through;

Strong Deliv’rer, strong Deliv’rer, be Thou still my strength and shield,

Be Thou still my strength and shield.

Day 95: Continue to Cheer for Every Day

DAY 95

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 FOURTEEN: WEDNESDAY 17 JUNE 2020

Continue to Cheer for Every Day

“Every day we do our best, but this virus takes our patients one after another. Then we step outside into the fading light and hear applause. The cheers ring out and the sirens blare. It is a celebration of the survivors. May we all continue to celebrate this survival, continue to cheer for every day we are alive.” - An Internal Medicine Resident, Brooklyn

He had just graduated from university with an enviable future ahead of him when, riding a motorcycle, he tried to beat a changing signal, ran a red light, was hit broadside and killed instantly. At his memorial worship service the church was packed. I struggled with what to say as an opening ‘call to worship,’ The first words out of my mouth were these: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24.

How can such an invitation be given in such a context? Is this Biblical invitation conditional? Do the contents of the particular day determine whether it is appropriate or not? If the focus is on the invitation to rejoice it is debatable. But the call to rejoice is predicated on the prior claim: that the day, whatever day, any day, every day, is one that has been made by the Lord, and that in itself is always cause for rejoicing. The first thing God created was day: “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day … And God saw everything that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:3-5,31. This is an ownership by virtue of creation, so there is no day, no matter how difficult or tragic, that He has abandoned. They are all His, and in this we can rejoice.  

In the midst of a day marked by famine the prophet Habakkuk affirmed, “Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  Habakkuk 3:17-19. So there it is – whether in the midst of a pandemic or a famine, there is still a commitment to rejoice in the day because of the Lord who made that given day or, as the internist put it, “to cheer for every day we are alive.”

Reflective question: Is there a day in your history you can’t thank Him for? Talk to Him about it.

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 50:15 – “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will rescue you, …”

Reflective hymn:

“Day by Day” – Translated from Swedish - Carolina Berg (1832-1903)

Every day the Lord Himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour.

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counselor and Pow’r.

The protection of His child and treasure is a charge that on Himself He laid.

“As your days, your strength shall be in measure,” this the pledge to me He made. 

Day 94: "Coronavirus, Where is Thy Sting?"

DAY 94

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 FOURTEEN: TUESDAY 16 JUNE 2020

"Coronavirus, Where is Thy Sting?"

“Why we must not be seized by fear … We have to accept the hard truth that people die. They die of many things, COVID-19 among them … People will also keep dying every day of heart disease and cancer, from strokes and in automobile accidents. Each of us is going to die one day, at a time and in a manner that is not of our own choosing … Pay attention, fellow believers: Christ has conquered death and summons us, by his grace, to become free of the fear of death through which the devil keeps us in bondage.” - An article by the same name in a Christian newspaper

Placing death from COVID-19, the coronavirus, in this larger context of death from whatever cause can help us to gain a much-needed measure of perspective as the entire population of the world lives under its pandemic shadow. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me …” runs the familiar confession in its classical language. Even in our increasingly secularizing culture, Psalm 23 remains the conveyor of comforting concepts even for the unbeliever, with its pull of promises of things unattainable anywhere else but in God.

And lest we view the reference to our being held captive by the devil through a fear of death as a bit too much for our perceived enlightened minds, consider this description of the ministry of Jesus through His Incarnation: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15. As you reflect on the deaths of others you’ve known, how do these experiences give you insight into death? Experiencing the deaths of others helps prepare us for our own.

Reflective question: Do you fear death? Talk to Jesus about it – He’s been there.

Reflective Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 – “’Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   

Reflective hymn:

“Christ Arose’ – Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

Death cannot keep his prey – Jesus, my Savior!

He tore the bars way – Jesus, my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes.

He arose a victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Day 93: Longing for The Game’s Healing Power

DAY 93

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of fait

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

WEEK FOURTEEN: MONDAY 15 JUNE 2020

Longing for The Game’s Healing Power

“Perhaps there is no greater example of the healing power of baseball than following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The first game played in New York was only 10 days after the tragedy … it was a somber occasion as fans and players alike were brought to tears after the singing of the national anthem … The melancholy lingered into the eighth inning until … a home run caused the fans to erupt in joyous celebration. It was if a single swing had lifted a collective weight, giving permission to New Yorkers, and perhaps the nation, to cheer again. Spectator sports have therapeutic benefit in times of both national and personal crisis.” - Recent newspaper article by the same title

Sitting in my office trying to stay focused on my work was proving impossible, as my mind and emotions kept drifting into the territory of personal family issues. Telling the office I was leaving for the day, I drove to Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis for an afternoon Cardinals baseball game. My free clergy pass, compliments of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, gained me entrance to the general admission section and I hiked up to an isolated top row. I love heights, and being there, the expanse of the stadium, the fans, the focusing on every play, soon found me in a different, better, more peaceful place. I can testify to the ‘therapeutic benefit,’ the ‘healing power’ of sports. It gave me back perspective. (And I miss baseball in St. Louis and Seattle.)   

Reflective question: What about you? Do sports figure in your pandemic lockdown, and if so, are you open to the Holy Spirit using sports in some way in your life?

Reflective Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:5 – “… if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”

Reflective hymn: In baseball there is a tradition of what they call a ‘walk up song’ played as a player walks up to the plate. Christian players sometimes choose songs like “Battle Song” © 2011, rap by Lecrae. You can listen to it on YouTube.    

            

Was engineered in my mother’s womb for God’s glory,

Plenty faith in the persecution inventory.

I’ve been spit in the face, still exhibiting grace

Kicked out many a place, just for sharing my faith …

My belt tight, shoes laced, plus a breastplate,

My war helmet on now got my head straight.

The battle’s on but the war is over when Jesus reigns,

And fo’ His name I withstand the pressure and take the pain.

And if they drop us, this promise, we’ll take it to the grave,

That tonight we may die, but to die is our gain!