Much has been made lately about a little congregation - quite a good, wonderful sized one, actually - and its leadership, of late, in the midst of pandemic, frustration, loneliness, anxiousness, and a desire for the Comforter and comaraderie of believers which the Church of God says it is, understands, and with whom it wants to communicate.
Being "in this world, but not of it", the community of believers within the larger community has sought, and still seeks, with earnestness and intent, to remind the greater world of the strength, mission, and purpose of the Christian mind. But, as Wordsworth reminds us, though we listen to the "still small voice" that many believe is the holiness of existence, which is of God, and therefore runs through all living things, it is important not to lose sight of the struggle for survival in which we are - like it or not - thrown together. This is not a war anyone chose, or wants to be involved in ending....and yet, we are in the midst of it. The combatants are human beings, and a virus. The virus, whether consciously recognizing that it wants to win or not, is seeking ways in which it will triumph, and survive, in a very real, physical sense, based on methodical circumvention of all protections - including misinterpreted spiritual assurance. With that victory, will come our demise. We do not, at this point, fully understand either its source, nor its capability. With this doubt, I invite the conjecture that if it only operates within the guise of the physical world, then its existence is simply realized appetite and a search for dominance and survival in order to achieve just that. The Christian mind will immediately realize the innate imbalance in this type of will, and its impetus. Others, perhaps, will not. The virus will actually use us, to a certain extent, as host, to achieve this end. We cannot invite it in, to do so. We must remember our lives have value beyond the surface; that our concern and care, beyond the moment, beyond politics, beyond our own understanding and perception, even, touches and connects with other human beings in the most chaotic of moments, and in the darkest times, and reminds them that despite all manner of failure, misperception, frustration and cruelty, a stayed hand, and a moment of fierce and perhaps unexpected, kindness, still changes the World. Compassion is a ripple that moves the composition and Desire of Human Beings, however errant, both Water and Carbon. One need not even acknowledge that this small housing can contain an undanted Spirit that bolsters men and comforts the lost, unapologetically, and that quietly teases us back to our best selves, when needed.
We must not be friendly, however, to this virus, nor underestimate its innate lack of respect for ALL things in an evolved existence.... including other beings. It is hoping we follow its example, rather than our normal impulses towards proximity, trust, and blindly ignoring the physical world housing our spirits: our bodies, because its premise and r'aison d'etre is unmitigated and unrestrained APPETITE. It view Death as Delectable. Currently, that is exactly what the parishioners and its leader are doing, too, sadly: forgetting that they do not live within a nucleus which does not affect, nor is affected by, anything or anyone else. Anger has replaced clarity. Outrage has replaced a sense of Clear and Present Danger.
I am of the mind that this will change, in an instant, with the enlightenment and the quieted mind that comes from a simple piece of cloth: like Moses, it can change the world - or spread smallpox and kill a nation. Breath, protected.
We must exhibit the learning that is not of ego, but is shrewd to its ways. And that all of us - even, and perhaps ESPECIALLY - an 85-year old woman with all of her faculties, quite capable of making both her own financial decisions, and the way in which she will honour God by saving her own life, suddenly, and with a slight jolt, shows others that theirs are still of value, too. The exasperated police officer, boxed in and fuming, thought so, too, and honoured her independence with a ticket. It should have been to a concert. Alas, it was not one he wanted to punch, either.
Let us hope this one does not lead, inexorably and gradually, as does all desensitization, to a gas chamber of insensitivity, and oblivion.
