by DanWolgemuth on April 3, 2020
The 17th chapter
of the book of Luke records this amazing story of compassion, as Jesus not only
ventures into close proximity with a collection of unclean lepers, but then He
extends His miraculous healing power to them.
Ten lepers who stood at a distance… a social distance with a stamp of shame.
In that moment, Jesus healed. His words chased away the humiliation. His words
bridged the gap to hope.
“Then one of them…” Just one. Words of gratitude echoing back from the halls of
healing. One of them.
Then the question. The riveting and rhetorical question. The nine?
Nine with a short memory.
How could they forget? Where was the gratitude?
We’re all living through an unthinkable reality. A reality that we desperately
want to get through. And so the question that keeps running through my mind is…
“When we get to the other side. When COVID-19 is not the only story in the
news. When the death toll numbers aren’t front and center… will we forget the
lessons God taught us? Will our ears be retuned to the frequency of the
culture? Will my quieter and more reflective patterns once again succumb to
boarding passes and hotel stays?
Like the other nine… will I simply move on. Will I take the power of God for
granted, yet again. Will Jesus look at me and say, “Where are the nine?”
So, perhaps as a hedge against indifferent ingratitude, start a list. Your Luke
17 list. Your COVID-19 list. A list of what you never want to go back to. A
list of what you have savored and learned in the midst of this current reality.
Everything has changed. Everything. Let’s not forget what God is teaching us.
Now.
Gratitude germinates in the fertile ground of uncertainty, and it blooms in a
return trip to the feet of Jesus.
Nine with a short memory. Never forget.
Make a list to remind you, to inspire you, to escort you back to Jesus.
by DanWolgemuth on March 27, 2020
Two trillion dollars to
propel us as rapidly through this crisis as possible. Rocket fuel to get us to
the other side. Questions loom… is it enough? Will it impact the places where
it is needed most?
Questions without answers. But the rationale is clear. Get us through this.
Fast. Numb the pain. Flatten the curve. Declare that we’ve seen the bottom of
the market.
Quarantine is something to get through. Something to weather. Something to push
past.
A crisis to be managed? An issue to be sorted out? A catastrophe to be
minimized or contained?
Yes, on many appropriate levels. Medical teams unplug their clocks and press
in. Local retailers shutter their doors and hang on. Hourly workers at local
grocery stores clock in and hope for the best… and for each, a prayer and a
heartfelt expression of gratitude.
Yet, if we simply press through, if we simply focus on getting to the “other
side”, we miss the unrelenting power of the moment.
This is a plague of Biblical proportion. Perhaps it’s God, with His cosmic
thumb on “Pause”, maybe even, “Stop”!
If we simply press through, we miss how fragile we are. We miss how misguided
and misplaced our self-confidence has been. We miss the beauty of isolation. We
overlook the tenderness of those who we used to ignore or look beyond. We miss
God…
A stimulus as a solution to propel past the pain?
From the pen of the Holy Spirit (through the paraphrase of the Living Bible, a
passage I memorized in this way as a kid, and now find from power and comfort
in):
Dear brothers, is your life
full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is
rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try
to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom,
then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
Don’t try to squirm out…
Patience in full bloom…
Ready for anything! Strong! Complete!
What if quarantine meant flourishing? What if isolation meant thriving?
Redeeming the pandemic.
Repurposing the pain.
Stimulus in the problem, not just through it.
