Daffodils in the Snow

An early spring snow reminds us that winter has decided not to leave quite yet.  This week there was snow on the daffodils and the contrast was striking.  Winter and spring were colliding but the next day, when the snow had moved on, the daffodil was looking as chipper as ever. Winter can’t stop spring from coming.  Death cannot overcome life ultimately.  That is the promise of Easter: life after death.  And not just life that will eventually die in the fall, but life everlasting that goes on forever.  While we live here on earth we face death every day: death of relationships, death in the form of brokenness and sadness, sickness, and evil.   It is not going to last.  Life is going to win in the end.  We got the word from Jesus as he rose on Easter Sunday and it is a sure thing!

So spread life around wherever you see death.  Brush the snow off the daffodils, help people who need to some encouragement and sustenance.   We have exchanged our life for Christ so be “little Christs” out in the world bringing resurrection to places of despair and loss.  It is in our power to do something, even something small every day.  

“Violence Against Women Act” Passes

March is Women’s History month and I believe that the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act made history last Thursday when it passed in the House of Representatives after a considerable round of debates. According to the NY Times “this newly passed legislations creates and expands federal programs to assist local communities with law enforcement and aiding victims of domestic and sexual abuse. The bill also offers protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse as well as allowing American Indian women who are assaulted on reservations by non-Indians to take their case to tribal courts, which otherwise would not have jurisdiction over assailants who do not live on tribal land.”

More than 1,300 women’s and human rights groups signed a letter supporting this law. Among them was the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. While I was a pastor many times I was involved with helping women who were victims of domestic violence. One of my parishioners stabbed his wife to death in a domestic argument. She had been beaten by him a number of times before her murder. Many of our church families harbor terrible secrets of abuse in their homes and both men and women are victims.

According to the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence nearly 25% of women and 7.6% of men were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse or partner. Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by a partner annual in the US. In the year 2000 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner.

As we think about Women’s History this month, help more women have a violence-free, abundant life by teaching about domestic abuse, support programs and efforts to protect vulnerable people who find themselves in dangerous environments and pray that God might use you to help a person in need.

Black History Month

Mr. Kenyon Camper, a member of Ezion-Mt. Carmel UMC sends a Christmas card each year that celebrates the accomplishments of a famous African American.  This year features the picture of a statue of Clifford B. Brown, Sr. who was a jazz trumpeter.  I went on the internet and learned about his life on the Wikipedia website.  He was born in Wilmington, Delaware on October 20, 1930.  At the age of 10 he began playing the trumpet.  His first trumpet teacher was Boysie Lowery and he played in a jazz group that Lowery organized.  He graduated from Howard High School, attended Delaware State University and later switched to Maryland state College. He quickly became a professional trumpeter  and performed with many great bands of his day.  His trumpet playing had a strong sense of harmony and a warm and mellow tone.               

One of the things that struck me the most about his life was that he did not get involved with drugs or alcohol.  In an article about him in the Washington Post (June 26, 2006) writer Matt Schudel noted “Brown refused to use drugs and his quiet example had begun to change the reprobate image of musicians for whom booze and heroin were a part of the jazz life.”

He demonstrated character by refusing to get involved with chemical dependencies.  I am sure that not only the musicians around him were affected by his abstinence.  I imagine that many young people looked up to him as a role model as well. He was not swayed by the crowd but he lived by his principles.

The Apostle Paul reminds us “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2).  Clifford Brown did just that and his legacy of musical excellence and moral uprightness is an example for all.

Tragically he died at the age of 25 in a car crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  He was described as “a shooting star…he’s there, and he’s gone.”  He continues to live on in the hearts of many who heard him perform and in his recordings.  I celebrate Black History month as I remember the good life of Clifford Brown.

Organ and Tissue Donation

In December my cousin David, age 39, died suddenly of a very unexpected heart attack.  It has been a journey of grief for all of us in the family and we will long remember his life and celebrate the gift he was to us.  Recently I called his mother and found out that she received a letter from the hospital telling her about all of the recipients of David’s organs and tissue which he donated.  David had put it on his driver’s license that he was willing to be an organ donor and after his death he gave sight to two blind people and a number of people (27) received other organs and tissues.  David’s mother was elated to think how his life continued to live on through these anonymous recipients.  Two of them wrote “thank you” letters to her.  What a cause of rejoicing in the midst of sorrow!

Organ and tissue donation is vitally important for many people who are on waiting lists around the world.  In addition there are donations of blood, platelets and bone marrow that people can give to others as living donors.  People also are able to give one kidney to someone on a waiting list and still live on with one kidney while another will get a chance to live with the donation of their healthy kidney.   A donor does not even need to be a match for the person receiving the kidney as there are ways that multiple donors and recipients can be connected in order that more can be helped.

Recently at a district meeting I met a man who is on a kidney transplant list at Einstein Medical Center.  He is waiting for a kidney and he is praying every day for God to provide.  If anyone would be interested in assisting that person with a kidney donation I can help you be in touch with him.  In addition I urge everyone to consider putting “organ donor” on their government-issued ID or driver’s license and also consider taking the time to give blood and even bone marrow when the opportunities present themselves.  Everything we are: body, soul and spirit is a gift from God for us to be good stewards.  How can you give of yourself in new ways to the glory of God?  The possibilities are endless.  

Life is Sacred

I believe that life is sacred: all life, every life, from the beginning until the end.  Life is sacred because we all reflect the image of the holy, when I look at another, I am privileged to see the sacred image of God reflected in the face of one of God’s beloved children.  This is why gun violence, any gun violence breaks my heart.  There may be little we can do to stop it, but I support actions taken to slow it down. Since 1976 the United Methodist Church has affirmed its faith through vigorous efforts to curb gun violence.  Not much has changed in the past forty years except the fact that we are still marring the sacred image with bullets.

In the past our government has chosen to turn a blind eye to the causes of gun violence, because if there are not reliable statistics kept we can make no reliable changes to our laws.  Even though the government can do more, we as United Methodists have our part to play if we want to help to be part of the solution to this growing problem.  In the resolution that our church reaffirmed there are eleven actions your church can take to reduce violence affecting the lives of children and youth.  How many have you done?

1. Gather as a community to discuss ways by which the United Methodist Church should respond to this growing tragedy, and to determine what role the church should take to facilitate dialogue to address the issue of gun violence in our schools and among our children;
2. Educate the community on gun safety, violence prevention, adult responsibility around gun-violence, and the public health impact of gun violence;
3. Identify community-based, state and national organizations working on the issues of gun violence, and seek their assistance to design education and prevention workshops around issues of gun violence and its effects upon children and youth;
4. Develop advocacy groups within local congregations to advocate for eventual reduction of the availability of guns in society with a particular emphasis upon handguns, handgun ammunition, assault weapons, automatic weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits and guns that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices.  These groups can be linked to community-based, state and national organizations working on gun and violence issues;
5. Support federal legislation in the U.S. Congress to regulate the importation, manufacturing, sale and possession of guns and ammunition by the general public.  Such legislation should include provisions for the registration and licensing of gun purchasers and owners, appropriate background investigation and waiting periods prior to gun purchases, and regulation of subsequent sale;
6. Call upon all governments of the world in which there is a United Methodist presence to establish national bans on ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits, and weapons that cannot be detected by traditionally used metal-detection devices;
7. Call upon the print, broadcasting and electronic media, as well as the entertainment industry, to refrain from promoting gun usage to children;
8. Discourage the graphic depiction and glorification of violence by the entertainment industry, which greatly influences our society, and recommend that these issues be addressed through education and consciousness raising;
9. Call upon the federal and state governments to provide significant assistance to victims of gun violence and their families.
10. Recommend that our annual conference makes visible public witness to the sin of gun violence and to the hope of community healing; and
11. Reflecting the traditional role of the United Methodist Church has been one of safety and sanctuary, every United Methodist Church is officially declared a weapon-free zone.

I know that there is a divergent political understanding and that some disagree with these actions sought by the United Methodist Church.  However, I hope and pray that we can agree that church cannot remain silent and inactive.  For these sake of our children and our youth let us lead them in the ways that make for peace.

Grateful for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day that we remember the ministry and legacy of Dr. King I give thanks to God for his risk-taking passion for equality for all people.  The willingness to put oneself at risk for a greater good for all is what separates great people from good people.  Dr. King was great.  The suffering, persecutions and ultimate death he experienced were sacrifices that he willingly made for the cause of justice.  No great advancement in human society happens without this powerful witness.  If something is worth dying for it is vitally important.  The lives of all people have been challenged and enriched by the accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement.  A great sacrifice has made a great gain for all people for all times.   His work goes on as people of like minds work for equality and advancement.  

Where do you see people being denied their rights in this world?  In the spirit of Dr. King and in honor of Dr. King, be willing to risk your personal security and resources to make changes happen.  

Call to Prayer

Grace and peace to you from The Lord Jesus Christ.  I am writing to you after hearing the terrible news about yet another mass shooting in which lives of many young people were lost.  It is impossible to imagine the trauma that this act of violence has caused.  I call all of you to a time of prayer for the people affected by this tragedy and for this world of ours that often turns to violence as a response to anger and pain.  May we be instruments of peace.