7 minute read
Faith
Redemption helps us solve life’s many dilemmas
BY RABBI IRWIN WIENER
Guest Writer
Life is filled with many dilemmas. Our lives have been turned upside down by a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. We have witnessed the loss of lives and the upheaval of families as their loved ones disappear in the devastation of this nightmare.
The numbers of those who succumbed to this disease are displayed by the minute and the numbers climb and we sit back wondering when it will end.
Then a miracle occurs. A vaccination, several vaccinations have been discovered that will alleviate the pain and bring some semblance of balance back to our lives. Things may never be the same, but we are certainly able to see a light that brings hope and salvation.
However, we are now faced with the prospect of seeing those capable of receiving this miracle drug refuse it for various reasons. Among the excuses offered relate to fear and misinformation.
There have been side-affects that have caused some to require additional assistance. The numbers although small are enough to cause angst resulting in a delay in the herd-immunity needed to eradicate this scourge.
We have heard all the excuses and we have learned a great deal about scare tactics designed to make the fear even more dreadful. Perhaps we have learned nothing from the past.
When we needed a cure for polio or smallpox, or many of the diseases that existed in past generations, we extended ourselves and followed the guidelines offered so that these various causes of death and destruction were eliminated to enhance our ability to continue with life.
There is so much more that can be said but perhaps we have heard it all and still we resist the opportunity to end this blight on our future.
Time surely will determine whether we have the will to understand that our obligation is to survive so that tomorrow will bring new adventures in our desire to find fulfillment.
Then there is the devastation of life and property that has occurred in Florida. We have yet to understand how a building that has stood for forty years suddenly disintegrates before our very eyes. We are at a loss to understand one minute of peace and calm and then another that includes loss of life unimagined, leaving us to wonder about tomorrow and the day after, and the day after that.
As one who has been trained to teach compassion and understanding, to offer consolation and hope, I am at a loss to understand the tragedies that seem to have no rhyme or reason.
We are trained to interpret so that Scripture has significance in our lives. We quote passages of sacred texts to help people make sense of their lives. We attempt to teach, to guide, to counsel, to encourage, to assist in reaching God in whatever way possible.
And yet, in the final analysis there are times, such as we are witnessing today, as well as for the last year and a half, that sometimes there are no words, no suggestions, no gleanings through Scripture, that will suffice to make sense of things that make no sense.
The questions are endless. The answers too few. Faith seems to be shattered. Hope seems to fade.
Perhaps the answers may be extraordinarily easy. We are concerned about survival, and survival depends on our willingness to confront the issues facing us. Determination and perseverance are needed to ensure that our lives will have meaning.
History is replete with episodes of annihilation because of hate, bigotry, and disease. History has also taught us that when faced with difficulties we do not hide but rather face them head on.
Here we are at similar crossroads. We know that there are remedies to our difficulties. We know that we are responsible to ourselves and others to do what is necessary to survive.
We know that there is a cure for our ailments and a reasonable approach to safeguard our lives so that we can face the future cheerfully.
The Bible teaches us in many ways the purpose and need for redemption. Through it all there is one defining offering – redemption means deliverance. What we need and what we should strive for is the deliverance from the destructive influences that surround us.
Those who refuse to accept the help offered to eradicate COVID-19 are rejecting redemption. Those who refuse to accept things that happen and look for new meaning in their lives even through terrible experiences are rejecting redemption.
We need to mourn, we need to express sorrow, but we also need to offer comfort and solace so that life can continue understanding the experiences and using those experience to move forward and LIVE.
Rabbi Irwin Wiener is spiritual leader of the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation.
I wish I got this advice when I was young
BY PASTOR MARVIN ARNPRIESTER
Contributor
A friend shared with me a statement by author Kurt Vonnegut which speaks to me. I wish I had been given this advice when I was young. I am going to share it with my grandchildren.
Kurt Vonnegut: “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archaeological dig. I was talking to one of the archaeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of ‘getting to know you’ questions you ask young people: ‘Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject?’ And I told him, ‘no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, and I used to take art classes.’
“And he went ‘WOW. That’s amazing!’ And I said, ‘Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.’
He said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before:
“I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teach you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
That honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them.
I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “win” at them.
Rev. Marvin Arnpriester is senior pastor at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church.
Sun Lakes United Methodist slates programs
BY GEORGE SMOOT AND DENNY STEEL
Guest Writers
Sun Lakes United Methodist Church will offer several interesting and informative fall classes and as well as return Tuesday Nights Together next month.
Classes will be held in the Education Building at 9248 E. Riggs Road. To register: 480-895-8766. All classes begin at 10 a.m.
Bible Jeopardy Mondays beginning Oct. 11. Explore a wide variety of questions about the Bible in a fun, non-embarrassing way. (Six weeks; bring your Bible)
Alpha Tuesdays beginning Oct. 5. Seven-week introduction to Christianity originally designed for non-believers, but is also an excellent review for lifelong Christians.
What is the Bible? Wednesdays beginning Oct. 13. The class will be a broad overview of the Bible, its books, organization, approach to reading, and archaeological support. (Six weeks with study book)
Study of Philippians Thursdays beginning Oct. 14. Rev. Marvin Arnpriester leads a six-week study of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, which was founded in turbulent times. (Six weeks; bring your Bible)
Meanwhile, Tuesday Nights Together will resume at 5 p.m. Oct. 5.
Topics vary from light and entertaining, to more serious and informing. Everyone is welcome, admission is free, and reservations are not required.
Oct. 5: Listen to an evening of beautiful music in the sanctuary. Led by choir director Mary Sievert, the evening promises to be entertaining and inspirational.
Oct. 12: The development of the hydrogen bomb will be discussed by Dick Vogel, a former staff scientist at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He shares how a poor kid from Chicago with a learning disability became part of the hydrogen bomb project.
Oct. 19: Learn the strategies and insights to improving memory at any age. Bev Tarpley will discuss several authors who know how to keep people “brain-healthy.”
Oct. 26: Paul and Claire Smith will discuss how they quit their jobs, sold their “stuff,” had a boat built, moved aboard it, and became full-time cruisers on the Atlantic Ocean – even though they had never sailed before.
Chandler United Methodist Church
Making and Deploying Disciples for over 100 Years. Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.
