Russellings of the Spirit

Here in the U.S., we sing proudly about being citizens of, “The land of the free and the home of the brave.”

And yet most of the time we define freedom as “my right to do whatever I damned well please, whether you like it or not. I mean, if I want to own an arsenal of high-powered weapons or a cage with 45 boa constrictors, you can’t stop me. This is AMERICA, dammit!”

COVID-19 might be changing all that.

We suddenly find ourselves in a situation that demands we allow our actions to be guided by a bizarre concept known as The Greater Good.

Yes, I would love to gather with my fellow Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church members and celebrate Easter Sunday this week.

Yes, I CRAVE the smell of hot dogs, beer, peanuts, and the newly mown grass of the baseball stadium where Joan and I could join thousands of others to revel in America’s Pastime.

No, I don’t like putting on a cloth mask and rubber gloves to make a simple trip to the supermarket. Besides making my ears stick out in a very unflattering way, it chafes and stifles and scratches.

And yet… this moment requires that I put aside MY preferences for the greater good of those around me.

This moment requires that we ALL do the same in a simple act known as SACRIFICE.

Parents long ago learned the meaning of this word. We realized early on – maybe Day Two or Three – that our lives were no longer our own… that every ounce of our energy was now devoted to that fragile new life we’d been entrusted with.

I will admit it; at times I have resented the idea of sacrifice. “It’s not fair…” I have whined, “… that I can’t do what I want to do.” Being the essentially self-centered man I am, it feels unnatural to defer the gratification of ANY of my urges or hungers.

And yet, it seems that every time I have put on my big boy pants, shoved ME aside, and elevated THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, something true and resonant has stirred within. The self-sacrificial act has seemed somehow right and essential… almost as if this is the proper, ordained order of things.

And so today, as we stand smack-dab in the middle of Holy Week (at least on the Christian calendar), it is good to be reminded we are approaching the celebration of history’s ultimate act of self-sacrifice. The faithful will gather in our on-line communities and remember that there was never a purer expression of love than the one we saw demonstrated on that first Good Friday. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16, NRSV).

And then, when we fire up our laptops or iPhones on Sunday morning, we will again be reminded of the truth that LOVE ALWAYS WINS in the epic battle of love vs. power.

I wonder… would it be too much to hope that when next Monday morning rolls around, we all retain that lesson and willingly and even JOYFULLY put the greater good of the world ahead of our personal priorities?

If that happened, that would sure make this AN EASTER TO REMEMBER, wouldn’t it?

Abundant blessings;