jQuery Slider

You are here

The Good, Bad and Citizens Arrest: Reflections, Questions and Answers

The Good, Bad and Citizens Arrest: Reflections, Questions and Answers
'When anxiety reaches certain thresholds, reasonableness and honesty no longer defends against illusion'
"A Failure of Nerve" Edwin Friedman

By Ladson F. Mills III
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
April 17, 2020

This is the first time in memory that I have not been physically present at the Lord's table on Easter Day. As the day approached there was an undeniable tension that this powerful celebration would be lessened through isolation brought on by the Coronavirus.

Contributing to the disturbing sense of loss was my struggle with scholar and Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright's "Time" Magazine essay, "Christianity Offers no Answers to the Coronavirus. It's Not Supposed To."

Such assertions would be mystifying during the best of times. But Wright's claim seems even more disturbing during this time of extreme stress. It strikes me as an opportunity lost, and I could not help but speculate there must be a subtlety within his message that was somehow overlooked.

As secular idols become increasingly unmasked questions abound. I should think Christians most of all would see innumerable opportunities in the hopeful and redemptive witness of the Christian Gospel.

Admittedly Christianity struggles with negative stereotyping from the secular world, but this is not new. Forty years ago, Walker Percy's "The Second Coming" observed that Christians are generally regarded as lukewarm nominalist or if fervent, generally offensive.

These observations seem highly ironic coming from a culture where poll driven risk aversion is regularly substituted for leadership. Honest examination of the Gospel reveals the fallacy of such presuppositions. It is Christianity that has always promoted an honest world view as well as offering hope.

By now it should have become self-evident that dependency on technology can take us only so far. A small microbe is capable of crippling an entire planet socially and economically. Powerful nations are limited in mitigating the impact. Temporary relief may be provided but eventually the cure becomes worse than the disease.

The medical community strives to alleviate suffering and find a cure, but this too has limitations. A research laboratory model designed to manage through isolation and aggressive control is unsustainable. A society encumbered with suffocating regulations that stifles human interaction will find it hard to survive much less thrive.

Prior to the Coronavirus outbreak a regularly touted healthy lifestyle consisted of a balanced diet, exercise, and socialization. Now we are warned this very same behavior contributes to spreading of the disease.

We are cautioned that normal social interaction may cause death to ourselves, those we love, or innocent bystanders. An impulsive or automatic embrace between family or friends can bring a stinging rebuke. A simple walk in park becomes an exercise in measured distances and calculated restraint. In one state visiting family leads to possible arrest.

Christians are not immune to these concerns, but we are equipped to engage them. In Matthew 6: 19-20 Jesus warns of consequences that come from an over reliance on worldly institutions. Our treasures do not belong here on earth where they can be destroyed or taken away.

The world would have us believe that change comes from experience. If that were true, the world in which we live would be a much wiser place.

Many years ago, a recovering alcoholic told me that if experience changed things, he would have abandoned alcohol after his first hangover. It took many years of hangovers and the tough love of a 12 Step program for him to eventually change. His transformation resulted not from his experience but from reflecting on the experience.

Therefore, it strikes me as an opening wasted that Bishop Wright could find no answers from Christianity nor see any reason for there to be so. In life there are times for reflection and times for action. The current crisis affords the perfect opportunity for reflection. And answers to our questions will come.

Like many I approached Easter this year with concern that it would somehow be lessened by the current Coronavirus. Rarely have I been so happy to have been wrong.

As I sat early Easter morning listening to the "Surrexit Christus" from Taize, I looked east in anticipation of the emerging sunrise. It was there before my very eyes I saw what can only described as an incarnation of the Easter Hymn, "He is Risen": 'yonder glorious morning ray, breaking or the purple east, symbol of our feast.'

I then remembered Willa Cather's observation that what we regard as miracles are simply the scales falling from our eyes and beholding reality as God himself sees it.

Ladson F. Mills III is priest with over thirty years pastoral experience. He is retired and lives with his wife in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the author of "Abandoned Shipmate: The Destruction of Coast Guard Captain Ernie Blanchard". He is a regular contributor to "Virtueonline" and "The Covert Letter.".

Subscribe
Get a bi-weekly summary of Anglican news from around the world.
comments powered by Disqus
Trinity School for Ministry
Go To Top