The first thing to say about our battle against COVID-19 is that it represents a feat of human genius and diligence. Our dash from discovering a deadly virus to administering the first batch of vaccines in less than a year is a testament to a lot of people doing a lot of hard work. Medical researchers, public health officials, doctors, nurses, and first responders have labored heroically, day in and day out.
The second thing to say about our battle against COVID-19 is that it represents an act of God. Vaccines, ventilators, hand washing, face masks, and healing are astounding gifts of grace amid suffering and illness.
Most of us intentionally avoid thinking about death. Brandeis University anthropology professor Anita Hannig writes that most Americans label talk of death as “morbid” and “try to stave it off along with death itself as long as they can.”
Deep down we know we will die, but it isn’t the kind of thing we say out loud at dinner parties.
So most years, the priest’s task on Ash Wednesday feels slightly transgressive and hardcore. We offer our yearly reminder: Do not avoid uncomfortable truths. We are mortal. No amount of wealth, busyness, or positive thinking can change that. We are dust and to dust we shall return.
Heather L. Hart
Jesus Saves: More Than Words
The United States is not a Christian nation. It is a nation with Christians. Expressing the Christian faith has been problematic in our history. This history includes both the affirmation and abolition of slavery. It includes the freedom of conscience and manifest destiny. It includes peaceful marches and non-disclosure agreements. And now, as of January 6, 2021, it includes signs at the political rally leading to the riot storming the Capitol building that read “Jesus Saves.”[1]
The truth that “Jesus Saves” is foundational to all Christians. Without Jesus we have no hope. As Christians, we recognize that the mess of the world is not something we can undo ourselves; only God can do that. Only Jesus, the divine-human mediator sent by God and guided by the Spirit, undoes our mess.
(Image by Brett Davis / CC)
The Founding Myth and Christian Nationalism Intersect
By Zoe Sullivan
“I contend that America is a religion…Our religious symbols are guns and dollar bills. We hold those symbols to be sacred,” the Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simmons told me on inauguration day. We were discussing the role religion played in the January 6th insurrection. Jordan-Simmons runs Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), which focuses on overcoming social injustice through interfaith efforts that embrace active non-violence.
“One does not have to be a Christian to be a white supremacist,” she went on. “And I would dare say that those who were among that crowd on January 6th had a lot in common. And though you saw the flag, the Christian flag, and you saw the cross, there was a lot more for people to bond over. They’d have had everything to do with what it meant to be American and what it meant to be white.”
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