Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
As I write this, it is Tuesday, the day after the Memorial Day holiday. And I am simply dumbfounded by the disregard for public health that so many people across this nation displayed yesterday. Many beaches, lakes, pools, and bars were jammed with people elbow to elbow with at most perhaps a few people bothering to wear a mask to protect their loved one, friend, acquaintance, or stranger. And while all those people were partying it up, another (at least) 2,000 Americans died from the disease.
When one woman on the beach was asked by a reporter if she was concerned about the spread of disease, she jovially replied that she was not. When the reporter followed up by asking why she wasn’t, she said that God would take care of her.
What does that even mean? God is going to make sure that virus droplets steer clear of her face? And what about the 100,000 people in the US or the nearly 350,000 worldwide who have died from the disease? Did God just bail on them?
What is so striking in all this is how social distancing and wearing a mask has become politicized in the US. Two small gestures—keep your distance and wear a mask when you go out—is for the vast majority of people a mere inconvenience, at most. But these two painless gestures are now being coded as a something of a political statement. Once we were divided as red states and blue states. Now we are divided according to whether we social distance and/or wear a mask?
In today’s reading from John we get this rare glimpse into Jesus’ prayer life. His hour is coming. The authorities are on the way, and he knows it. His suffering and death are immanent. And he prays.
So, what does Jesus choose to pray for as his hour approaches? Perhaps a lighter sentence? A bit less torture? No. He prays for us. He prays that all those who believe in him at the time and all those who will come to believe in him in the future (that means us) will be one. One in him and one in God as Jesus and God are one. And one in love as God is love and Jesus is love. As he anticipates his suffering and death for us (while we are still sinners), Jesus prays that we would be one in love for one another.
May we be an answer to Jesus’ prayer. May we love one another, even if it’s a tad bit inconvenient in these solemn times.
Amen.
- Sue Trollinger