We Can Do This Hard Thing
Beth Henricks
Scripture – Exodus 4:1-17
Quotations from former President Barack Obama and Nadia Bolz Weber
I’ve been reflecting all week about this message for our graduation Sunday, a graduation like no other in our time. My heart has been heavy that our seniors do not get to celebrate with parties, gatherings with friends, senior breakfasts, award banquets, prom, senior skip day, commencement face to face – all of the rites and rituals that most of us experienced in our youth.
This is a loss that is deep but will eventually be logged in the memory books for our young people. As I talk to older folks, many don’t remember their graduation clearly or say it was a ritual with a small amount of meaning. The joy was in the accomplishment and we celebrate the accomplishments of all of our seniors today.
What I believe is even more difficult is thinking about our future. All of our futures. I hear pundits on TV talk about pandemic fatigue. We knew that we had to stay at home and completely change our lifestyle to slow this virus down for a time, but now we are faced with uncertainty about school.
How will our young people experience their first year of college? How will all of our children receive their education this fall? How will our beloved teachers be able to teach in this environment? How difficult will it be for college graduates to get a job in their field of education? Can folks with compromised immune systems go to stores and restaurants?
How and when can we safely open our Meeting house? There are so many questions and few answers right now. We are living in uncertain times with a desperate need for things to go back to normal. And yet I am not certain that things will ever be completely back to normal.
We are living in some shaky times and the longer this goes on the more fear and anxiety we feel. Many of our plans and goals have been altered, postponed or dashed because of this pandemic. I felt this heaviness several weeks ago as I contemplated ministry in this new environment.
It’s hard to think about how our First Friends social events, our gatherings, our fellowship over food will change. I think every single one of us has had these moments of sadness and disappointment and fatigue in trying to figure out our path in this situation.
I have been thinking a lot about the history of mankind and how many times we have experienced a crisis, a situation that seems beyond hope, beyond a path forward, beyond anything we could have anticipated or thought about. While it does feel like this situation we are in with the pandemic is unique, we know there have been plagues, wars, devastating situations that we could never have imagined in our human history. While this feels unique to us, our forebears have experienced devastation and despair. The book of Lamentations in the Old Testament is full of this lament and at some of my darkest hours I find comfort and solace in reading this poetry of raw emotions.
And then I started considering Moses and some of the other great characters in the Bible. The scripture that Bob read today has Moses arguing with God about what God is calling Moses to live through and demanding Moses step into a role to lead the Israelites out of its bondage to Egypt. Moses knows the difficulties he will face, and he really doesn’t want to have to take this on. He asks God to choose someone else, that he just doesn’t have the wherewithal to step into this. Moses tells God there are others more qualified, more polished, more prepared folks to do this work. God is having none of these excuses because he knows Moses is the one. However, God does understand Moses strengths and weakness and suggests Moses brother Aaron as a person to assist Moses.
What I appreciate about this story is that God doesn’t have a problem with Moses shaking his fist at God and saying I don’t want to do this. It’s too hard. And that an uncertain and fearful future does not have to be faced alone. That God brings others into our lives to support and assist with some of the hard work we are doing. Parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, strangers. And that God will never leave us or abandon us. God will be right beside us through these difficult times.
There are so many stories in our history of folks that have had to step into situations that were difficult, or the path forward was uncertain, or the individual had to work uphill to positively affect change in a situation that looked bleak. I was reminded of such a person this week as I read The Writer’s Almanac this past Thursday.
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross on May 21st, 1881. Clara was a shy young girl and had a stutter (just as described of Moses). She started teaching at 18 and found her voice as a teacher. She went to work in the United States Patent Office in Washington DC in 1854 and advanced and made sure that her salary was equal with the men in her office (unheard of at the time). By 1861 the civil war was exploding, and Clara assisted wounded soldiers back to their families and communities. As the war progressed, she realized the Union Army had not provided adequate support for wounded soldiers and she often rode in ambulances and provided supplies and comfort to these frontline men that had been injured in battle.
After the war she traveled internationally and learned of the International Red Cross and convinced our government that an American Red Cross should be established. A woman in that time period that had little status with limited rights established an organization that is one of the most respected organizations in our country coming to the aid of so many through all kinds of different challenges even today. How did she do this?
How did David face Goliath as a young shepherd boy with a slingshot? How did Daniel face the lions in the den that were prepared to kill him? How did John the Baptist face the community with a radical message of love? How did Saul who persecuted Christians with a vengeance become Paul – the most profound apostle in establishing the early Church? The situations and circumstances were beyond anything these beloved characters in our Bible could have imagined. Just like today.
I was inspired to hear our former President Barack Obama share a message to all of our graduating seniors last weekend. This excerpt sounds a lot like our Quaker testimonies that guide our life.
He said, “I hope you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.
You won’t get it right every time, you’ll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that’s inside yourself, even when it’s hard, even when its inconvenient, people will notice. They’ll gravitate towards you. And you’ll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
And finally, build a community. No one does big things by themselves. Right now, when people are scared, it’s easy to be cynical and say let me just look out for myself, or my family, or people who look or think or pray like me.
But if we’re going to get through these difficult times; if we’re going to create a world where everybody has the opportunity to find a job and afford college; if we’re going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we’re going to have to do it together. So be alive to one another’s struggles. Stand up for one another’s rights.”
This is a time friends that we need to help set our world on a different path. We have to come together even through our different lenses, different views, politics, experiences, rural and urban settings. It is through God’s love for all and God’s presence within us that gives us the foundation for a hope that is full and yet cognizant of the reality we live in today.
I have become a big fan of Nadia Bolz Weber, the Lutheran pastor that has written a number of books and has quite a following. She wrote a recent blog post that grabbed me about how we survive these times.
She read a book by Navy Admiral James Stockdale who survived 8 years as a POW in North Vietnamese prison camp. When he was asked who of his fellow prisoners struggled to make it out alive, he replied,
“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart….”
So, the “Stockdale Paradox” is the ability to hold two opposing but equally true things at once: You must have faith that you will prevail in the end. And at the same time, you must confront the brutal facts of your current reality.
When I stop and check in with myself, I must say - I believe we will prevail. I have faith in the power of human love and creativity and resilience and kindness and humor. And I believe God to be the source of our love and creativity and resilience and kindness and humor, which means there is an eternal supply on which to draw when we just don't have what it takes. So, here’s the thing - we can turn resolutely to these brutal facts and even so, we will prevail. There is a global pandemic, and we will prevail. There will be death, and we will prevail. There are long hoped-for events in the future that will not happen, and we will prevail. There will be lost things and people and income and dreams and still, we will prevail. And all we really have is this day. And it is enough. “
Friends, as we face our reality and continue to have hope, we can hold on to this idea that we will prevail. We will be able to do these hard things. And our God will never leave us or abandon us. Our God is with us always. And will give us strength to do these hard things.
As we enter our time of unprogrammed worship please consider the following queries:
How am I facing my reality and yet living with the hope of the future?
What hard thing is God calling me to do?
How can I face my fears of uncertainty?