The end of days. End times. Apocalypse. Doomsday. Even the old Norse term, Ragnarok. Whatever we call it, the events of the past nine months have unleashed a constant undercurrent of anxiety across the church and around the world.
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Chadwick Boseman Oscars
Chadwick Boseman gives the "Wakanda Forever" salute as he attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Events from the last week of August, which need not be repeated in detail, brought our collective anxiety to the surface again. After an agonized week of shootings in Kenosha, Wis., and Portland, Ore., overlaid with two hurricanes hitting the U.S. Gulf coast, came shocking news that cancer had claimed the life of Chadwick Boseman, the actor who became a worldwide hero through his portrayal of the comic book superhero Black Panther. Social media bewailed Mr. Boseman’s death, not only because he was a brilliant actor whose portrayals of real and fictional Black heroes inspired children and adults of all races, but also because he was a human being of dignity, integrity, and compassion. The qualities of his character shone through his art, making his untimely passing even more painful in a time when it seems that public figures of true integrity are in short supply.
Awash in an ocean of pain and loss, United Methodists have turned to prayer to make up for the lack of in-person community caused by coronavirus restrictions. Thus far United Methodist Men have held five national days of prayer, each sponsored by different U.S. jurisdictions. Discipleship Ministries sends out daily prayers for change focused on eradicating racism. Individual congregations hold worship services and frequent, even daily prayer sessions over the Internet. Social media bursts with prayer requests of all sorts, from personal illnesses and tragedies to global reactions such as the outpouring of grief over Mr. Boseman’s death.
We are a nation, nay, an entire planet, overcome with grief, pain, and fear. Though we may not recognize it fully, now is the time for which followers of Jesus Christ have been preparing for generations. The world needs Jesus’ disciples to respond to events around us with clear, calm courage. Wounded as we are, we must take up the crosses of our own pain and loss and carry them into the public square with us. The world needs to see that even in our vulnerability, we resolve to resist evil in whatever forms it presents itself, as we United Methodists promise in our baptismal vows.
The task before us looms as great as any of the historic events that shaped our parents and grandparents. We must contend on many fronts.
- We face an invisible invader in the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, an invader against which we must take precautions that keep us separated from our sources of strength in human community.
- We face the revelations of 400 years of racism, a sin so ingrained in our society that it seems impossible to remove.
- As Americans, we face a political campaign that threatens the very bedrock of our democratic experiment, the ideal that our government should be of, by, and for the people.
The gravity of our situation tempts us to despair. The forces of evil seem so powerful as to be unassailable, but this perception is a lie. It’s a pernicious lie, one that breeds ever more physical, emotional and spiritual violence, as polarized groups seek to silence their ideological foes in both the church and society in order to gain and keep power.
Yet we aren’t powerless, for we possess the greatest power the world has ever seen: the ability to stand up to evil and injustice in non-violent love. We can express our love in many ways: kindness in everyday encounters; excess generosity of spirit when we are confronted; even placing ourselves, physically if need be, between the vulnerable and their oppressors. We will not strike any blows, but we must be prepared to receive them and not respond in kind, as Jesus teaches in Matthew 6.
Where do we find the fortitude to act as Jesus’ disciples in these ways? Through prayer, through community despite distance, and with more prayer.
Since shortly after the coronavirus pandemic was declared, United Methodists everywhere have set up prayer groups online via Zoom, FaceTime, and other social media. For example, St. Stephen UMC, the sponsor of United Methodist Insight, holds morning and evening prayer on its Facebook page every day. My husband John and I now structure our days around these prayer times. Other churches have set up similar sessions that have formed a great river of prayer counteracting the undercurrent of fear that besets us. These contacts will sustain our immediate future and beyond. If we give into the anxieties that haunt us, the forces of evil will win. We cannot, we must not, allow that to happen.
Yes, we’re worn down emotionally. We’ve lost so much in these past months, including the shining example of Chadwick Boseman, who was a baptized Christian. Nonetheless, along with many others, I console and fortify myself for the coming days with his final speech as the fictional King T’Challa of Wakanda, AKA, Black Panther:
“In times of crisis, the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.”
It doesn’t take acute hearing to detect in T’Challa’s wisdom the words of Jesus: You shall love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.