I love this prayer from the director of a Christian organization committed to trying to help the Milennium Development Goals achieved by the year 2015...his words speak to my own fears and thoughts as I can so easily forget the economic impact felt so very personally by others...even as I begin to get ready to head back to Zambia again this summer I discovered that the Zambian currency had lost almost half of its value in comparison to the US dollar...it will cost us less to visit our friends there this summer because they are being devastated by the economic impact of our global recession...and I go to my knees asking God to live every day with their needs in mind...
Lord, hear our prayer:
Today we face the season of our redemption during a time of global crisis.
During this season teach us to understand the love that drove you to give up everything to save us all.
Give us the strength that only comes in weakness;
The renewal that only comes through death and resurrection.
Today many of us feel weakened, burdened, and overwhelmed by the challenges and uncertainties that lie ahead.
We ask that your strength be made perfect in our time of weakness.
While each of us is hurt by hard times, it is the people around the world living on less than $1/day, facing hunger, thirst, and illness, who bear the greatest burden of this crisis.
Just as your weakest hour proved to be the most generous, most life-giving moment in history,
We pray for that out of our own weakness comes a generosity of justice, mercy, and humility for those who bear burdens greater than our own.
Help us to remember that you are the God who, out of nothing, made everything.
The God who still has the power today to remake us.
So let us be remade, not overcome, by our global crisis;
Let us be purified, and not laid low, by injustice, greed, and inequality.
Let us commit ourselves to:
Act justly,
Love mercy,
And walk humbly with you, and with all those
who suffer or want.
This is our moment to change the world.
Because it is at our moment of crisis where your strength and your light, revealed to the world by our faith, become a force that is stronger than fear or death.
Today, move us to become the answer to our prayers.
Give us the strength to respond, in our own time of need, to the needs of those who have the least in our world.
Lead us to be your agents of hope and renewal during this season of redemption.
For it is only in You that we have
the power to change things;
It is only because of You that we have
the promise of renewal;
And yet is through us that You seek to do all these things.
Amen.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Surprised by Hope
It is often pointed out that some of the places most lacking in hope are not the industrial wastelands or the bleak landscapes shorn of beauty, but the places where there is too much money, too much high culture, too much of everything except faith, hope, and love.
Bishop N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope, p. 232
Bishop N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope, p. 232
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
ASH WEDNESDAY
Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent...a season that I didn't grow up participating in, but am now seeing as a time to engage spiritually in preparation for the crucifixion and resurrection events that shape my faith and all of history...
Wikipedia gives an interesting and applicable explanation of the customs during Lent. It says "There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and alms giving (justice towards neighbor). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations."
Wikipedia gives an interesting and applicable explanation of the customs during Lent. It says "There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and alms giving (justice towards neighbor). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations."
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A Surefire Investment: How to pray in the midst of financial catastrophe by PHILIP YANCEY
Loved this perspective on prayer in the midst of the economic news that runs into our lives and laptops seemingly every day...
Historians will look at the year that just ended as a financial tsunami that left in its wake millions of foreclosed homes, bankruptcies, and lost jobs. As if competing to abandon the basic tenets of capitalism, governments threw money at banks, investment companies, and huge insurers in an attempt to restore trust and stanch the flow of capital.
During one of the most volatile periods, a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion, I received a call from an editor at Time. "You wrote a book on prayer, right?" he said. "Tell me, how should a person pray during a crisis like this?" In the course of the conversation, we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer.
The first stage is simple, an instinctive cry: "Help!" For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis or watches retirement savings wither away, prayer offers a way to voice fear and anxiety. I have learned to resist the tendency to edit my prayers so that they sound sophisticated and mature. I believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary financial times on frail human beings.
Indeed, prayer provides the best possible place to take our fears. As a template for prayers in crisis, I look at Jesus' night in Gethsemane. He threw himself on the ground three times, sweat falling from his body like drops of blood, and felt "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." In the midst of that anguish, however, his prayer changed from "Take this cup from me" to "May your will be done." In the scenes of trial that followed, Jesus was the calmest character present. His season of prayer had relieved him of anxiety, reaffirmed his trust in a loving Father, and emboldened him to face the horror that awaited.
If I pray with the intent to listen as well as talk, I can enter into a second stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? In the midst of the financial news, a Sunday school song kept running through my mind:
The wise man built his house upon the rock …
And the wise man's house stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand …
Oh, the rain came down, and the floods came up.
A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in the government's ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble.
A friend from Chicago, Bill Leslie, used to say that the Bible asks three main questions about money: (1) How did you get it? (Legally and justly or exploitatively?); (2) What are you doing with it? (Indulging in luxuries or helping the needy?); and (3) What is it doing to you? Some of Jesus' most trenchant parables and sayings go straight to the heart of that last question.
As analysts began picking through the ruins of the financial collapse, they started dusting off old-fashioned words: greed, moderation, integrity, and trust. When executives line their pockets at the expense of employees and shareholders, when banks make speculative loans with little likelihood of payback, when borrowers walk away from good-faith contracts, the system collapses. A functioning economy is held together by a thin web of trust. (If you doubt that, visit a country where you have to pay bribes to get action and must count your change after every purchase.)
The same week that global wealth shrank by $7 trillion, Zimbabwe's inflation rate hit a record 231 million percent. In other words, if you had saved $1 million Zimbabwean dollars by Monday, on Tuesday it was worth $158. This sobering fact leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis: I need God's help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with compassion on the truly desperate.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and we know that heaven will include no homeless, destitute, or starving people. As the stock market dove to uncharted depths, I couldn't help thinking of private colleges, mission agencies, and other nonprofits, all of which depend heavily on the largesse of donors.
What a testimony it would be if, in 2009, Christians resolved to increase their giving to build houses for the poor, combat AIDS in Africa, and announce kingdom values to a decadent, celebrity-driven culture. Such a response defies all logic and common sense — unless, of course, we take seriously the moral of Jesus' simple tale about building houses on a sure foundation.
Historians will look at the year that just ended as a financial tsunami that left in its wake millions of foreclosed homes, bankruptcies, and lost jobs. As if competing to abandon the basic tenets of capitalism, governments threw money at banks, investment companies, and huge insurers in an attempt to restore trust and stanch the flow of capital.
During one of the most volatile periods, a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion, I received a call from an editor at Time. "You wrote a book on prayer, right?" he said. "Tell me, how should a person pray during a crisis like this?" In the course of the conversation, we came up with a three-stage approach to prayer.
The first stage is simple, an instinctive cry: "Help!" For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis or watches retirement savings wither away, prayer offers a way to voice fear and anxiety. I have learned to resist the tendency to edit my prayers so that they sound sophisticated and mature. I believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary financial times on frail human beings.
Indeed, prayer provides the best possible place to take our fears. As a template for prayers in crisis, I look at Jesus' night in Gethsemane. He threw himself on the ground three times, sweat falling from his body like drops of blood, and felt "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." In the midst of that anguish, however, his prayer changed from "Take this cup from me" to "May your will be done." In the scenes of trial that followed, Jesus was the calmest character present. His season of prayer had relieved him of anxiety, reaffirmed his trust in a loving Father, and emboldened him to face the horror that awaited.
If I pray with the intent to listen as well as talk, I can enter into a second stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? In the midst of the financial news, a Sunday school song kept running through my mind:
The wise man built his house upon the rock …
And the wise man's house stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand …
Oh, the rain came down, and the floods came up.
A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in the government's ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble.
A friend from Chicago, Bill Leslie, used to say that the Bible asks three main questions about money: (1) How did you get it? (Legally and justly or exploitatively?); (2) What are you doing with it? (Indulging in luxuries or helping the needy?); and (3) What is it doing to you? Some of Jesus' most trenchant parables and sayings go straight to the heart of that last question.
As analysts began picking through the ruins of the financial collapse, they started dusting off old-fashioned words: greed, moderation, integrity, and trust. When executives line their pockets at the expense of employees and shareholders, when banks make speculative loans with little likelihood of payback, when borrowers walk away from good-faith contracts, the system collapses. A functioning economy is held together by a thin web of trust. (If you doubt that, visit a country where you have to pay bribes to get action and must count your change after every purchase.)
The same week that global wealth shrank by $7 trillion, Zimbabwe's inflation rate hit a record 231 million percent. In other words, if you had saved $1 million Zimbabwean dollars by Monday, on Tuesday it was worth $158. This sobering fact leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis: I need God's help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with compassion on the truly desperate.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and we know that heaven will include no homeless, destitute, or starving people. As the stock market dove to uncharted depths, I couldn't help thinking of private colleges, mission agencies, and other nonprofits, all of which depend heavily on the largesse of donors.
What a testimony it would be if, in 2009, Christians resolved to increase their giving to build houses for the poor, combat AIDS in Africa, and announce kingdom values to a decadent, celebrity-driven culture. Such a response defies all logic and common sense — unless, of course, we take seriously the moral of Jesus' simple tale about building houses on a sure foundation.
Friday, January 30, 2009
CREATION CARE
Below is a quote from Dave Kinnaman, president of the Barna Research group, and a summary of some of their group's latest data concerning evangelicals and the environment, which I found to be fascinating...in many ways, it speaks to why I am spending a week with my seniors at Wheaton Academy talking about the environment in our Faith and Culture class...and why I spoke on the topic in chapel last year...we've got to engage this issue and speak to its importance in our culture and our churches...
"Still, millions of Christians - no matter how you slice it, Catholic or Protestant, evangelical or not - want to see their faith community become more active in environmental stewardship," commented Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group. "There is a void in Christian leadership on environmental issues, as well as an inability to articulate clearly and confidently a biblical understanding of creation care. Since climate change is controversial, many churches have simply avoided dealing with the subject, ceding the conversation to other voices. It may not be an easy arena to venture into, but the Christian community is ready for balanced, thoughtful, non-partisan and engaged leadership on this crucial issue."
Despite the appetite for doing more, relatively few Christians have been exposed to the term "creation care." This phrase has garnered recent attention among Christian leaders as a useful way to frame environmentalism as a biblical concept of being good stewards of the world God created. However, the term has not reached church pews: the vast majority of Christians (89%) and active churchgoers (85%) have never heard the phrase "creation care."
One of the reasons few Christians have heard about "creation care" may be because few congregations teach the topic. The survey explored whether churchgoers have ever been exposed to any teaching about how Christians should respond to environmental issues. Overall, most active churchgoers (64%) have never heard any such sermons.
"Still, millions of Christians - no matter how you slice it, Catholic or Protestant, evangelical or not - want to see their faith community become more active in environmental stewardship," commented Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group. "There is a void in Christian leadership on environmental issues, as well as an inability to articulate clearly and confidently a biblical understanding of creation care. Since climate change is controversial, many churches have simply avoided dealing with the subject, ceding the conversation to other voices. It may not be an easy arena to venture into, but the Christian community is ready for balanced, thoughtful, non-partisan and engaged leadership on this crucial issue."
Despite the appetite for doing more, relatively few Christians have been exposed to the term "creation care." This phrase has garnered recent attention among Christian leaders as a useful way to frame environmentalism as a biblical concept of being good stewards of the world God created. However, the term has not reached church pews: the vast majority of Christians (89%) and active churchgoers (85%) have never heard the phrase "creation care."
One of the reasons few Christians have heard about "creation care" may be because few congregations teach the topic. The survey explored whether churchgoers have ever been exposed to any teaching about how Christians should respond to environmental issues. Overall, most active churchgoers (64%) have never heard any such sermons.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
'What I Want for You — and Every Child in America' By President-elect Barack Obama
We are clearly approaching an inauguration moment perhaps different than any other in American history as next Tuesday will soon be here...and I read this letter President Obama wrote for his 2 daughters today...I loved the job he did sharing with his girls why he is doing this truly courageous, crazy, and confusing thing by seeking to be our President in these unreal moments...may he truly be able to lead us toward these things he writes about below and may the impact on his daughters be good rather than damaging...read below especially the section I have highlighted...I know this is a dividing and questioning time for many Christians as the mantel of leadership is passed from George Bush to Barack Obama...but if the things he writes about happen, I think we will all be able to celebrate on some level the good that is happening in a world so full of challenges and injustice and division in these moments...this isn't by any means a political endorsement...rather it is a prayer of sorts for a dad who cares deeply about the future for his girls, my two kids, and millions of children's lives who literally hang in the balance each day...I must admit, I am anxious to see if this visionary letter can indeed become reality...
Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.
When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.
I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.
I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.
Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.
That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.
She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.
I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.
These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.
Love, Dad
Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.
When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.
I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.
I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.
Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.
That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.
She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.
I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.
These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.
Love, Dad
Monday, December 15, 2008
Getting Tested
This morning I drove over to Wheaton College and picked up a good friend, one of my former students, and we headed over on a very cold Chicago morning to the DuPage County Health Department offices. We had both been there before to get shots before heading to Africa, but this visit was a little different. We were there to take an HIV test so we would know our status in relationship to having the presence of HIV antibodies on our body. Now to be honest, both of us admittedly felt a bit strange doing this at first. And even for many who might regularly read this blog you may very well think that it was an even stranger thing for us to do.
It was something that both of us wanted to do and felt like we needed to do as people who have been and continue to be deeply concerned about the issue of HIV/AIDS both in Africa and here in America. And yet to be honest, as an evangelical Christian it might seem to many of my friends like something unnecessary or perhaps even unthinkable due to the nature of the HIV virus being most often transmitted here in America through sexual contact or intravenous drug use involving needles due to most of the cases of mother to child transmission through birth or breast milk being prevented through medical care. (although not always the case) We both essentially had zero risk factors for testing positive because of our lack of drug use and choosing to abstain from sex till marriage and only having sex with a spouse for a lifetime up till this point. These decisions have come from our own decisions to seek to with the help of God's grace to pursue this lifestyle out of what we believe our faith as a Christ follower calls us to do. And yet these lifestyle choices are obviously not shared or embraced or acted out by many of our friends and fellow human beings who we love, care about, and want to be healthy...
We have both seen and heard about the incredible fear and stigma and even discrimination that takes place with those who are HIV positive, along with the very real physical impact and suffering that many living with HIV or AIDS are experiencing worldwide...more than anything else related to this disease, I long for the prevention of contracting AIDS and to stop its spread for people both in Africa and here in the USA and Chicago...and for those who are HIV positive but do not know it yet I want them to immediately get the medicines needed to help them stay healthy and be able to feel good about themselves and their role in society...and these critical things cannot happen if people do not feel free or comfortable to get tested and know their own status...and if people like me and you are willing to get tested, we can make it more normal, more accepted, and less scary for anyone who wants to know if they are HIV positive, and even more acceptable to talk about this disease so we can help reduce the infection rate of this life-changing disease...
Here is my experience this morning...even as we walked into the health department building, I found myself three times in a row having to tell different folks that I wanted to get an HIV test, and wondering just a bit what they were thinking about me...but to be honest, I didn't feel hesitant or ashamed because I knew it was a good thing for me to do...I was brought into a private room and was asked a series of questions concerning my risk factors and given basic information about HIV and what would happen if the result was positive...they even took down my address because sometimes people don't stay around to hear the results in the 20 minute period while you wait for your results...my counselor was a very nice young lady who seemed both surprised and pleased at how I answered the questions about my sexual experiences and needle use...I know she was actually quite overwhelmed when my 21 year old friend told her he was a virgin...after a finger poke I walked out to the waiting area where she would come find me with the results after the 20 minutes needed to do the analysis of my blood in a quick rapid test...(by the way, the test was free, I was treated very well, and I just walked in and was out in under an hour)
As I sat in the waiting room chair I thought and chatted with my friend about what these moments must feel like for those who were unsure or fearful about what the results might show...results that have life long implications...we thought about our Zambian friends who don't want to get tested if there are not medications available or the hidden lifestyle choices that might be revealed and disapproved of in DuPage County by people they are close to in their lives...it served as an experience producing empathy and understanding for those who may be dealing with the impact of this virus...and hopefully produces an opportunity to speak into the lives of those who may need to be tested and helps encourage all types of folks to get tested and know their status and reduce the stigma that still unfortunately is part of cultures all across the world...
My counselor motioned for me to go back into the room with her and she asked me to sit down and looked at my results one more time...there was a split second where I found myself wondering "WHAT IF" even on a personal level before she told me my result was that I was negative in terms of my HIV status...and despite the fact that I knew logically that would be the case, it again allowed me to experience a taste of what it feels like to be that person wondering in that moment...as I walked out of the office after thanking her for the service she had provided me there were a few things that stuck with me after getting tested:
1. It is powerful and meaningful to enter into positive shared experiences so we can build rapport and get on the same ground when we have opportunity to not stay at a distance from those who we care about but may have different life experiences...
2. Getting tested and discovering your status in terms of HIV is easy to do and is something everyone should consider doing, especially if you have any doubt about what your status might be, regardless of what you think others might think of your behavioral choices
3. Choosing to live by the vision God has set out in Scripture for relationships is an aid in maintaining health and peace in our own personal lives
4. AIDS is an issue that we must not ignore in Africa, in Washington DC, in our own neighborhood...it deserves our attention, education, compassion, and action...
5. You cannot live life based on the fears of what others might think about you when you know you should do the right thing regardless of their possible reaction and response...living in the light rather than the dark is always the best choice...
It was a morning I won't soon forget...and one I hope many others will soon count as a shared experience with me in the days to come...
It was something that both of us wanted to do and felt like we needed to do as people who have been and continue to be deeply concerned about the issue of HIV/AIDS both in Africa and here in America. And yet to be honest, as an evangelical Christian it might seem to many of my friends like something unnecessary or perhaps even unthinkable due to the nature of the HIV virus being most often transmitted here in America through sexual contact or intravenous drug use involving needles due to most of the cases of mother to child transmission through birth or breast milk being prevented through medical care. (although not always the case) We both essentially had zero risk factors for testing positive because of our lack of drug use and choosing to abstain from sex till marriage and only having sex with a spouse for a lifetime up till this point. These decisions have come from our own decisions to seek to with the help of God's grace to pursue this lifestyle out of what we believe our faith as a Christ follower calls us to do. And yet these lifestyle choices are obviously not shared or embraced or acted out by many of our friends and fellow human beings who we love, care about, and want to be healthy...
We have both seen and heard about the incredible fear and stigma and even discrimination that takes place with those who are HIV positive, along with the very real physical impact and suffering that many living with HIV or AIDS are experiencing worldwide...more than anything else related to this disease, I long for the prevention of contracting AIDS and to stop its spread for people both in Africa and here in the USA and Chicago...and for those who are HIV positive but do not know it yet I want them to immediately get the medicines needed to help them stay healthy and be able to feel good about themselves and their role in society...and these critical things cannot happen if people do not feel free or comfortable to get tested and know their own status...and if people like me and you are willing to get tested, we can make it more normal, more accepted, and less scary for anyone who wants to know if they are HIV positive, and even more acceptable to talk about this disease so we can help reduce the infection rate of this life-changing disease...
Here is my experience this morning...even as we walked into the health department building, I found myself three times in a row having to tell different folks that I wanted to get an HIV test, and wondering just a bit what they were thinking about me...but to be honest, I didn't feel hesitant or ashamed because I knew it was a good thing for me to do...I was brought into a private room and was asked a series of questions concerning my risk factors and given basic information about HIV and what would happen if the result was positive...they even took down my address because sometimes people don't stay around to hear the results in the 20 minute period while you wait for your results...my counselor was a very nice young lady who seemed both surprised and pleased at how I answered the questions about my sexual experiences and needle use...I know she was actually quite overwhelmed when my 21 year old friend told her he was a virgin...after a finger poke I walked out to the waiting area where she would come find me with the results after the 20 minutes needed to do the analysis of my blood in a quick rapid test...(by the way, the test was free, I was treated very well, and I just walked in and was out in under an hour)
As I sat in the waiting room chair I thought and chatted with my friend about what these moments must feel like for those who were unsure or fearful about what the results might show...results that have life long implications...we thought about our Zambian friends who don't want to get tested if there are not medications available or the hidden lifestyle choices that might be revealed and disapproved of in DuPage County by people they are close to in their lives...it served as an experience producing empathy and understanding for those who may be dealing with the impact of this virus...and hopefully produces an opportunity to speak into the lives of those who may need to be tested and helps encourage all types of folks to get tested and know their status and reduce the stigma that still unfortunately is part of cultures all across the world...
My counselor motioned for me to go back into the room with her and she asked me to sit down and looked at my results one more time...there was a split second where I found myself wondering "WHAT IF" even on a personal level before she told me my result was that I was negative in terms of my HIV status...and despite the fact that I knew logically that would be the case, it again allowed me to experience a taste of what it feels like to be that person wondering in that moment...as I walked out of the office after thanking her for the service she had provided me there were a few things that stuck with me after getting tested:
1. It is powerful and meaningful to enter into positive shared experiences so we can build rapport and get on the same ground when we have opportunity to not stay at a distance from those who we care about but may have different life experiences...
2. Getting tested and discovering your status in terms of HIV is easy to do and is something everyone should consider doing, especially if you have any doubt about what your status might be, regardless of what you think others might think of your behavioral choices
3. Choosing to live by the vision God has set out in Scripture for relationships is an aid in maintaining health and peace in our own personal lives
4. AIDS is an issue that we must not ignore in Africa, in Washington DC, in our own neighborhood...it deserves our attention, education, compassion, and action...
5. You cannot live life based on the fears of what others might think about you when you know you should do the right thing regardless of their possible reaction and response...living in the light rather than the dark is always the best choice...
It was a morning I won't soon forget...and one I hope many others will soon count as a shared experience with me in the days to come...
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