Saying No to Despair

My oh my how much the world has changed. Having returned to Florida to finish my undergraduate work, I attended the Central Florida Community College in Ocala, FL for my sophomore year of college and then transferred to Florida Southern for my last two years. Kay and I had one car, not two. At the beginning of her 17 mile journey to teach elementary school in Crystal River, accompanied by Lillian, she would drop me off at the public school bus station at 6:45 am. While Kay and Lillian were making their way to the west side of the county, I along with about 15 to 20 other students were riding a dated yellow school bus on a 30 mile trip to Ocala where I would attend classes through the day and when not in class, find my place at a cubicle in the library and study, study, study. Married with a child, having served 4 years in the Navy, 22 years old, I rode a school bus to school that had little heat and no air conditioning. It was a humbling experience. Why did I do it? I did it because I had made the commitment to relentlessly pursue my degree in a timely manner without complaint or lament.

Traveling back and forth, I frequently looked out the window (traveling at 40 miles an hour) when we started to pass some of the elegant horse farms in Marion Country. One farm was distinguished among the others. It was the home of a former Kentucky Derby winner by the name of Needles, who made his way around Churchill Downs in 1956 in 2:02. Needles had frequent leg problems in addition to occasional pneumonia. This beautiful horse acquired his name at a young age from the many veterinary injections he received to help him heal.

It is my understanding that the Derby has been rescheduled for the month of September. I hope the schedule holds. People in Kentucky and especially Louisville love the Derby and all the festivities that surround it. During my first year in seminary, the 1979-80 academic year, Kay and I decided to take our 5 year old daughter Lillian and find a spot along the parade route celebrating the 146th running of the race on May 3. The sidewalks and curbs were packed with thousands of people as far as the eye could see. People politely applauded Vice-President George Bush and his wife Barbara followed by the state governor George Y. Brown and wife Physllis George (remember her as a CBS sportscaster?), other dignitaries and celebrities like the original Colonel Sanders and Patrick Duffy from the popular television series Dallas  And then all of a sudden, Kay and I noticed people several blocks away to our left begin to stand and really celebrate. We couldn’t imagine who in the world it might be. As the entourage drew closer, we also stood and cheered as the Louisville Cardinal Basketball team passed by. The team had won the National Championship by defeating UCLA 59-24 only two months before. It was a day to remember.

On the following Saturday, I witnessed a strange phenomenon. The local television stations were on site broadcasting races all day from Churchill Downs leading up to the Big One. One could actually walk in the middle of any major highway that day in Louisville and not run the risk of getting hit by a car. People were either at the race track, a Derby party or at home watching it on television. There was such an air of excitement and enthusiasm.

A student and later a pastor and theologian by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer traveled to the United States from his home in Germany in the 1930’s to work and study at Union Seminary in New York City. It did not take long for him to impress his professors. Bonhoeffer writes about attending an Easter Sunday Service in one of the prominent Protestant congregations. As you can expect, the pews were full and there was a lot of energy in the air as men, women and children celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and the Easter faith. The following Sunday, however, he returned to a sanctuary that was less than half full. The energy was strangely absent. What happened to the joy and hope of Easter?

Bonhoeffer eventually attended the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem where he was impressed by the strong preaching, the lively spirituals, and the engagement of the congregation with the surrounding community. It is widely believed that Bonhoeffer’s experience with this particular congregation prepared him for his return home immediately prior to the war. Bonhoeffer confidently and boldly preached the gospel, taught in an underground seminary, led resistance against the Nazi’s and was finally imprisoned and executed by order of Hitler on April 5,1945.

Energy and enthusiasm can quickly fade. As the coronavirus has disrupted our schedules and caused massive unemployment, I think of Bonhoeffer’s faith and inner strength as he and others faced a very unsettling time in human history. Bonhoeffer was able to respond, in the words of Henri Nouwen, to nationaal calamity and a world war by articulating God’s real presence and saying “no” to despair. And that’s what we’re called to do in a time such as this. As I stated last Sunday during the welcome and greeting, we do not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.

Wherever you are, may you be safe and may you be well. Peace and Grace. +

—
Steve Keeler, Pastor