June 11, 2020
The Importance of Team
“For the body is not one member, but many.” I Corinthians 12:14
When I started writing these devotions in mid-March fear, uncertainty, and anxiety were swirling in the air. Life as we had known it changed overnight. Schools shut-down, companies closed their doors, universities and colleges sent their students home, governments issued stay-at-home orders, ventilators were being rushed to hospitals, the curve of illness and death was rising rapidly, there was a scramble to find sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment, restaurants closed, major sporting events were canceled or suspended, tens of millions of people were suddenly without jobs, businesses faced the prospect of closure and bankruptcy, and millions of us suddenly found ourselves at home relying on delivery or curbside pickups.
What a difference three months can make. Although our nation has suffered through approximately 115,000 coronavirus deaths, we sense and feel a lot more hope today as a vaccination and treatment are closer to reality, the country is reopening for business, churches are slowly opening their doors, unemployment seems to be leveling out, and colleges and universities are figuring out ways to safely welcome their students back in the fall.
This was a team effort. A great majority of Americans cooperated with the medical guidance given by the medical experts, stories of unusual and heroic sacrifices abounded, medical and emergency personnel put their lives on the line, scientists worked around the clock, Congress passed greatly needed relief packages for individuals and small businesses, and people cared for one another.
And we know that a different wave of pain and sadness came with the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, giving a much needed spark to honest conversations long overdue, and how we as Americans, working together, can achieve the racial equality woven so deeply into the fabric of our Constitution. There is great momentum here---let us seize the opportunity and make this a watershed moment in the life of our country.
Thank you all for everything you have done to help put our nation on the road to recovery. Keep the faith, as my father used to say, and remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “For the body is not one member, but many.”
Prayer: Let us continue to work together as we look to the future with confidence and hope. Inspire us to come together as a nation to face the challenges ahead, all the while knowing of your loving care and guidance. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Special note (reprinted from yesterday): I hope these devotions have been a source of comfort to you in these tense and stressful times in our nation. I know I have enjoyed writing them. Since we seem to be through the worst part of the pandemic and the nation’s conscience about racial relations has been raised to the highest level I have ever seen it, I plan to conclude these personal devotional thoughts today. I pray that each of us will work to make a difference in our own communities. Let us celebrate the common faith that we so deeply embrace together.
In Christ,
Cam
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