Comfort in Grief

On Friday morning I found myself finishing up work on a software project in a Christian hospital in north Georgia. Having some time on my hands at 8:30am, I took a break from my work and attended the hospital's morning chapel service.

I was greeted warmly by Chaplain Dave, who smiled warmly and shook my hand. I joined a group of three others: a maintenance worker, and two women, one of whom cried throughout most of the fifteen minute service. Chaplain Dave began by reading a passage of Scripture then told us about some of his encounters with patients and their families during the week.

He told about an incredible encounter he had earlier in the week with a woman who was in the ICU. She had stopped breathing for almost ten minutes and had been pronounced dead. After he was called in, he prayed for her and miraculously she took a gasp and began breathing again. A few days later she was transferred to a less critical care room. He said that the nurses had told him that they had never seen anything quite like that before.

Chaplain Dave also told of praying with a family earlier that morning who had just lost a young member of their family to death. He told us that the family was very upset and deep in grief at their loss. "Those cases are always so difficult." he said.

Soon we read some written prayer requests from patients and then began praying.

As we prayed, I thought about some reading that I had done earlier in the week.

I thought first about a passage that I had read in David Herbert Donald's book "Lincoln". In the book, Dr. Donald writes about the death of the Lincoln's son Willie, who died in the White House in February 1863 (he was their second son to die in childhood).

Dr. Donald explained:

"Both parents were devastated by grief. When Lincoln looked on the face of his dead son, he could only say brokenly, 'He was too good for this earth...but then we loved him so.' It seemed appropriate that Willie's funeral, which was held at the White House, was accompanied by one of the heaviest wind and rain storms ever to visit Washington. Long after the burial the President repeatedly shut himself in a room so that he could weep alone."

"During this time he increasingly turned to religion for solace. As Mary Lincoln said years later, 'He first thought...about this subject...when Willie died - never before."

Dr. Donald noted that President Lincoln turned to Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, where the Lincoln's rented a pew. Lincoln, we are told, had several long talks with the pastor who comforted Lincoln with the Christian belief that his son lived on in heaven.

During the morning prayer service at the hospital, my thoughts turned also to the recent death of Father Richard John Neuhaus. Fr. Neuhaus was a Catholic priest, the author of several books, a leader in the ecumenical movement and the founder of "First Things", a monthly religious journal that I have found very helpful throughout the years.

Fr. Neuhaus wrote profoundly about his thoughts on death - the article that I read earlier in the week, called "Born Toward Dying" can be found here.

In the article, Fr. Neuhaus explained how he had served as a chaplain at a large hospital where he would see two or three patients die in a 24-hour period. He also wrote about his own near-death experience several years before where he had heard "presences" (i.e. angels) near his hospital bed telling him, "Everything is ready now."

In the article Fr. Neuhaus noted that when a loved-one dies it can lead to wisdom about this life and the life to come:

"The worst thing is not the sorrow or the loss or the heartbreak. Worse is to be encountered by death and not to be changed by the encounter."

Fr. Neuhaus died on January 8th. In his final column for "First Things" he conveyed a hope in eternal life through faith in Christ...a hope that I had heard on Friday morning at the prayer service led by Chaplain Dave...and a hope that the Lincoln's heard in 1863 from Rev. Phineas D. Gurley.

Fr. Neuhaus wrote hopefully:

"Be assured that I neither fear to die nor refuse to live. If it is to die, all that has been is but a slight imitation of what is to be. If it is to live, there is much I hope to do in the interim."

May you be comforted in your grief,
-D.

Lincoln's Leadership Qualifications

This week I've been enjoying David Herbert Donald's 1995 biography called simply, "Lincoln". (I've been reading it to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday next month).

A passage I read tonight reminded me of the debates and discussions from the 2008 Presidential election over the experience (or lack of experience) of the candidates (specifically Gov. Palin and Sen. Obama).

Here's how Dr. Donald's described Abraham Lincoln's leadership qualifications in 1859 as Lincoln considered running for President:

"To all outward appearances he was less prepared to be President of the United States than any other man who had run for that high office. Without family tradition or wealth, he had received only the briefest of formal schooling. Now fifty years old, he had no administrative experience or any sort; he had never been governor of his state or even mayor of Springfield. A profound student of the Constitution and of the writings of the Founding Fathers, he had limited acquaintance with the government they had established. He had served only a single, less than successful term in the House of Representatives and for the past ten years had held no public office. Though he was one of the founders of the Republican party, he held no close friends and only a few acquaintances in the populous Eastern states, whose votes would be crucial in the election. To be sure, his debates with Douglas had brought him national attention, but he had lost the senatorial election both in 1855 and 1859."

After initially telling reporters, "I must, in candor, say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency", Lincoln (as we know now) decided to organize supporters who then helped him successfully gain the office in 1860.

An interesting comment on Lincoln's leadership qualifications,
-D.

The Faith of Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln has been in the news quite a lot in the past few days. Yesterday at his inauguration, President Obama used the same Bible that Lincoln used when he was sworn in as President. And a few days prior to the inaugural President Obama took a train (as Lincoln did) into Washington, D.C.

Next month, we'll celebrate the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. To remember Lincoln, for the past several weeks, I've been reading David Herbert Donald's biography of Lincoln (written in 1995).

Dr. Donald's access to Lincoln's personal letters provides a number of insights into the history and personality of our 16th president. Of interest to me was his description of Lincoln's religious beliefs.

Dr. Donald notes that Lincoln's parents were members of the Separate Baptist Church "whose members accepted traditional Baptist beliefs, like predestination and opposition to infant baptism, but refused to endorse any formal creed. Adhering to a very strict code of morality, which condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, and dancing, most Separate Baptists were opposed to slavery. Abraham shared his parents' view." (pg. 24)

He notes that as a young man the religious disputes in his community attracted his attention "though, like his father, he was reluctant to accept any creed. His parents' Baptist belief in predestination was deeply ingrained in his mind, though he felt more comfortable in thinking that events were foreordained by immutable natural laws than by a personal deity." (pg. 48)

Later in his life he was accused by political opponents of holding heretical beliefs because of discussions he had as a young man about the veracity of miracles, the accuracy of the Bible and because he never became a member of a Christian Church. He wrote a formal denial of these accusations during his race for Congress in 1846:

"That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular." (pg. 49)

Interesting also was the language that Lincoln used in a letter in 1850 to his father Thomas Lincoln, who was on the verge of death:

Abraham Lincoln urged his father "to call upon, and confide in, our great, and good, and merciful Maker; who...notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads."

Interesting words of faith from our sixteenth President.

-d.

The Church and the World lectures

This week I finished listening and taking notes on the course called "The Church and the World" from Reformed Theological Seminary.

The professor of the course, Dr. W. Andrew Hoffecker, provides a detailed description of the changes in theology from the 18th century to the present.

The best lectures for me were the ones at the end of the course that focused on more recent events and trends: Evangelicalism (2 lectures) and Culture Wars (5 lectures).

The school has also posted these lectures on iTunes U for free. I recommend them.

Blessings,
-d.

Inauguration Day

Today Barak Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. CNN has an interesting interactive site with information (including trivia and speeches) for each of the previous Presidential inaugurals.

Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44.president/inauguration/speechlibrary/index.html

-d.

Ramblings on Theology

For the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading on contemporary theology in my latest class at Reformed Theological Seminary called "The Church and the World".

The reading is at times tedious as I read about the devolution (or evolution, depending on one's perspective) from traditional Christian beliefs found in the traditional teachings of the church to the more contemporary writings of Kant, Schleiermacher, Barth and others.

I find that I don't have a lot of patience for those modern Christian theologians who reject what have historically been the essentials of the Christian faith: the deity of Christ, human sinfulness and the inspiration of Scripture among other things.

I have a hard time understanding why they would even want to describe themselves as a "Christian theologian" if all (or most) of the historic tenets of Christianity are rejected. Just call yourself a "deist" or "pantheist".

As these contemporary theologians have rejected the historical tenets of the Christian faith, they have tried to redefine and reduce Christianity by focusing on one of two things: "feelings" (termed by some as a 'God-consciousness') or ethical behavior (to help others live a righteous life or liberate oneself or our society).

This is unfortunate, because the basic assumption of Christian teaching (taught from the beginning of the Church) is that something really happened in history. Christians have believed for centuries that God revealed Himself in human history in events such as the creation of the world and the Exodus from Egypt and in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christians have taught throughout the centuries that we can know about God and his work in history because He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

Christians throughout the centuries have believed that individuals have sinned, are under God's wrath and need to be redeemed. They have taught that God in His great mercy, sent His son Jesus to earth. And in His death on the cross, it has been taught, Jesus satisfied God's demand for justice and paid the punishment for the sins of those who believe in Him. Christians throughout the centuries have taught that one can receive that forgiveness by repentance and trust in Christ.

Many contemporary theologians have rejected all or most of these points.

Richard Niebuhr summed up the new brand of "Christianity" that rejects the historic view of Christian faith by explaining that they proclaim:

"A God without without wrath (who) brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of Christ without a cross."

That pretty much sums up what I've been reading lately,
-D.

English Puritan Class

I finished my course on "The English Puritans" this week at Reformed Theological Seminary. The course contains lectures by J.I. Packer and can be listened to for free at iTunes U.

I found the best resource in the course to be Dr. Packer's book "A Quest for Godliness". I read the book in the early 90's and it was great to read it again earlier in the fall. The hero of the book is John Owen.

Owen lived from 1616 -1683 and (as I noted over the summer) much of his work has been reprinted and can also be found online. Here's a link to The Puritan Library which contains is work online: http://www.puritanlibrary.com/

Enjoy,
-D.