Message from the pastor

Terrorism strikes Spain and once again we feel frightened and vulnerable. The spiritual leader of Hamas is assassinated and the world and our hearts go on "elevated terror alert." An unstable world causes the stocks to fall, and our spirits follow suit. The Afghans corner a "valuable Al Queda target" in the mountains on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and we feel a tinge of hope. The stocks rebound with such news, and so do we. Our child does poorly in school and we feel lonely and desperate. Our child succeeds in school and we feel encouraged and elated. We lose our job and our self-esteem plummets. We find a job and the future looks bright again. How often do we allow this roller coaster syndrome to shape our daily lives and define our concept of hope?

At a recent gathering of health professionals where I gave a lecture, a nurse acknowledged this roller coaster syndrome in her daily work. "I carry the mood and emotions of one patient into the next patient visit." She said. "It's exhausting. How can I stop this?" I remember her surprise at my response. I answered, "You must be the center out of which you respond. Do not allow your patients to be your center. Remember Giuliani at Ground Zero?" I continued, "Ground Zero was not his center. He did not allow the horrific reality before his eyes to overtake him and determine his response. He was calm in his approach, giving confidence and hope to a city and a nation deep in shock, anger, and fear. Your center, the calm, compassionate, caring and skillful nurse that you are, must be the constants amongst the heavy burdens and the deep joys expressed by each of your patients." My words gave her a perspective she had not considered and "a way" she had not expected.

It dawned on me that the message of Easter has precisely to do with locating, defining, and acting out of our center as Christians in the midst of a world of fluctuating emotions and uncertain outcomes! Being centered as a Christian means that the Good Fridays of our lives, the days when despair and hopelessness win the day, do not define us, but neither do the days when happiness and success win the day. What then defines our center? What are our constants? I am reminded of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned and sentenced to death in one of Hitler's concentration camps. After recounting in his poem "Who am I?" how others positively perceived him in prison and how despairingly he perceives himself, he concludes "Who am I? They mock me these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine." Good Friday teaches us that the low and high days of our lives don't determine who we are. They are not our constants. Easter teaches us that the last word is yet to come, and has already arrived. Let us be reminded of our Center!

Pastor Kathleen J. Rusnak

© 2004 by Kathleen J. Rusnak. All Rights Reserved. This page may be copied and distributed only with author's name attached, giving the author credit.