For Wilshire Baptist Church
I find it baffling that commercial airplanes still have no smoking and fasten seatbelt signs. Isn’t every human alive familiar with these rules by now? I was born before seat belts were required and before smoking was banned in most locations. But with much of our population born after these rules were established, seeing the signs lit up on airplanes feels somewhat like looking at cave paintings.
Still, in an age when people hate and hurt each other for the most petty reasons, I guess it makes sense that some haven’t gotten the message about smoking and seat belts. If people still can’t make good decisions about personal safety and health and are willing to abuse themselves, then it’s no great surprise that some segments of society still have no regard for the safety, health and rights of others.
This came to mind on a flight to Chicago a few months back to attend the ordination of Alex Wilgus, son of friends Ken and Sally. It’s a big step on his way to becoming an Anglican priest. He has decided to devote his life to caring for the souls of others, regardless of their bad habits and personal vices. He sees sharing the love of Christ as the best road toward conquering hatred.
Talking to Alex’s bishop before the service, he said the city is in great need of the transforming message of Christ, and young men like Alex are sharing that message in the neighborhoods where they are planting new churches. Later during the liturgy the bishop prayed for his city that is suffering under the heavy weight of violence.
And then came a hymn, “Make Me A Soldier,” written by Alex and containing these words:
The enemy’s defeated, but he has not left the field,
Pow’rs and principalities have lifted up their shields,
But you have overthrown them all, and the devil’s fate is sealed,
He is defeated, but he has not left the field.
There is still much work to be done.
I closed out my trip with a visit over coffee with Seth Montague, who works in the national headquarters of the American Lung Association. I worked with Seth in Fort Worth some years ago and while we’d kept track of each other on Facebook we hadn’t seen each other in 15 years. In his current job Seth works to raise funds and promote awareness for the causes and cures of lung disease. And of course, smoking is a leading factor. Like Alex, Seth is working for the cause of health and safety – both personal and communal – and it’s an uphill battle.
Riding DART home from the airport, I saw a man vaping on the train. While nicotine inhalers are marketed as “not smoking,” many restaurants and businesses disagree and prohibit them. After visiting Seth I wanted to walk down the aisle and point out the no smoking sign, but then I remembered the beating another man received for rightly asking a passenger to stop smoking.
I believe in rules and following them for the common good, but I’ll sacrifice a little discomfort – and muzzle my moral judging – for the sake of communal peace.