Archive for category: Chaplain’s Corner

“Pain”

In 1898 a German scientist believed he had discovered the Holy Grail of pain relief. Heinrich Dresser, who worked as a chemist for Bayer—the corporation that had created a remarkable new drug called aspirin—was hoping to synthesize a painkiller that wouldn’t lead to addiction.

The world had long known about morphine, the powerful, naturally-occurring opioid. But morphine users inevitably discover the grim side effect to its amazing painkilling powers: the near certainty of an ongoing dependence that empties the bank account and ruins one’s health.

Dresser cooked up a synthetic opioid called diacetylmorphine. He declared it to be five times more powerful than morphine. The leadership team at Bayer called it a miracle. That’s actually what they wanted to call this new drug, but it came to be known as heroin.

Bayer immediately began peddling it over the counter. Sales skyrocketed. By 1900 Eli Lilly had claimed the American market. But by 1905, it was clear something was terribly wrong. Dresser had patient-tested this drug for only four weeks, not nearly enough to realize it was one of the most addictive substances on the planet.

The quest for an ideal painkiller continued to dominate the 20th century. By the 1990’s the American Pain Society and several large pharmaceutical companies were committed to the idea that no one should have to feel pain.

But as Harry Wiland points out in his book “Do No Harm”, pain is highly subjective. Seemingly identical injuries can produce widely varying responses. Our pain can be impacted by a variety of emotional factors, including sadness, depression, worry, fear and childhood trauma. How can such circumstances ever be quantified?

The quandary continues. It’s still widely felt that no one should feel pain. After all, we have such fabulous painkillers.

For as long as scientists and doctors have been seeking the Holy Grail of pain relief, there have been members of the Christian community who think they have the answer. Are you hurting and sick? Crippled or broken? Preachers spotlight verses like Exodus 15:26 where God says to His people: “I am the Lord your God, who heals you.” God will take away your pain! It’s such a wonderful blanket promise. But as the old saying goes “a text out of context is a pretext.”

The Holy Spirit gently opens our eyes to all 66 books that make up the biblical library. What we discover is that God’s people routinely suffer pain, hurt and disappointment. Followers of Jesus get cancer, ALS and Diabetes. Sometimes God provides miraculous healings. Often He does not.

So what is the point of abandoning ourselves to such a God?

First, our pain matters to God. Jesus shared it on the cross what it feels like to be cut off from his Father in Heaven: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”. (Matt. 27:46)

Second, God never wastes pain. The Apostle Paul asserts that “suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:3-6)

In a broken world, there’s no such thing as a pain-free life. But we weren’t made just for life in this world. And the God who became one of us, and whose nerve endings have registered hurts just like ours, has promised never to leave our side.

Faithfully,
Ron Naylor, Chaplain

“The Intersection Between Trust and Fear”

In the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13, Moses and the people of Israel are poised on the threshold of The Promised Land. Behind them lies slavery in Egypt. And ahead of them lies the Land of Milk and Honey, the place God had promised them.

The Lord said to Moses: “Send spies into the land which I am giving over to the Israelites.” Twelve spies secretly step into the territory now known as Palestine. Over a period of 40 days they conduct a thorough investigation.

What did they find? They come back with two reports. Ten of the twelve said the cities are fortified and very large and the people are giants. They said, “We ourselves seemed like grasshoppers in comparison.”
Public morale promptly implodes.

One of the spies, a man named Caleb gives a different perspective. In one of the great confidence builders he shouts, “We should go up at once and occupy it! We can certainly do it!”

Joshua enthusiastically sides with Caleb. And they were successful.
Day by day we face a future that is challenging. What we choose to do with the data that we choose to follow–Trust or Fear. At one time or another we all look out on our Promised Land.

So where do we go next?

Choose to be Caleb or give in to the fear of the crowd?

In my life I have found it is better to face the giants while trusting God in the face of an uncertain future. Whether it be COVID-19, a relationship problem, illness, the death of a loved one or a problem at work, trusting God can make all the difference.

At the intersection of Trust and Fear we can say, “With God’s help we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Faithfully,

Ron Naylor, Chaplain

“Living in the Daily Presence of God”

How often does the average person touch his or her cell phone?  The answer seems to be more than you can possibly imagine.  According to the research firm Dscout, typical owners touch their phones 2,617 times a day.  And we’re not talking about extreme users.  The most serious addicts, who responded to the survey study, touch, tap or swipe their phones more than 5,400 times every 24 hours!

That presents a conundrum.  The smart phone has long been marketed as a time-saving, relationship-enhancing, life-enriching marvel.  But it may be just another distraction that prevents us from the things that really matter.

Our culture isn’t suffering so much from busyness.  Busyness is normal but hurry is a frantic state of mind, a sickness, a suspicion that our lives are slipping away from us and so we immerse ourselves in activities that numb us from facing life before us.

If only we had 10 more hours a day.  Then we could become our best.  But we already have time to do amazing things.  Now it’s just a question of how we utilize those hours.  Even here at Westminster Village we can become remarkable mentors and friends to other residents.  You can become an inspired student of scripture.  Or will you settle for the next TV series?

Many would-be disciples of Jesus feel frustrated because they feel Jesus just needs to be squeezed into a crowded place in their lives and wonder why spiritual growth seems fleeting.

Let’s face it:  There is a real possibility that our lives are so crowded that we are unable to follow him at all.  What can we do?

Faithfully,
Ron Naylor, Chaplain

“Let God Do the Judging and Sorting”

In Matthew 13 (verses 24-30 and 36-43) Jesus describes a man who plants seeds in his field. He aims to grow a crop of wheat but when the tiny plants appear above the soil, it’s obvious that someone has sowed chaos. Something else is growing there. He discovers the wheat and another plant are growing side by side. Nobody can tell them apart.

Jesus is reporting a situation well known in Palestine. The unwelcome seedlings are beaded darnel, a weed that looks exactly like wheat. It grows at the same time and is the same color and also grows the same height. Only when the heads appear can you tell the grains apart.

The heads of wheat are golden, while bearded darnel has little gray beards at the end of each stalk. By that time it’s too late to yank all the weeds away from the roots of the good plants. “Let them grow together until the harvest,” says Jesus. “Then I will separate the wheat from the weeds.”

The problem is, who wants to wait until God’s harvest to deal with the problems of the World? Most of us assume we are exceedingly well qualified to accomplish the sorting process. We know a weed when we see one. In the presence of other people, we can tell the good ones from the sneaky ones from the sad ones from the most likable ones and the old-and-used-up ones—even as Jesus pleads with us about this. “You will never get it right. Leave the harvest to me.”

Why is he so passionate about this?

We rarely recognize God’s champions. We may not exactly know what a growing saint looks like or the true condition of a human heart.

And it just so happens that God delights in using people who seem to be behind the scenes to do his will. These are not always “Super Christians.”

In scripture, Moses identifies himself as a stuttering coward who took on Pharaoh. When an Angel tries to recruit Gideon he says, “Are you kidding? I’m the least of the least and have no background.” David, the warrior-king who would be the “man after God’s own heart,” starts out as a red-haired runt. The Apostle Paul is introduced in the Bible as a Jewish fundamentalist cheering on the lynching of Stephen.

Do we really have eyes to see what God sees when judging people?

Every day, all around us are people we may deem unworthy of God’s kingdom. Often, we have no idea what is going on behind the scenes of these people’s lives. We see people today dealing with holding down two jobs just to feed their families. People who have not had the educational and cultural advantages many of us have had over our lifetimes. These are plants growing in the field with the rest of us.

On Harvest Day, it may turn out they were God’s children as much as any of us who feel we are being faithful in our walk with Christ. As a Pastor, I have real problems with those who feel somehow they are God’s people and everyone else is just lost.

At the Harvest we won’t be doing the sorting any more than we need to be doing it today. It is the Savior’s job to sort and save. What does that leave for the rest of us?

OUR JOB IS TO LOVE!

Faithfully,
Ron Naylor, Chaplain

“Finish Strong”

In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, runner John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania finished last. But there’s more to the story.

Akhwari was one of the world’s best long distance runners. But having never trained at high altitudes, several miles into the race he began to cramp. Then approaching the halfway point, he became entangled with some other runners and fell hard to the pavement. The impact dislocated his right knee and jammed his right shoulder.

Akhwari, now battling back pain, gathered himself and continued running far behind the pack.

Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia won the race in 2:20:26. The crowd cheered. The medals were awarded.

More than an hour later after the sun had set and most fans had already departed, Akhwari staggered through the tunnel into the stadium. ABC quickly powered up the cameras. The small crowd stood and applauded as Akhwari summoned the strength to complete the closing lap around the track-then crossed the finish line.

A few minutes later, an interviewer asked the Tanzanian why he had kept going. Akhwari answered: “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.” More than half a century later, people remember only two competitors from that marathon, Wolde and Akhwari.

It’s not how you start that matters. What matters is how you finish.

Perhaps one of the most famous passages of scripture is 2 Timothy 4:7, which the Apostle Paul apparently wrote within sight of his personal finish line. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith.”

God did not send us into the world to be spectators. God has not called us to drop out of the race when life gets hard.
It’s been a tough year. You may have suffered a fall or maybe even had COVID or some other illness. I know it’s been a long year not seeing loved ones except through the window of your room.

But the race isn’t over. Get back up.

FINISH STRONG!

Faithfully,
Ron Naylor, Chaplain