Hello,
It has been several years since I have gone to Cedar Point, “the roller coaster” of the world. I don’t know if it still holds true, but Cedar Point prided itself on having the most diverse array of roller coasters….the highest, the fastest, the steepest drop. So, if you are a roller coaster fan, Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio is the place for you to go. I am not a roller coaster fan!
I don’t enjoy the heights. I don’t enjoy the drops. I don’t enjoy the flipping upside down. But most of all I don’t enjoy the slow…torturous…click droning….initial climb to the first big hill. The anticipation morphs into anxiety. The arduous pace races my heart. The wind that blows the higher one ascends only cools the sweat on the back of my neck. Because I, as the Pastor, have been belittled by the kids for my fears, I have found myself aboard a roller coaster, clicking my way to the top of the hill, and about half way up, I find myself saying, “Why am I doing this!”
I grab the bar on my lap with a vice grip. My fingers go from white knuckles to purple ones. My forearms cramp up. And since I am not a screamer, I find myself repeating a mantra of fear, “Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” The ride to the top is torture.
As I consider our current place in the coronavirus situation, it seems to me that we , in the United States, are locked in on a world-wide roller coaster clicking our way to the top of the hill. We hear the clicking of the number of infections and deaths. We hear the clicking of the warnings from medical folks. We hear the clicking projections and limited resources. Click. Click. Click.
After I have been foolish enough to get on a Cedar Point roller coaster, when I get off I always say, “I don’t need to do that again!”, but I also find myself realizing that it wasn’t my grip that got me through that ride. It was the grip of that bar holding me in, and the grip of the centripetal force pushing me deep into my seat. I know this because I watch others ride the whole ride with their hands in the air, almost defying the roller coaster to throw them out.
Maybe that is a good image to put in front of our eyes as we click our way to the top of the coronavirus ride. In the end, it is not our grip that is going to get us through, but the grip of the power that holds us in. That doesn’t mean that we should throw all caution to the wind and, as it were, ride this roller coaster standing up and see how daring we can be. No…it seems to me that it is wise to keep seated….follow the lead of those who know best how to manage this situation. Also, I do not believe that as we ride this roller coaster we wont get bumped around. Christians, who as the Bible tells us, are in this world, find ourselves being bumped around by the world. Some of us will get sick. A few of us may even die.
But here’s the truth….the certain truth…God will hold us tight through the ride. As we ride this roller coaster, God who sent his Son to bring every evil to death….and even death to death…will keep us gripped in his nail pierced hands. Some may say this is a pious platitude….and maybe to some it sounds like one….but as one who has gotten off a Cedar Point roller coaster and realized the external grip that kept me through that ride, I can say that I have gotten off of many a life roller coaster and have realized the external grip that has gotten me through. And as I have gotten off of those life roller coasters, I have said to myself, “I don’t need to do that again!”, but also find myself singing the words from a song based upon God’s proclamation at Jesus’ Baptism, “You are mine. You are mine. You are mine.”
Click. Click. Click. Here we go!
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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