“Surely it is God who saves me, I will trust in him and not be afraid
“For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and He will be my savior!” — Isaiah 12:2

Like a good wine, it takes time, perhaps a lifetime, to learn to trust our higher power and not be afraid. I have found, and seen in others, that it is some sort of suffering and pain that wakes us up to see our need for something greater than ourselves.

A worker lights candles on a cross in front of the Colosseum prior to the start of a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession on Good Friday, in Rome, Friday, April 7, 2023.  (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press

Twelve years ago, in need of a liver transplant, I experienced the pattern of life, death, resurrection and new life. I had lived the life of white privilege fully, albeit foolishly, dangerously and without understanding. After 56 years of bulletproof existence, hepatitis C knocked unexpectedly on my weeping doorsill. My daughter, a high school senior, soon became the youngest living donor in the U.S. She gave her dad 60% of her liver. Why? “He is my Dad and I love him.”

There are many things to fear around the earth, our fragile island home, and sometimes, only then, in the face of tribulation, do we call upon the Name of the Lord. And even then, the first step is a simple prayer, “Help!”

But by the power of the Spirit, we can savor that wine of new life; the richness of the flavor and the color of life now experienced will yield a joy and peace that first humbles and then delights the searching soul. The prophet Micah directs us to the road we travel: “What does God require of thee, but do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”?

Some congregations may teach that a heart dedicated to God will make one healthy, wealthy and wise. Some call that the Health and Wealth Gospel. Some lately call it White Christian Nationalism. Both are antithetical to everything one reads from Genesis to The Revelation. I am much alarmed by the lowering of the wall between church and state that we see expressed to date in our Supreme Court. We must be free to choose our own path of spirituality as well as owning our own moral and ethical decisions. From the New Testament we read, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

I am finding that it takes years, experiences and study to find the true inner voice of our convictions and the courage to express them. A college humanities professor once told our class, “The most important thing as you leave this place and graduate, is to develop your ‘world view.’” From tornados to climate change, our constitutional government has allowed our world to teeter and bounce about like a ship on turbulent seas. We the people are responsible for the choices we make, the votes we cast for those who maintain our democracy.

Good Friday is a somber day on which once again we remember a good man who was executed by a fearful crowd. Fearful governmental and religious leaders afraid of change and insurrection.

At the height of the Holy Eucharist this Easter Sunday we will again proclaim the mystery of our faith, “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”

By our choices, and God’s grace, Christ will return and rise in every hearts once again, to inspire in us a world view that adheres to justice, loves mercy, and learns to walk humbly before our God and our neighbors.

Father Jack Fles is minister at All Saints Episcopal Church in Skowhegan.