5 June 2020 | Breathe!

We are struggling with a natural disaster – a virus ravaging the world, a happening beyond our control, which we are responding to as best we can. We have seen the effects – we have watched footage of people unable to breathe, and medical staff heroically trying to ventilate them and assist their breathing. And amongst the medical staff and carers we have seen on the front line, many have been those from the BAME communities, who are disproportionately affected by the virus, and so have put their own lives at greater risk to help others.

It is therefore beyond tragic that we should then find ourselves viewing footage of men who by their own terrible actions caused a person not to be able to breathe. Men who, when George Floyd cried out ‘I can’t breathe’, callously continued the shocking action of kneeling on his neck to restrain him. There is enough disaster occurring, why in all humanity’s name create more ourselves? 

Why, when one group of people are compassionately struggling to help people breathe, should another group have no compunction about being willing to crush the life out of another human being?

Before ever a President waves a closed Bible, he should be sure of the content within it! The golden rules of the Bible are simple, but as is shown throughout the Old and New Testaments, people are not always good at following even simple rules.

Jesus told parables about the way people did not engage with God’s rules, but followed their own warped reasoning. There is the parable of the landowner who planted a vineyard and sent his servants several times to collect his dues. The tenants beat up, stoned and even, in some instances, killed the servants who went, wanting to keep all for themselves. So eventually he sent his son, thinking they would respect him. They killed him. What will the landowner do, Jesus asked his listeners? The people realised he would allow the vineyard to go to those who gave the landowner what he was due and the respect he should be given as the owner. When we ignore the rights of the one who owns this earthly vineyard, and do not give him his due, but beat up and kill those who should not have been harmed - even his own son - God will find instead those who will function as good tenants, and do respect what is God-given. God will allow them to share in all he has. The bad tenants will have a wretched end of their own making.

In another favourite parable, there were the priest and the Levite who passed by a man beaten to within an inch of his life, while the disregarded man, the Good Samaritan, did all that was needed to bring the broken man back to health. All without looking for any benefit or admiration for his action.

Yes, Jesus certainly knew it isn’t easy for us to follow his teaching!

‘The First Funeral’ Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841–1905) - Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Creative Commons CC BY-NC licence

I remember going to the Russell Cotes Museum in Bournemouth – well worth a visit if you are down that way – and being somewhat surprised to see a sculpture called ‘The First Funeral’. The title took me aback, until I thought about it. The sculpture was of Adam and Eve holding their son Abel. The story of Cain murdering his brother is the first story in the Bible on the topic of jealousy leading to murder (sadly there are others), and is a part of the demonstration of the way human beings not only turn their backs on the wonderful world and environment they have been given, but by their jealousies and actions murder their brother too.

This pandemic has brought out kindness, goodness and empathy and shown the extraordinary lengths people have gone to in order to help and benefit others and there are a myriad of examples. Sadly, it has also brought out those who exploit situations, and take advantage of others, and those who have no morality, and set about beating and ill-treating and killing others.

But above all the pandemic is showing us we have a choice about the way we behave and the environment we want to live in. If we want a world where we take care of each other and honour each other, then we have to stand up for justice and what is right. We say this is the way we should behave and how we will all behave, and how we demand others behave.

The pandemic is showing us we want our world to reflect God’s world. We have gone far down the route of destroying our planet. But now we have seen what the air is like without pollution, and how nature, the birds and animals have thrived. Surely we want to live in the best way possible for all God’s creatures, and for all God’s people, ourselves included? We do have a choice.

Breathe on me breath of God
Fill me with life anew.
That I may love what thou dost love,
and do what thou wouldst do.

Rosemary