Day Two
“I never knew grief felt so much like fear.”
C.S. Lewis
In last week’s essay, I told the story of Martin Luther, a Catholic priest who courageously refused to go against his conscience. He was excommunicated from his church but escaped and avoided execution.
Hopefully, I can still afford to follow my conscience because The Constitution guarantees my freedom to think, write and act as long as I obey the law. I left my church of 45 years as a matter of conscience. It was tough, but I could not, “Go along to get along.” Becky and I found a new and better place of worship, a vibrant Sunday School community and I have never looked back.
The Easter story is the heart of Christianity because without the resurrection there is no Christianity. Lee Stroebel was a journalist and atheist who, like C. S. Lewis set out to debunk Christianity. Both failed and became devout Christians.
I have read their books and last week I summarized Lewis’ proof of Christianity described in his famous “Trilemma.” (Read my essay “Courage” in The Focus archives.) Stroebel’s proof of Christianity is the
“5 E’s”: Jesus Existed, Jesus was Executed, there was an Empty tomb, there were upwards of 500 Eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ, and lastly, there was Early adoption of the Christian message and ethos (whereas myths take many generations to take hold).
Even atheists know of the Easter story which occurred over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Friday Jesus was unjustly tried and convicted in a “kangaroo court” and executed. On Sunday Jesus arose. But Day Two was the subject of my minister’s recent sermon which was also addressed by John Ortberg in his book, “Who Is This Man.”
I suspect ministers read each other’s books and sermons as background material. I certainly consider many sources and perspectives which I then put into my own words. This is called exegesis. When there is a direct quote, I use quotes. Sometimes I paraphrase the thoughts of others as I did with Lewis and Stroebel. I don’t knowingly plagiarize, but I’m not perfect. Admittedly, this is an opinion column, so I don’t use footnotes as I did in the scientific papers I’ve published.
My minister poignantly used Day Two as a metaphor for the struggles we all experience in life. It is the “day after your deepest dreams have died.” You might say America is languishing and suffering in a Day Two reality as we wait in hope for a future where we again have economic prosperity, controlled borders, safety in our cities and peace in the world.
Although we will never have perfection in this fallen world, we know what we had in President Trump’s early presidency before the COVID pandemic from China. Compare that to the disastrous three and half years of the demented Biden and his co-pilot, Kamala. Americans’ safety and prosperity have diminished. Antisemitism is rampant. Drugs and criminals flow across open borders to kill our citizens. Children are lost and trafficked. Wars rage across the world because the Biden/Harris foreign policy is a disaster and bad guys no longer respect or fear America. We buy energy from communist nations like Venezuela rather than maximizing our own vast energy reserves. And even candidate President Trump is not safe after years of dehumanization and vilification by Democrats who wish him dead by an assassin, aided by the ideologically complacent and therefore negligent Secret Service protection service.
I’ll continue the Day Two metaphor with influenza because it’s almost the flu season and the doctor in me is still there. Becky and I will be getting our flu shots the first of October. Flu shots significantly lessen the chance of getting an influenza virus infection and also reduce the severity of this viral scourge.
Influenza is not just a “cold.” The common cold is caused by viruses like adenovirus, rhinovirus and coronaviruses different from COVID. I’ve had COVID twice despite the initial double vaccination in 2021 and then two boosters. And I’ve had influenza which is much worse than Covid.
I once had a patient who told me he had influenza while traveling. I asked him how he knew he had influenza and he told me that he had a high fever and felt like he had been beaten up. “Doc, I hurt so bad I was afraid I wouldn’t die.”
That’s influenza. I felt the same way when I had influenza; fever of 104°, severe muscle aching and headache. I was so weak I could barely drag myself to the toilet. I will never again miss a flu shot and risk the misery of influenza, which often lasts a week or more and fatigue which can persist for weeks. Furthermore, influenza can cause life-threatening complications, including pneumonia.
So, what do we do when we find ourselves in a Day Two crisis? Ten years ago, I was deathly ill. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but Becky and I thought there was a high likelihood that I would soon die. I defied the odds and survived a huge operation, including complications and a year of additional treatments. What sustained me was my faith/trust in God and, of course, my partner in life, Becky.
Garry Wills is a Catholic theologian and author. In his book, “What Paul Meant,” Wills notes that the Greek word for faith is “pistis,” but contextually it can mean trust. Most of the time I am thankful for God’s blessings of life, wife and my Lord, Jesus Christ. But I know that “the “valley of the shadow of death” is real. I’ve been there and have prayed the 23rd Psalm hundreds of times during scans and doctor visits. During those “Day Two” times of life, I am glad that I can lean on hope and trusting in God.
Our national motto is “In God we trust.” It is also my mantra. I’ve asked many people how someone functions without this trust and a sense of the sacred. I remain perplexed.
