Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
I took my first-ever CPR course last week. The instructor, a burly fellow from the Baltimore Fire Department, had a teaching style that often consisted of shouting questions at us
“What are they if they’re not breathing?” he asked after telling us that in case of an emergency to assess safety, summon help, and look for chest rise.
We mumbled about a bit, then finally someone said softly, “Dead.”
“What?” the instructor shouted.
“Dead,” a little louder.
“What?”
“ Dead,” a little louder.
“WHAT?”
“ DEAD!”
Message received.
Today’s lectionary readings remind us of the certainty of death, whether it’s all but Noah’s family in the great flood, John the Baptist’s ministry, or Jesus’s crucifixion. And yet, each of those deaths resulted in life: God promises to never send another earth-clearing flood. John the Baptist’s arrest clears the way for Jesus’s own public ministry to begin in earnest. Jesus’s physical death brought His life in the Spirit… and the hope of the same for those of us who believe and follow.
Life and death and life again. It’s what Lent is all about. It’s what Christianity is all about. Our lungs may be full and our heart pumping here on earth… but without faith, we are as good as dead without the Lord’s CPR.
