Psalm 139 is the conversation David directed to God in verses 7-8: "Where can I flee from your presence? If I climb up to heaven you are there; If I make the grave my bed, you are there also."
Worldwide religious and social cultures have respected the sacredness of the places set aside for the burial of the dead.
We had just moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where I had become the Rector of St. Bartholomew's, near Seaside Funeral Home and Memorial Park. I received a telephone call from a colleague. He told me about the horrific grave desecrations that had occurred the night before in the Jewish section and in the Roman Catholic section. He invited me to join him and other ministers at the cemetery to view the desecrations and then discuss how we could respond.
The desecrations were hard to see. In both sections, headstones had been toppled and broken. Others had been spray-painted with White Supremacist symbols. They had intentionally self-identified themselves as the perpetrators.
After the tour, we met and formed "Interfaith Voices." We asked our congregations to help us clean the two sections. We formed another group to address the means of communicating our concerns. We were reminded of Paul's letter to the Corinthians that we are each the temple of the Holy Spirit of God and are responsible for daily living a clean, healthy and wholesome life as witnesses of how to be in a right relationship with God.
Every day there are new graves in America. On the day this was written, it was reported that 643,618 Americans had died, including 7,003 in Arkansas. In a single week, 200,000 children had tested positive for covid, and several teachers have died.
When the vaccine became available, there was a breath of hope in the air. But what blindsided me was the deliberate misinformation campaign by the hardcore anti-vaxxers. We are still digging graves all over our beautiful land and, in a spiritual way, the anti-vaxxers are desecrating the graves of the victims of covid-19. It has been reported that over 400 children have died and, during the most recent week, a total of 200,000 children tested positive.
There was an interview with Felicia Croft-Knight, a 34-year-old, ICU nurse for seven years. She openly shared her ICU experiences and her Christian journey. A portion of that interview was printed in the August 25 edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The first question was, "What are the differences in the patients you were with at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic and the patients currently in ICU? She replied, "Today's patients are closer to my age, with young children, and none of them are vaccinated.
She spoke of coming to work and discovering the parents of her daughter's 14-year-old best friend were new patients. Felicia had tried to convince them to be vaccinated but they refused. The critically sick mom's first words were, "Felicia, please have our daughter vaccinated." The young woman also revealed their tragic family history. They had no living relatives. If both parents died, the children would be orphans.
Felicia left the room wondering how to tell her daughter that she was unable to save her best friend's parents.
"I can't explain the feeling of defeat when you do everything and pour everything into a patient and it's not enough."
Felicia Croft-Knight is a woman of faith. She had doubts about being vaccinated but, as she struggled with her questions, she read the science, she prayed and trusted God and her doctor. She was vaccinated.
What was the American family is fading away. Before the pandemic, there were 3.5 million grandparents that were in a legal custody relationship with their grandchildren. What will tomorrow look like if we can't get on top of covid-19?
It will take all the interfaith spiritual voices of the light in our nation, with God's help, to get on the other side of this pandemic.
The great news is there are plenty of free vaccines available for those 12 years old and up -- no questions asked. We must have everyone using their voices and preaching the sermon: Get a shot(s)-- wear a mask -- socially distance! Be a witness of health and wisdom.
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Ken Parks is the former rector of St. Theodore's Episcopal Church in Bella Vista. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.