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Asheville Citizen Times ❚ SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020 ❚ 1D

Living

NEW YORK – On the first Sunday af-ter the coronavirus began upendingAmerican life, some religious institu-tions – including two churches whosepastors are close to President DonaldTrump – held in-person services amidpublic health worries over the pandem-ic. That picture already looks differentthis week.

Pastor Robert Jeffress, a stalwartevangelical ally of Trump, held servicesat his First Baptist megachurch this pastSunday in accordance with Dallas-arealimits on gatherings of more than 500people but said in an interview that thisweek, he would hold online-only wor-ship. The Florida church where PaulaWhite, Trump’s personal pastor and aWhite House adviser on faith issues, in-vited congregants to in-person servicesthis past Sunday will also shift to on-line-only status this week, according toa spokeswoman.

Jeffress, who had called for “a fear-less church,” said on Tuesday thatChristians should take “common-senseapproaches” to protect their health.

“Every pastor needs to use wisdom,and it is very obvious that the govern-ment’s motivation in this is to protectthe well-being of individuals,” he said.

Churches and other religious institu-tions that have chafed at public healthexperts’ calls to fight the virus by avoid-ing gatherings are under heightenedscrutiny as those experts’ pleas become

edicts from government officials, in-cluding Trump. In a nation where faithcan be as politically polarized as anyother part of life – and where freedom toworship has become a rallying cry onthe right – some conservative religiousinstitutions are acknowledging that thegovernment’s word comes first during apandemic.

Liberty University, where presidentJerry Falwell Jr. initially planned to re-sume classes next week, said Mondaythat the evangelical Christian campuswould largely shift to online learning af-

ter Virginia’s governor restricted gath-erings of more than 100 people.

“All we’re trying to do is obey the law.We might not agree with the governoron the best way to keep this fromspreading, but he is the governor andthe ban has been issued,” Falwell said inan interview.

Falwell, who speculated on Fox Newslast week that coronavirus may havebeen the work of North Korea, addedthat he remains unworried about the vi-rus but would not impose his view onothers: “I just think it’s silly to be wring-

ing your hands and worrying aboutsomething like this, but that’s just mypersonality.”

Not every house of worship is bowingto government guidelines designed tohelp snuff out the virus. Rodney How-ard-Browne, a Florida-based charis-matic Christian pastor who prayed overTrump in the Oval Office in 2017, vowednot to stop services and encouragedworshipers to shake hands despite ex-perts identifying that behavior as aneasy way to spread the virus.

In Louisiana, pastor Tony Spell waswarned by police Tuesday after holdinga service that attracted hundreds andflouted a state ban on mass gatherings.Spell, who has claimed that his servicesalso heal cancer and HIV, said that hewould not permit “any dictator law” tostop worship.

For many other pastors, prioritizingfaith and science simultaneously is ahigh priority during the pandemic. Butthe minority view of faith leaders whochafe at suspending in-person serviceswhile coronavirus infections climbacross the country is raising concerns.

“Different churches have stayed openfor different reasons. All of them need tosuspend in-person events if they lovetheir neighbors,” said Nathan Empsall,an Episcopal priest and campaigns di-rector for the liberal-leaning grassrootsChristian group Faithful America. “Thebest way to love our neighbors is to do sofrom a distance right now.”

Rev. Kip Rush delivers his sermon in a sanctuary filled with mostly empty pews during a service at Brenthaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Brentwood, Tenn.The church decided to broadcast the service instead of holding a service with the entire congregation because of the coronavirus. MARK HUMPHREY/AP

To go to church or not? Elana SchorASSOCIATED PRESS

A reminder regarding personal hygiene in light of the spreading coronavirus onthe sign outside the Austinburg First United Church in Austinburg Township,Ohio. WARREN DILLAWAY/THE STAR-BEACON

“Different churches have stayed open for different reasons.

All of them need to suspend in-person events if they love their neighbors.

The best way to love our neighbors is to do so from a distance right now.”Nathan Empsall, Episcopal priest and campaigns director for the liberal-leaning grassroots Christian group Faithful America

Some churches, pastors resist gathering bans, cite religious freedom and ‘fearless church’

See CHURCH, Page 3D

You may be familiar with these fam-ous lines from Henry David Thoreau’s“Walden”: “The mass of men lead livesof quiet desperation,” “Could a greatermiracle take place than for us to lookthrough each other’s eyes for an in-stant?,” “If a [person] does not keeppace with their companions, perhaps itis because they hear a different drum-

mer.” And then, prescient words for ourcurrent days: “Our life is frittered awayby detail …simplicity, simplicity, sim-plicity!” We also might remember whyhe built a cabin and lived in the woods:he chose to “live deliberately … to [face]the essential facts of life.” He was seek-ing a return to basics so that he wouldnot come to the end of his life and “dis-cover that I had not lived.”

Thoreau never claimed to be a hermitat the pond. He built the one-room cab-in with cheap or borrowed supplies andtools and the cabin sat on his friend Em-erson’s plot of land. He lived close to thetown of Concord and the railroad. Peo-

ple came by all the time. He walkedhome on weekends for a home-cookedmeal and to do his laundry. He workedas a handyman. He wrote about soli-tude, but was rarely solitary (consider-ing the abundant wildlife). Thoughsome would criticize Henry for this, thepoint of the experiment in simple livingwas just that: an experiment in simpleliving – to face the essentials of life,learn from nature, and write what somehave called “American scripture.”

From that little cabin where he livedfor two years, two months and two days,he wrote major portions of his first book,“A Week on the Concord and Merrimack

Rivers.” He wrote essays, prepared lec-tures and scribbled in his journal. And,one of the great works of American liter-ature, “Walden,” emerged from thosewoods.

If you haven’t read “Walden” sinceschool, I suggest you read it again. Ifyou’ve never read it, I envy you – you’rein for a treat. Wit and wisdom, “spiritu-al” insights, keen observations from ayoung naturalist. The book is packedwith stories harvested from one patch ofearth and one small New England town-ship. As we know, many environmental-

Facts, foundations and castles in the airHighland ViewsChris Highland

Guest columnist

See CASTLES, Page 2D

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2D ❚ SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020 ❚ ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES

It seems that during these timescaused by the Coronavirus outbreakhere and around the world the impor-tance of hope should become evident inour thoughts and actions. We cannottalk clearly about hope without includ-ing the concepts of trust and faith. Allthree work together as the foundation ofour daily lives. This is true in a spiritualsense as well in secular thinking. Verysimply put, faith is belief in somethingseen or unseen that it will do or be whatit is supposed to do or be. Trust is theknowledge that something will happenas planned. And hope takes these twotogether and determines that today willbe better than yesterday, and tomorrowwill be better than the days before.

Many of us go from day to day notrealizing the force within us that keepsus going. What is it that pushes us out ofour beds and homes every day, gives usthe determination to face whatever is“out there,” and gives us the assurancethat we are on the right path? I believewe can name that invisible force, thatever-present drive, hope.

I invite you to read about a man whohad nothing left but hope, and his faithin God who was the Source of his hope.Jeremiah, the prophet, found himself ina terrible situation. The army of Babylonhad surrounded the city of Jerusalemready to completely destroy everythingand everyone. If that wasn’t enough,Jeremiah had been placed in prisonfalsely accused of helping the enemy.One day one of Jeremiah’s kinfolk cameto the prison to ask him a most ridicu-lous question. “Hey, Jeremiah. Do youwant to buy some land? It is land thathas been in the family and you have firstchoice.” And what do you think Jeremi-ah answered? We can find the answer inJeremiah 32: 1-3, 6,7,9,10,15.

The deed was sealed and put in a safeplace for future reference. God made astatement through this act by Jeremiah;in the middle of a situation in which ev-erything seemed to be a loss, jobs wereuncertain, health issues caused fear,God told him and tells us, “Houses,fields, and vineyards will again bebought in this land. I will restore my cre-ation.” And in this statement, we canfind hope, hope for today, as well as to-morrow. Hope begins with trust andtrust in God means that we must turnloose of ourselves and our efforts to con-trol things. Jeremiah was not in control,and we must turn loose of the notion

that we are in control of our lives and theevents surrounding our lives. We cer-tainly have no control over the events inour lives and the lives of the peoplearound us in the health crises of today.However, we can control the degree inwhich we put into place precautions.And trust God for the outcome!

A man went to see Mother Teresa asshe worked with the dying people inCalcutta, India. He wanted to find outfor sure what God wanted him to do; hewanted clarity of God’s will for his life.The man asked Mother Teresa to prayfor God to give him clarity, but she re-fused. When the man asked her why,she responded, “Clarity is the last thingthat you are holding to and you must letit go.” The man said, “But you alwaysseem to be clear on what God wants youto do.” Mother Teresa replied, “I havenever had clarity; but what I have istrust. I will pray that you will come totrust God.”

We hear God offering a seeming ridic-ulous solution to Jeremiah: “I want youto buy some land. You may not own ittomorrow or even be alive, but I wantyou to buy it today.” Out of a situationthat appears hopeless, if we look closelyenough, we see God offering hope. “Buythis land because I promise you that oneday all the land which is being takenaway will be returned to my people.”

God uses a simple, doable act to producehope in Jeremiah which he shared withthe people. God often finds somethingsimple in our lives to show His faithful-ness and to produce hope in the face ofdiscouragement and impossibility.

A woman came late to the LittleLeague baseball game. The game had al-ready started so she asked a player sit-ting in the dugout the score. He replied,“We are behind 14 to nothing.” The wom-an said, “You don’t look too discour-aged.” The player answered, “Whyshould we be discouraged? We haven’tbatted yet.” Hope based on trust andconfidence.

A little girl was taking a test in sci-ence class one day when she was asked,“What do hibernating animals live onduring the winter?” She wrote down heranswer, “Hibernating animals live onthe hope of the coming spring.” We asfollowers of Christ should be living onthe hope of each new day as it bringsfresh grace and mercies, that tomorrowwill be a better than today. We should beliving on the hope of everlasting lifewhich can begin now.

And by the way, spring is here!This column is the opinion of the Rev.

Tim McConnell, assistant pastor ofLong's Chapel United Methodist Churchin Lake Junaluska. Reach him at 828-456-3993 or pastortimmc.blogspot.com.

Each new day brings fresh grace and merciesDevotionalTim McConnell

Guest columnist

ists from John Muir onward havebeen inspired by Thoreau’s littlebook.

In preparation for teaching a classon Thoreau, I was re-reading “AWeek,” “Civil Disobedience,” his jour-nal, his radical abolitionist writingsand “Walden,” when I came uponthese lines in his conclusion: “If youhave built castles in the air, your workneed not be lost; that is where theyshould be. Now put the foundationsunder them.” This is deserving ofdeeper thought as if sounding thedepths of Walden Pond.

Henry was a bit of an idealist.Caught up in the whirlpool of Emer-son’s circle of Transcendentalists, hewas curious to explore the frontiersof truth out and beyond the restric-tions of orthodox religion or staid so-ciety. His incisive comments on reli-gious faith still hold weight, thoughhe wasn’t so much pointing fingers atthe institution as pointing outside: “Isuppose that what in others is reli-gion, is in me love of nature” (Journal,1842).

I was reminded of the views of So-ren Kierkegaard (a philosopher Istudied in college while reading Tho-reau). When commenting on FirstCorinthians 8:1: “Love builds up,”Kierkegaard wrote: “To build upwithout a foundation at all is impos-sible – it is building in the air … build-ing air castles” (“Works of Love”). ForKierkegaard, love has to be buildingon a foundation. But what is thegrounding we need?

For the cabin-builder by the pond,faith was not enough of a foundation.Having beliefs, even “cloudy” beliefs,may be fine, but we need to bring itdown to earth, to find naturally sub-stantial substances. Nature providesthe building material – the mud,rock, sweat and brain – to construct,step by step, brick by brick, mind bymind, a firm foundation beneath ourcommon hopes and dreams.

Musician Don McLean recorded“Castles in the Air” in 1970: “I'm tiredof castles in the air, I’ve got a dream Iwant the world to share, And castlewalls just lead me to despair.” Tho-reau and Kierkegaard would singalong with that. They knew a well-built house, like a well-built life, restson true essentials.

We don’t need to discard ourdreams, or sink into despair. Yet, tobuild our cabin or castle – to shapeour life – we may have to face an es-sential fact, as Thoreau described: “Imight pursue some path, howeversolitary and narrow and crooked, inwhich I could walk with love and rev-erence.” This solitary path might notlead to castles or clouds, but mayturn out to be “the higher way.”

Chris Highland served as a Protes-tant minister and interfaith chap-lain for many years. He is a teacher,writer, freethinker and humanist cel-ebrant. Chris and his wife Carol, aPresbyterian minister, live in Ashe-ville. Learn more at chighland.com.

CastlesContinued from Page 1D

Submit your event at least two weeks inadvance online at events. citizen-times.com. Click on “Add your event” tosubmit details.Many events have been canceled orpostponed due to the Covid-19 emer-gency. It is best to call ahead or checkwith organizer’s websites to verify thestatus of any local event.

March 29

Trinity Episcopal Church: 10:45 a.m.service live streamed. 8 a.m. and 5:30p.m. services suspended. 60 Church St.,Asheville. 828-253-9361 orhttp://www.trinityasheville.org/.Biltmore Church: The church will nothost services at any of its six locations.Services at 9:15 and 11 a.m. will be

streamed at biltmorechurch.com/live oron the Biltmore Church Facebook page.First Congregational Church, Hen-dersonville: Worship services and activ-ities canceled through March 31. Onlineservice alternatives are being investi-gated. fcchendersonville.org and 828-692-8630.Trinity Baptist Church: Moving churchservices online. 216 Shelburne Road,Asheville. http://tbcasheville.org/.Mills River Presbyterian Church: Ser-vices and activities canceled throughMarch. A re-evaluation and update willbe communicated within next twoweeks for April activities.Lutheran Church of the Nativity: Noworship services until Holy Week. 2425Hendersonville Road, Arden.

First Baptist Church, 74 Academy St.,Canton: Worship at 11 a.m. Watch onFacebook at Canton First BaptistChurch or listen at http://wptlra-dio.net/ or on WPTL 101.7 FM 920 AM.Links are at www.canton-fbc.org.West Canton Baptist Church: 11 a.m.service can be found on Facebook. 75Lowe St., off Old Clyde Road, Canton.https://www.westcantonbaptist.org/.The Episcopal Church of Saint John inthe Wilderness: No services throughMarch. 1895 Greenville Highway, FlatRock. 828-693-9783.West Asheville Baptist Church: 10:30a.m. service can be found on Facebook.926 Haywood Road. 828-253-9826 orwww.westashevillebaptist.org.

RELIGION CALENDAR

Practicing social distancing to pro-tect yourself and others from the coro-navirus doesn’t mean you can’t helpothers during these trying times.

Sure, it is a helpless feeling to bestuck at home, but there are plenty ofthoughtful and helpful things you cando to encourage and support yourneighbors — without leaving home.

Here are some suggestions from theTennessean’s Ms. Cheap and her read-ers. Have another suggestion? Pleaseemail mscheap@tennessean.com.

Lead a virtual food drive

“A virtual food drive allows you tomake the most impact without ever hav-ing to leave the comfort of your home,”says Courtney Blaise at Second HarvestFood Bank of Middle Tennessee.

Blaise said your Virtual Food Drivepage is “customizable to you and canhave a logo, photo, and wording thatsuits you. You can set it up as a “one pot”page or competition- style.

“Create a competition within yourcompany to see who can raise the most,”she suggested. “Social distancing andisolation can be hard, but this is a greatway to keep people involved and feelgood about making a positive differenceduring difficult times.”

Once your drive is set up, you canpromote it via Facebook, Twitter, Insta-gram, LinkedIn, etc. This helps you stayin touch with your social circle, whileletting them know you’re raising moneyand that they can join in, Blaise said.

Check your local food bank websitesor Google “virtual food drive” for yourtown.

Buy gift cards to support localbusiness

Buying gift cards to local businessesyou want to support is another way tohelp. A Facebook suggestion on the Ms.Cheap page from Paula Wade said, “Ifthere’s a locally owned restaurant thatyou love, and that you want to makesure survives, buy a gift card from thatrestaurant. They can use it to stayafloat. Little ones need it.”

Reach out with handwritten notes

Kim Chester, a hair stylist in SpringHill, has been sending 10-12 notes everyday to family members and to seniorswho are isolated and in need of a littleencouragement.

“I’ve always liked writing notes. Andbeing home all day with nothing to do, ithelps me to not get so anxious,” saidChester, whose notes mostly say she iskeeping them in her thoughts and pray-ers.

“I just let them know I am thinkingabout them. Some are family memberswho I know are not getting out, andsome are people I don’t even know. Achurch in Goodlettsville gave me somenames of some shut-ins that theythought would like to get a note.”

Create a close neighborhoodnetwork

“The stress level goes down whenyou know where you can go for help.Here in my neighborhood, ChestnutBend, the offers of help, who has extratoilet paper, who has teenagers willingto do things for you or who is cooking ex-tra for those who can’t, etc.,” Ceil Sur-brook said.

“Even prior to the ‘quarantines,’ I hada list of people I can call on for anything.The ‘panic factor’ is way down here inCB because we know, even if you livealone, help is only a call or text away. Iknow we’re not the only neighborhoodlike this ... but I’m just expressing mygratitude for being a small part of thisone.”

Gather items for future giveaways

While you are home with not enoughto do, start pulling together excesshousehold items and clothing to giveaway later to shelters or thrift shops.Clean out your kitchen pantry and pullout nonperishables to give to your foodbank or food pantry, or even gatheritems for a future yard sale to benefitsome worthy organization.

As Bette Horton said, “As seniors, weare home bound and getting cabin fever.De-cluttering is worthwhile for anamazing future yard sale!” Good idea,especially if you donate the proceeds toa good cause.

Consider at-risk neighbors foryour shopping list

If you are going out to grocery orpharmacy, check with at -risk neighborsto see if you can get something for them,so they do not have to go out. You canjust drop what they need at their doorand save them a potentially risky trip.

Plant an extra row

If starting a garden is on your list ofthings to do while you are sheltering inplace, consider an extra row or two toshare with a local food project whenyour crop comes in. It is an easy way togive back, and they can always put it togood use.

And prayers and good thoughts arecertainly worth offering up, too.

Stay safe!Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or

mscheap@tennessean.com.

How you can help others during social distancingMary HanceNashville TennesseanUSA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

Handwritten letters is a thoughtful way to connect with family members andseniors who are isolated and in need of a little encouragement. GETTY IMAGES