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Writer's pictureGwen Henderson

HEAD, HEART, HAND

Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe, to know what he ought to desire and to know what he ought to do.”


PRACTICE: Which of these do you need to urgently address? Believe, desire, do?


Collectively for last 24 months, we have had a plethora of examples where our survival hinged on what/who to believe, what to desire, what to do about so many things.


We had planned a trip to our favorite Caribbean Island for mid-March 2020. As our departure date approached, so did the dark days of the current pandemic. Would we believe the predictions of the experts that it was only going to get worse? Was our desire for a few days by the ocean with warm sunshine on our backs wrong? Should we take a risk and just go? Common sense prevailed, and we stayed home – the island closed its borders the day we were scheduled to arrive.


What we thought was just an anomaly has turned into an everyday occurrence. I spend a lot of time saying, “I don’t know what to believe. Should I? What should we do about…?”

Put another way, alignment of the head, heart and hands has become more difficult to achieve. Think of your immediate family, how many functions have you missed?


On January 6, 2021, while armed men and women were storming the White House, my brother was removed from a ventilator and died of Covid. I wholeheartedly believed that my family should have been present to celebrate his life, support his family and to share our grief. My desire to go was akin to a bad case of heartburn. We had the time and resources to do so safely and responsibly. My family thought about the safety and well-being of our large extended family. Would being physically present to satisfy our belief and desires, function as a catalyst for others to respond irresponsibly at some point?


An easy decision to make less than twelve months prior, had suddenly become so difficult. I know this to be true having attended the funeral of my older brother the prior year. We had never questioned being physical present for all family funerals and weddings before. Our desire was to be present on the one hand but on the other hand shouldn’t we also desire the safety for the entire family? I wish I could say we faced this dilemma only once.


We have responsibility for each other. Sometimes long held beliefs need to be examined. Take these beliefs and the desires, sift them through the sieve of the potential effect on us, our family and neighbor. Then act. Could this be what responsibility for each other looks like?


Genesis 4:9


PONDER THIS THOUGHT---We are not ourselves by ourselves.

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