ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Lent
Our Body is a Temple and Other Thoughts
Necessary qualifying statement: everything that has been said about taking safety precautions for the coronavirus … I 100% support. Social distancing. Washing hands. Locking down. Apocalypse now. 100% behind it all. If at any point my post seems to suggest otherwise, then I have written poorly. What am I doing then? I suppose I’m taking advantage of the new perspective I’ve been given. These circumstances are historical and they have awoken all of us from a kind of epistemic slumber in which we viewed everyday as chaos as normal.
It’s 7:32 PM on Monday. Let me do a google search. *does google search. 16,497 people have died from coronavirus and counting. More googling. I find that China alerted the WHO that a new virus had been found on December 31st. Let's suppose it was dormant for two weeks. That means it’s been around/active for roughly 3 months. The numbers, all of them - those infected, recovered, that will die - will rise exponentially.
Still I wonder about this. There are 7+ billion people in the world. A lot of them were dying every day before the coronavirus. I’ve been around enough healthcare professionals and their talking points long enough to know that cardiovascular disease is the number one global killer. I google that. 17.9 million deaths a year. I do some math on my phone. 17.9 million people divided by 365 days a year. 49,000 people die from cardiovascular disease everyday. It’s been three months and 17K people have died from coronavirus. That number will rise exponentially, but still … in that same time, three months, 4.5 million people died of heart related problems and no one batted an eye.
I’m confused about this so I go next door to talk to my brother in law who works in a hospital. He doesn’t dispute the data, but he says that it’s about the way our health care systems are built. We are built to accept the fact that 4.5 million people will die from cardiovascular disease in three months, we are not built for 17K corona deaths in 3 months. He didn’t say that, but that’s what it boils down to.
I’m dumbfounded by this, and convicted. I get labs once a year. I’m on blood pressure medicine. I work out four times a week. By definition I drink too much alcohol in one week. I’m not a model American for health - I’m no Jared Gould or Dustin Kunz, no Brooke Rosolino or Risse Miller - but I’m not terrible either.
Mary Oliver once asked, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I suppose I’ll have to think about that more acutely now. Every morning when I wake up I set my feet on the ground and think to myself, “Well, I don’t have coronavirus today, that is something to be grateful for.” But the truth is I’m warring against my body in other ways that we’ve deemed culturally acceptable. Paul tells us our bodies are temples. That’s complicated. Bodies are formed physically and otherwise by all kinds of factors including genetics. Some of the scripts we’ve been handed about what healthy bodies are, are not helpful. And yet still I think Mary Oliver asks a good question. I’m called to be a steward of all the gifts I’ve been given including my body. Or as my buddy Marcus Mumford says, “in these bodies we will live, and in these bodies we will die. and where you invest your love, you invest your life.”
My point is not to inspire you to start working out, or eat better, or try and do something to improve your life. What I want is for you to appreciate your body. A few years ago I read a book that Philip Yancey wrote with Dr. Paul Brand. At one point in the book Brand raised the sensible objection of the atheist. Namely, that having seen the complexity of the human body and all the opportunities for our fickle existence to be wiped out, how could one still believe in a benevolent creator God. Brand’s response was interesting. He said that it was precisely because he has seen the complexity of biochemical existence that the real miracle for him was that any of it ever worked correctly ever.
So I wonder - every day that you wake up and survive, perhaps thrive, in your body (your very own body! Just the way it is!) which is a temple and a gift - what will you do with this one wild and precious life?
Need More Jameson In Your Life
Because the pub group extravaganza live on instagram was such a wild success, brother Jameson McGregor will come to you live again this Wednesday 3-25-20.
Sewing to Save a Life
This past week we announced a need given to us by the Waco Family Health Center. They are in need of masks. If you can sew and have some free time, elastic, cloth and charity in your heart, please consider sewing a mask or two to send to the Waco Family Health Center.
specs on the masks can be found on youtube here, or you can use these step by step instructions.
Completed masks can be sent to:
Please send masks to:
Family Health Center
Attn: Glenna Walker
1600 Providence Drive
Waco, Texas 76707
WacoISD Meals for Kids
We are still looking for volunteers to help pass out meals to kids at Kate Ross next week. The lunch shift from 10:45a-12:30p. We need two volunteers per shift. If you can help out please contact toph@ubcwaco.org
LAS (Lord’s Army of Shoppers)
Friends, we have put together a list of folks who are willing and ready to go shopping for people who isolated or shouldn’t leave their homes for medical reasons. If you would like to volunteer to be on the call list, please send toph@ubcwaco your name and number. As we have needs come into UBC, we will reach out to you and see if you are available to pick up groceries, food, medicine, etc… for someone in need. What we need you to do now is get the word out, and advertise that we have folks who are ready to help. Feel free to give them my contact email, or cell phone (254-498-2261). If you have any questions, or would like to be put on the list, please email toph@ubcwaco.org
Meals for Mommas
We are partnering with JSL to help provide meals, for you guessed it, Mommas. If you are cooking a meal that can freeze easily and been reheated, why not cook 2? You can drop your freezer meal off at JSL Headquarters between 12-2pm, M-F. Or, you can email toph@ubcwaco.org and I will come pick it up. You can also order meals for a family from this great waco company: www.talkmoremeals.com If you are order from the link, just mention you would like the meal to go JSL’s “Meals for Mommas.”
Lunch with UBC Staff
We had a great first lunch today with 14 folks in attendance from "California" to Georgia. The UBC Staff will be hosting lunch virtually every Tuesday at 12pm, for about an hour. We would love for you to join. Follow us on FB, and will send out the meeting link shortly before noon each week. Any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org
Parishioner of the Week
Mark Waldrop for advising on our technological set up going forth.
Work is Worship
Greeters: No Greeters this week
Coffee Makers: no coffee makers this week
Mug Cleaners: no mug cleaners this week
Money Counter: no money counters this week
Announcements
Sermon Text:
Youth Schedule
April 19 - 5/6 Family Game Night
April 26 - After Church Picnic
May 13 - Last Youth
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair: Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com
Jose Zuniga: jzgrphix2002@yahoo.com
Taylor Torregrossa: Taylordtorregrossa@gmail.com
Student Position: Davis Misloski
Student Position: Maddy O’Shaughnessy
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com
Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com
George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Erin Albin: erin.albin1@gmail.com
Sam Goff: samuelgoff92@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com