Planning Begins for America's 250th Birthday
The Wired Word for the Week of February 16, 2025

In the News

By executive order on January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump took action to "provide a grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of American Independence on July 4, 2026," and "to take other actions to honor the history of our great Nation."

This effort will build on the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration which occurred a half century ago. The White House told Fox News Digital that the celebration will emphasize "national renewal of our founding ideals after a period of national unrest and division." America's 250th anniversary, said the White House, will "afford an opportunity to unite the American people around their shared history and common future as a nation."

A group called "Task Force 250" will organize the celebration. According to the order, the President "shall be the Chair of Task Force 250 and the Vice President will serve as Vice Chair." An executive director will administer and execute the day-to-day operations of Task Force 250, a group which will be made up of members ranging from the Secretary of State to the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Additional actions included the reinstatement of executive orders from Trump's first administration: "Building and Rebuilding of Monuments to American Heroes" and "Building the National Garden of American Heroes." Additional historically significant Americans will be recommended "for inclusion in the National Garden of American Heroes, to bring the total number of heroes to 250."

ABC News reports that it was in a 2020 speech, celebrating Independence Day at Mount Rushmore, that Trump first announced his plans to create "a new monument to the giants of our past." At that time, he listed some of the people who were to be included: Davy Crockett, Billy Graham, Whitney Houston, Harriet Tubman and Antonin Scalia, among others. No site was selected and the garden was never funded by Congress. In May 2021, President Joe Biden abolished the task force that was formed to create the "National Garden of American Heroes."

During his 2024 campaign, Trump talked about creating a yearlong "Salute to America 250" celebration. He said that when he returned to office he would convene a task force that would coordinate with state and local governments to plan festivities, beginning on Memorial Day 2025. He wanted the celebration to include a yearlong "Great American State Fair" in Iowa, featuring pavilions that would "showcase the glory of every state in the Union, promote pride in our history, and put forth innovative visions for America’s future." In addition, he shared a desire to establish "Patriot Games" -- sports contests featuring high school athletes from across the country. He hoped these games would "allow young Americans from every state to show off the best of American skill, sportsmanship, and competitive spirit."

This weekend in February is an appropriate time to focus on American heroes, since Monday, February 17, is Presidents Day. Officially known as Washington's Birthday, the federal holiday was originally meant to honor our country's first president, George Washington. According to USA Today, "Washington was born in Virginia on Feb. 11, 1731, according to the then-used Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar which moved his birthday a year and 11 days to Feb. 22, 1732."

Over time, the holiday began to honor President Abraham Lincoln as well, since his birthday is February 12. Because the holiday falls between the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, it has become commonly known as Presidents Day. In 1885, Congress designated February 22, Washington's birthday, as a holiday for all federal workers, but the holiday was changed to the third Monday in February in 1971.

According to CBS News, a group of historians, political scientists and presidential scholars recently evaluated presidents across 20 categories and ranked them best to worst. In this ranking, the top president was Franklin D. Roosevelt, followed by Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. The Mount Rushmore National Monument, carved from 1927 to 1941, contains enormous likenesses of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation.

More on this story can be found at these links:

Celebrating America's 250th Birthday. The White House
Trump to Create Task Force to Plan 'Extraordinary Celebration' for 250th Anniversary of America's Independence. Fox News
Trump Makes Plans to Mark the Nation's 250th Anniversary Celebration and Recognize 'American Heroes.' ABC News
When is Presidents Day 2025? Date, History, and Why We Celebrate. USA Today
Presidents Ranked From Worst to Best. CBS News

Applying the News Story

As Christians, we are challenged to live with integrity in our civil society, as well as to abide by the values of the kingdom of God. We have a responsibility to elect honorable political leaders, and also to live by the ideals of God's kingdom in our personal and congregational lives. Use this lesson as an opportunity to discuss the qualities of leadership and citizenship that are important to you, as well as faithful to God.

The Big Questions

1. What ideals from our nation's founding should be highlighted during a celebration of our 250th birthday? How would a renewal of these ideals help our country in a time of division?

2. How does American history unite us as a people? How does it divide us? What should we work on together if we want to have a "common future"? What people or groups seem to benefit from division?

3. Who would you include in a "Garden of American Heroes"? Name your top three, and give a reason for each selection. What four persons would you carve into a biblical Mount Rushmore? Why did you choose them?

4. What are some of the values of the kingdom of God? What are the core teachings of Jesus? How does your church community organize its life around them? In what ways does it fail to do so?

5. Where do you see alignment between the ideals of the United States and the ideals of God's rule in civil society? Where is there divergence? How do you express appropriate loyalty to each, if at all?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Genesis 17:1-2
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous." (For context, read Genesis 17:1-14.)

In the book of Genesis, God makes a covenant with Abram (later, Abraham), the great patriarch of the Israelites. God invites Abram to walk before him "and be blameless," and God says that he will make a covenant with him, and that Abram will be "exceedingly numerous." God makes a deal with him: In exchange for Abram's devotion, God promises to multiply him and make him exceedingly fruitful, to establish him as the father of a multitude of nations, with kings and family and a land that his family could call its own.

This is covenant in its classic sense: A term of relationship between a superior and an inferior party, with the superior party -- in this case, God -- establishing the bond and setting the terms. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God renews this covenant with the people of Israel over and over, and the deal is always basically the same: You shall be my people and I shall be your God.

Questions: Which leaders in American history have called citizens into a covenant, one in which devotion is exchanged for benefits? Who are the great covenant-makers of Christian history, and what have been the terms of their agreements? What is the value of a covenant, for individuals and communities?

Exodus 3:7-8
Then the LORD said [to Moses], "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites." (For context, read Exodus 3:1-12.)

The book of Exodus reports the mighty act in which God liberates his people from slavery in Egypt. Knowing that the Hebrews have suffered, God comes down to "deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land." Moses is appointed to lead God's people out, and he does so, through the Red Sea and on toward the Promised Land, "a land flowing with milk and honey." Throughout Jewish and Christian history, this event has been considered crucial in the life of faith, for it demonstrates God's solidarity with the oppressed and his desire to liberate people from physical and spiritual bondage.

Questions: Who have been the great leaders who did the work of liberation in American history? What work are we challenged to do as we follow them? Who have been the liberators of Christian history, and what role do they play in our faith today? Why should we, as Americans and Christians, be concerned about physical and spiritual bondage?

Mark 1:14-15
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." (No context needed.)

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus begins his ministry by traveling from the wilderness of Judea to the populated area of Galilee and proclaiming "the good news of God." In the first century, "good news" (Greek euangelion) was typically a political message that announced the arrival of a powerful helper, the defeat of an enemy, or a change of regimes. In many Bibles, euangelion is translated "gospel."

The good news that Jesus proclaims is that "the kingdom of God has come near." God's kingdom is arriving along with Jesus, but it is not fully present. To use an American political term, we might say that it has been "inaugurated." The response that Jesus calls people to make is to "repent," which means to make a change of heart and mind. He wants his followers to turn their lives around and "believe in the good news."

Questions: How do you serve the kingdom of God in your personal life, in the church, and in the wider community? How do you understand "the good news of God" as a change of regimes? Where do you see the kingdom of God coming near today, and how do you respond to it?

Acts 18:26
[Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. (For context, read Acts 18:24-28.)

Priscilla was a powerful church leader in the book of Acts. Along with her husband Aquila, she led the church in maintaining right belief, showing love for the poor, and mentoring young leaders such as Apollos, who "spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John" (v. 25). Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and "explained the Way of God to him more accurately."

Priscilla and Aquila were close companions of the apostle Paul, as well as being teachers of the gospel. In four of the six times this couple is mentioned, Priscilla is named first. This may indicate that she was the more prominent of the two. In a male-dominated society, she was certainly an example of God's insistence on the dignity of women in church leadership. She showed God's plan for what it means to be part of the community of faith, including the raising up of women who have gifts for teaching, mentoring, and performing works of charity.

Questions: What lesson does the leadership of Priscilla have for the church today? What can she teach us about women in leadership beyond the church? Who are some of the women that you consider to be heroes of American and Christian history, and why do you feel this way?

For Further Discussion

1. In his plans for the "National Garden of American Heroes," President Trump listed a number of faith heroes, including Billy Graham and Harriet Tubman. How were these two involved in both religious and political activities? What lessons do they teach you about expressing faith in the public arena?

2. In his book Balancing Acts: Obligation, Liberation, and Contemporary Christian Conflicts, TWW Team Member Henry Brinton writes, "In each election cycle, conservatives emulate the covenant-making character of Abraham, as they focus on the obligations of religious life and show an appreciation for moral clarity. Liberals continue to march behind Moses, as they embrace religion as a liberation movement and stress God's love for the oppressed of the earth. Obligation versus liberation, and clarity versus charity -- these distinctive approaches continue to define the theological battle lines in church and society." Discuss.

3. "What was the message of Jesus?" asks Mark Roberts of Fuller Seminary. Many "would answer this question by saying something about love, because we rightly associate Jesus' teaching with love. But, as it turns out, love is not the core of his message, though it is close and essential to that core. What Jesus actually proclaimed, first and foremost, was not that we should love, but something else. ... It is, in a nutshell: The kingdom of God has come near." Why would this message anger people and lead to the crucifixion of Jesus? How is the arrival of the kingdom of God still countercultural today?

4. As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday over the next year, what celebrations of American faith would be appropriate? How would you like to take part, as an individual and a congregation?

Responding to the News

Offer your support to leaders of your church and community, while also holding them accountable. Keep in mind the values of God's rule in civil society as you reflect on the history of the United States. Make a commitment to share the good news of the kingdom in your home, church and community.

Prayer

God of the nations, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to live as Christians in the United States of America. Remind us of our obligation to keep covenant with you, and give us opportunities to join you in liberating work, as we attempt to create a more perfect Union. May we live by the values of your kingdom as we worship, work, learn, serve and celebrate together. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Other News This Week

Judge Caprio's Compassion Explained in New Memoir
The Wired Word for the Week of February 16, 2025

In the News

Retired municipal court judge Frank Caprio, 88, of Providence, Rhode Island, just published his memoir, Compassion in the Court: Life-Changing Stories from America's Nicest Judge. His brand of what he calls "compassionate justice" began to capture the imagination of over 20 million people who follow him on social media, through a public access television program called Caught in Providence, in 1998. The program was later syndicated on 200 stations nationwide and ran until his retirement in 2023.

Most of the defendants appearing before Caprio were facing misdemeanor charges for minor infractions of the law: parking tickets, traffic violations and the like. Before rendering any decision, he took time to listen to their stories to better understand what brought them to his court. "Under my robe, I have a heart, not a badge," he says.

One mother of two young children, an elementary school teacher, came before him, prepared to take responsibility for two unpaid traffic tickets issued to a car registered in her name. The father of her children had committed the traffic violations but wasn't in court because he was in jail.

Caprio dismissed the charges, even though legally, the woman was liable for the fines for the tickets, because, he said, "I knew those tickets were not her doing and paying them would have caused her greater financial and personal hardship. She was not only a good mother but also a teacher who would have an important impact on the lives of many children. ... That money needed to be spent on [her children,] Luke and Bella."

"Too often, tickets and fines mount while people are in jail," Caprio wrote in his book. "When they get out, they are saddled with fines they cannot pay. Often their licenses have been suspended because of their unpaid tickets, making it next to impossible for them to seek employment and get their lives back on track. We need to remove these hurdles as much as possible for the good of all of us."

Sometimes, Caprio dismissed a defendant's charges, other times he lowered penalties, or paid the fees himself. Many who viewed episodes of Caprio's court cases on television or online sent in unsolicited donations to support his acts of mercy.

Once, after Caprio's grandfather was arrested on a drunk and disorderly charge, his grandmother had gone to court to plead, in broken English, that the judge not send him to jail, explaining that he worked hard to support their 10 children. The judge dismissed the charges and told her to feed him well. That incident weighed on Caprio's mind when he became a judge.

"When I was on the bench," Caprio wrote, "and I looked at a defendant, particularly an immigrant who stood before me with fear and uncertainty in their eyes, what I saw was my grandfather and my grandmother."

The grandson of Italian immigrants, he says he had "the privilege of growing up poor." His father worked as a milkman, and sometimes paid a destitute family's bill out of his own pocket. Caprio's judicial philosophy is closely related to the Roman Catholic faith he saw his parents model. "Be kind to others, be slow to judge, and always show mercy," he said in an interview. "I feel like I'm doing God's work."

"I'm just a small time municipal court judge who's trying to do good -- that's all I am -- who tries to take into consideration the circumstances surrounding the people before me and remember what my dad told me: When someone appears before you, put yourself in their shoes. Imagine it's you before them," Caprio said. "How do you want to be treated?"

More on this story can be found at these links:

An Interview With Judge Frank Caprio, America's Nicest Judge -- Just Ask His 20M Followers. ABA Journal
Compassion in the Court: The True Story of Judge Frank Caprio (Video 12:02). EWTN
'Nicest Judge in the World' Talks New Book (Video 4:11). Good Morning America
Retired Judge Frank Caprio Releases New Book (Video 10:36). NBC 10 WJAR
'Don't Say Another Word!': Top 12 Funniest Moments From Caught in Providence (Video 45:06). Law&Crime Network

The Big Questions

1. What is the difference between judgmentalism and discernment?

2. What factors should a judge consider when trying to determine guilt or innocence of a defendant?

3. How should a judge determine what constitutes justice in a particular case?

4. What scriptural passages about judges and justice come to mind, and what do you take away from them that is useful in your own life?

5. How can we implement principles of justice and mercy that best reflect the heart of God revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Genesis 38:24-26

About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself; moreover, she is pregnant as a result of prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned." As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, "It was the owner of these who made me pregnant." And she said, "Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff." Then Judah acknowledged them and said, "She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not lie with her again. (For context, read Genesis 38:1-26.)

This chapter tells the story of Tamar, who married Judah's son Er. When he died without producing an heir, the law required that Onan, Er's brother, marry his widow, so that she could become pregnant and have a son to maintain Er's lineage. Onan married Tamar, but refused to impregnate her, since the offspring would not be his. God was displeased with his actions, "and he put him to death also" (v. 10).

By this time, Judah might have concluded that Tamar was either a jinx or somehow to blame for the death of his sons, so he was disinclined to give her to his third son, Shelah. But he pretended that when Shelah grew up, he would fulfill the law's requirement and marry her (v. 11).

After Shelah grew up and Judah failed to give him in marriage to Tamar, she hid her identity and played the role of a prostitute in the red light district where Judah was working (vv. 14-15). Without realizing who she was, Judah solicited Tamar for sex and negotiated a price, a kid from the flock; she required that he give her his signet, cord and staff to ensure that he would keep his promise (vv. 16-18). But later, when Judah tried to send a kid by his friend to recover his personal items, she was nowhere to be found (vv. 20-23).

A few months later, Judah learned that Tamar was pregnant as a result of prostitution. He was quick to find her guilty, and demanded that she die by fire, as the law required. But in her own defense, Tamar presented his personal items that he had given her in pledge. If he condemned her, he had to admit his own guilt in having sex with her, which would have meant he also should be put to death. Not only that, but he had violated the law, which required him to give his son Shelah to her in marriage, which he had not done.

A side note: If Judah had followed through with his demand for capital punishment for his daughter-in-law, he would have killed the unborn twins in her womb, who were his own offspring. One of them would be added to the lineage of Jesus, the Messiah (Matthew 1:3)!

Questions: What does this incident reveal about why human judicial decisions are inherently complicated and potentially flawed? What are we to make of the fact that Judah and Tamar are included in the ancestry of Jesus?

Luke 6:31, 35-38

[Jesus said,] "Do to others as you would have them do to you. ... Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (For context, read Luke 6:31-42.)

Judge Caprio says he has been guided by the principle of the Golden Rule which Jesus spells out here: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." That involves placing himself in the shoes of the person who comes before him, he explains, "taking into consideration their background, their trials, their tribulations." If he was in their position, he asks himself, how would he hope a judge would treat him?

In the Bible, we are taught that you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7). Other religions teach a similar concept, popularly known as "karma," or "what goes around comes around." If you sow seeds of condemnation, judgment and unforgiveness, that's the crop you will reap; if you plant seeds of love, good deeds, mercy and forgiveness, you will be shown love and mercy and receive forgiveness in return. Jesus tells us not to sow good seed in order to get favorable treatment ("expect nothing in return"), but he assures us that God will greatly reward those who do this.

Jesus also points out the problem of condemning others for what amount to insignificant offenses ("the speck in your neighbor's eye") when you are guilty of much greater sins against God ("the log in your own eye") (vv. 41-42).

Questions: How does Jesus' teaching in verses 41-42 apply to the situation in Genesis 38 in the preceding scriptural section above? Why might we resent God showing kindness and mercy "to the ungrateful and the wicked"? What will it take for us to show that we are truly "children of the Most High"?

Luke 12:13-14

Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" (For context, read Luke 12:13-21.)

Jesus was not eager to take on the role of a jurist. Elsewhere, Jesus said, "You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid, for it is not I alone who judge but I and the Father who sent me" (John 8:15-16). And again, he said, "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world" (John 12:47).

Questions: What do you think it was about being a judge or arbitrator that didn't appeal to Jesus? Why do you think we are so quick to judge others when the one we say we follow was not eager to act in that role? What human standards do people use to make judgments about what is right and wrong? How do those standards differ from Jesus' standards?

John 8:7, 10-11
When they kept on questioning him, [Jesus] straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." ... Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." (For context, read John 8:1-11.)

Once, experts in religious law brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery, asking whether Jesus agreed with the Mosaic law that such a woman should be stoned. John tells us that they really wanted to trick Jesus into saying something that would get him into trouble. They wanted "to kill two birds with one stone," as it were. But Jesus didn't take the bait. Instead, he answered in a way that made the woman's accusers examine themselves, to see whether they were qualified to pass judgment on her.

There is an old saying, that when you point your finger at someone, you are also pointing three fingers back at yourself.

In his memoir about the Montgomery bus boycott, Stride Toward Freedom, civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., described a crisis that occurred in 1956, when one of the officers in the Montgomery Improvement Association, Rev. U.J. Fields, angry that he had not been reelected to his position as recording secretary, publicly made false accusations against other members of the committee. Some in the protest movement skewered him "as either a 'fool' or a 'black Judas.'" Fields came to deeply regret his actions, and confessed that he had felt hurt by the board, and had spoken out as his way of retaliating.

At a public meeting held to address the crisis, King reminded the congregants that they had committed themselves "to the way of nonviolence, and nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." He urged his listeners to remember that everyone makes mistakes, saying, "Now some of us are here this evening to stone one of our brothers because he has made a mistake." After a pause, King spoke the words of Christ: "'Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.'"

Then he called their attention to the parable of the prodigal son, and asked, "Will we be like the unforgiving elder brother, or will we, in the spirit of Christ, follow the example of the loving and forgiving father?"

Then Fields came to the podium, confessed his fault and humbly asked for forgiveness, which was granted.

Question: What can these incidents teach us about condemning and forgiving others?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss this: In a Star Trek episode entitled "Devil in the Dark," a group of miners felt threatened by an alien creature called the Horta, which was trying to protect its eggs from the miners' encroachment.

In a social media post dated February 7, 2025, Vairal Video 4 wrote: "Kirk, having pieced together the true nature of the conflict, takes an unwavering stand -- not for the familiar, but for the misunderstood. The Horta is unlike anything the crew has encountered before. It's not humanoid, not conventionally relatable, and at first, it appears hostile. Yet Kirk recognizes what so many others fail to see: It is not the enemy. The real threat in this moment is blind aggression, the all-too-human tendency to react with force before understanding. ...

"He defies the natural instinct of tribalism, refusing to prioritize the lives of those who look like him over the life of a being that, to the miners, is nothing more than an obstacle. His words are not just a command but a declaration of principle: justice isn't about choosing sides based on familiarity; it's about choosing what is right, even when it's unpopular or difficult. ... it's about challenging biases, confronting fear with understanding, and proving that the measure of a civilization isn't in its technology but in its willingness to recognize the value of all life, no matter how different. ...

"The greatest test of morality is not how we treat those who resemble us, but how we treat those who don't."

2. President Jimmy Carter considered Romans 8:1 ("Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus") one of his favorite Bible verses because it focuses on how God accepts us completely and reconciles us, transforming our relationship from one of enemies to one of friends. In his daily devotional book, Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President," Carter wrote, "Romans 8:1 doesn't mean only that God no longer condemns those who believe; it also implies that 'in Christ Jesus' we will not condemn others."

How should the fact that we are not condemned impact the way we treat others? How do Matthew 18:23-35 and Ephesians 4:32 speak to the matter of judging others?

3. What principles about judging might we glean from these statements from Jesus?

● The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. John 5:22

● I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. John 5:30

● Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. John 7:24

● Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it? John 7:51

Responding to the News

Ask God to show you pockets in your own heart where you have stashed unforgiveness and judgmental attitudes toward others. As you confess and accept forgiveness for your own sins, ask God to fill you with understanding and mercy for those who have offended you.

Prayer

Merciful God, you are faithful and just in all your ways. Guide those entrusted with meting out justice in our courts, giving them wisdom to apply the law fairly and compassionately to those appearing before them. When we are tempted to condemn those who have sinned against us, remind us of Jesus' words, "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone." May we remember your great mercy to us and extend that same mercy to others. Amen.

At the age of 12, Kelly McMasters, the daughter of a hospice volunteer, began writing her own obituary, a practice she has continued most years.

"As I grew to accept that every patient my mother met would soon die, some within hours of their meeting and others after months, I also came to understand that most people outside our house could not tolerate talking much about death, especially their own."

But McMasters says that rather than finding the exercise of reflecting on her own mortality morbid, it provided her the opportunity to review the direction of her life and to evaluate how closely her behavior matched her core beliefs and values. The practice helped bring clarity about what was working for her and what she might want to change to bring her lifestyle in line with her priorities and aspirations.

One blogger acknowledged, "Writing one's obituary can be uncomfortable. The goal is not to feel bad but to recover joy -- focus on living a life worth dying for."

"Most years, ... writing my obituary brings a kind of comfort," McMasters mused. "When I flip through my old obituaries, I am flipping through past versions of myself. In many ways, they are as good as dead, unreachable former selves, and I find solace in being able to say hello."

"There is a comfort in the accumulation, like the stacking of blocks -- daughter, wife, mother of one, mother of two," she explained. "And owning up to the unstacking, too, such as divorces, difficult moves, disruptions and the deaths of others in your life."

Some years when she experienced overwhelming personal or communal trauma, McMasters said she couldn't put pen to paper for this writing project at all. Other years she wrote "an aspirational obituary" that was more imaginative than factual, about what she hoped her life and legacy might be when she comes to the end of her time on Earth.

Consultant Jennie Shulkin says that writing your own obituary can become "a tool for self-reflection" on what aspects and events of your life you consider most important and worth remembering. Things that once seemed profoundly significant may become less so in the rearview mirror, while other things that had been given short shrift in earlier years may take on added meaning later in life.

Contemplating your mortality, Shulkin adds, can increase your gratitude "for the more positive experiences you've had" and for the people who have brought joy to your life. Learning to accept the inevitability of one's demise, she says, can motivate us to live life more purposefully and to make the most of the time we have left.

More on this story can be found at these links:

Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year. The New York Times
Why You Should Write Your Own Obituary: A Reflective Writing Exercise. Override
55 Examples for How to Write Your Own Obituary. Legacy
Exercise: Writing Your Own Obituary -- A Reflection on Legacy and Purpose. Linkedin

Applying the News Story

TWW contributor Mary Sells wrote: "I'm not sure if the 'celebration of life trend' is uniquely current American only, yet it jibes with my thought that we are death-averse … even though we all experience it in our families, friends and ultimately for ourselves. I call it 'Ozzie and Harriet' syndrome, where everything is supposed to be pretty and happy or otherwise swept under the rug."

The Bible doesn't shy away from telling us the truth about our mortality. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that "it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says, "For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die." Later in that chapter the Teacher says that humans and animals have the same fate: "All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again" (Ecclesiastes 3:20). In another chapter he writes, "the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Since that is the case, he urges his readers to remember their creator in the days of their youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

"The living know that they will die," the Teacher writes (Ecclesiastes 9:5), and yet we have a tendency, especially in youth and perhaps more so in certain cultures, to imagine ourselves to be immortal.

The exercise of writing one's own obituary is an effort to confront the truth of the brevity of life honestly, so as to better appreciate what a gift every breath is to us.

The Big Questions

1. Why might people seek to avoid thinking about or discussing death?

2. What might be gained from a realistic acknowledgement of our own mortality?

3. How would you like people to remember you? What are the core values, most important achievements and contributions, unique personality traits you want to be remembered for? Who or what has helped make you who you are? How did you make the world a better place because of your presence in it?

4. How does our faith address our fear of death?

5. How does our faith speak to our hope of the resurrection?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4, 8

It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of everyone,

and the living will lay it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. ...

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; … (For context, read Ecclesiastes 7:1-8.)

The writer of these words had access to all manner of luxuries and pleasures, and yet he did not find lasting satisfaction in them. Instead, he came to understand that contemplating "the end of everyone" was a valuable activity that could enable people to live more wisely.

Questions: Do you agree that going to the house of mourning is better than going to the house of feasting? Why or why not? What benefits might one receive from attending a memorial service?

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (For context, read Psalm 23:1-6.)

Whether or not we realize it, every one of us walks through the valley of the shadow of death from the moment we are born until we die.

Questions: Why do we fear shadows? What capacity (if any) do shadows have to harm us? What gives the psalmist courage in the presence of evil? How are you experiencing the presence of God in times when you are aware that you are walking in death's dark shadow?

1 Corinthians 15: 26, 54

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ... When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." (For context, read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 54.)

Paul patiently explains in this chapter that the resurrection of Christ is essential to our faith, and that without it, our entire worldview collapses. Our own hope of resurrection is based on Christ's resurrection from the dead. The risen Christ conquers every enemy that rebels against God's gracious reign, finally obliterating death itself, so that he can turn over the kingdom to God the Father (vv. 24-25).

As long as we still live in "perishable" bodies, the prospect of death can fill us with fear. But elsewhere in Scripture we are told that through Jesus' death, he destroys "the one who has the power of death, ... the devil, and free[s] those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Question: To which teachings of our faith would you point to help relieve someone of their fear of death?

Revelation 21:1, 4-6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. …

"[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life." (For context, read Revelation 21:1-7.)

The writer speaks here of endings and beginnings: the passing away of death, mourning, crying, pain and first things, including the first heaven and the first earth and the sea, and the creation of all new things, a new heaven and a new earth. This passage hearkens back to Revelation 1:8 and 17-18, where the Lord God also identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, ... the First and the Last, the Living One who was dead and who is alive forever and ever, who has the keys of Death and of Hades.

Since Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet, the phrase, "I am the Alpha and the Omega" would be similar to saying "I am the A and the Z" in English.

Artist and author Jenny Bardoville wrote: "The seed is in the fruit and the fruit is in the seed. Scripture talks of the alpha and omega as a simultaneous being/character."

We sometimes use the euphemism of people "passing away" to mean that they have died. What a joy to learn that God promises that death itself will "pass away" or die!

Questions: What do you think it means that God is the first and the last letter of the alphabet? How can one person be both at the same time? In what sense might that also mean that God's being is inclusive of all the letters between Alpha and Omega as well?
To take the metaphor further, might we also say that God is (and has) the first word and the last word? What does that mean? And how does that connect with the idea that God is All in all (things)?
How does God as the Alpha and the Omega apply to creation as a whole? To your own life in particular? To human life and death?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss this, from Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End: "In the end, people don't view their life as merely the average of all its moments -- which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens. Measurements of people's minute-by-minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this fundamental aspect of human existence. A seemingly happy life may be empty. A seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause. We have purposes larger than ourselves."

2. Check out one or more of these obituaries written by people about themselves before they died:

            Philip Dayton Thorpe/1934-2018. The Salt Lake Tribune
            Kevin J. McGroarty. The Citizens' Voice
            Barbara Mingrone. Los Angeles Times

What are your first impressions upon reading what they wrote about themselves?

3. The "Hymn of Promise" (aka "In the Bulb There Is a Flower") by Natalie Sleeth (See Responding to the News #2 below) was inspired by lines in T.S. Eliot's poetry, such as "In my beginning is my end" and "In my end is my beginning" in Four Quartets and Exile. "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make beginning. The end is where we start from," wrote the bard.
Writer Donald Larter explained: "As we humans live our lives, we experience many beginnings and many endings. The only ones we can't repeat are the first and the last, since to be born is also to die (some sooner than later). What Eliot is saying, I believe, is simply this: Every ending is -- or at least it can be -- a beginning."

Learning to drive serves as an apt metaphor for this reality, Larter says. At first, a person acquires a learner's permit, practices driving with an experienced driver in the vehicle, and then takes vision, written, and road tests. When the student passes the tests, the period of formal learning comes to an end, and a new experience of driving without close supervision begins. "You could say the beginning of learning to drive began with the end in mind; namely, independence," Larter concludes. "To have a goal in mind at the beginning of any venture is to begin with the end in mind."

Winston Churchill applied Eliot's ideas to the defeat of Rommel's Afrika Corps in Egypt, in a speech in November 1942 when he said, "It is not the end; it is not the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Discuss how God transforms endings and dying into beginnings and living.

4. Reflect on this, from This Is Me Letting You Go, by Heidi Priebe: "To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. The people they're too exhausted to be any longer. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out, to become speedily found when they are lost.
"But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way. Sometimes it will be an even more luminescent flame. Sometimes it will be a flicker that temporarily floods the room with a perfect and necessary darkness."

Responding to the News

1. Try your hand at writing your own obituary. You can find some prompts to get you started in the links above. If you wish, share what you've written with the group, in person or in a group email or online session. What did you learn about yourself and each other through this exercise?

2. Share the hymn, In the Bulb There is a Flower (Video 3:10) as a statement of your faith that God has provided the seed of new beginnings within every ending, of new life on the other side of death.

Prayer suggested by Romans 14:7-9; Philippians 1:15-30

Immortal God, we marvel that you condescend to care for mere mortals, and even make a way for us to partake of life eternal through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ! Now we do not live or die for ourselves, but whether we live or die, we belong to you. In all our words and deeds, may Christ be exalted now as always in our bodies, whether by life or by death, for to us, living is Christ and dying is gain. Amen.