In the News

Banking scams are on the rise, and older adults are common victims. In 2023, scams resulted in losses of $3.4 billion among people 60 and older. This was twice the amount of financial loss suffered by any other age group.

Why was this? According to yahoo!finance, older adults tend to have more money than younger people, making them attractive targets for fraudsters. In addition, they are often less technologically savvy than younger generations, which makes them more vulnerable.

Fraud loss is growing, increasing by 14% from 2022 to 2023 (based on complaints, not completed investigations), which makes it more important than ever to protect aging men and women from cyber scams. Fortunately, there are ways that family members and friends can help protect the elderly. Begin by being aware of common banking scams that target seniors:

The grandparent scam. This scam takes advantage of the relationship that grandparents have with their grandkids. Fraudsters may call pretending to be a grandchild, asking for money. Or, they may pose as someone trying to help the grandchild. In either case, the scammer will attempt to get the grandparent to send cash right away, often using Western Union.

Tech support scam. A pop-up or message will appear on the victim's computer, providing a phone number to call for help. After the victim calls, the scammer requests remote access to the device. Then, instead of fixing the alleged problem, the scammer gains access to secure information.

Sweepstakes, awards and lottery scams. In these scams, a senior is contacted and told that they have won an award. The fraudster will then request payment to cover fees or taxes. Needless to say, the prize never arrives.

Government impersonation scam. Here, the fraudster poses as a government employee, such as a representative from the IRS or Medicare. The scammer will request payment or sensitive account information. Often, the request is accompanied by a threat of legal action or elimination of benefits.

Fake check scam. In this deception, a scammer sends the victim a fake check for more than they claim they owe. Then they request that the recipient pay back the difference.

Bank account and credit card scams. The fraudster pretends to be a representative from a bank or credit card company. They call and say that they are investigating fraud or an issue with an account. The scammer will then ask for personal information and gain access to a bank or credit card account.

In addition, the Barracuda Blog lists five cyber scams that can affect people of any age. They include peer-to-peer payment frauds that target people who use payment methods such as Venmo or PayPal; AI-enhanced scams that impersonate trusted individuals; government account takeover scams that can include fake emails from the IRS; QR-code scams that lead people to malicious websites; and job listing scams.

Fortunately, there are ways to help prevent seniors from falling victim. Make sure they are informed about common elderly scams, so that they can be alert. Set up bank and fraud alerts, which provide an easy way for seniors to spot suspicious activity. Help them freeze their credit, an action that prevents creditors from running a credit check and also blocks a scammer from opening a new credit account in the victim's name. Set up spam filters to help prevent fraudsters from reaching seniors via email. And finally, says yahoo!finance, teach seniors to be suspicious of scammers who urge their victims to act fast or share personal information.

Seniors often feel ashamed of being scammed, but they should not. Family members and friends can offer to help, and then take action to alert financial institutions and change passwords. They can record the details of the scam by collecting and recording any communication with fraudsters. And then they should report the scam to local police, and, if the scam occurred online, file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Although seniors are common victims, The Harvard Gazette reports that scams affect people "regardless of age, income levels, education, and IQ. In some ways, people who are smarter become victims precisely because they think it can't happen to them." Author and cyberspace activist Cory Doctorow got scammed with a fake message from his bank on the very same day that he was having a bank problem. And when John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, clicked on a fraudulent email in 2016, he triggered the hacking of Democratic National Convention emails. The lesson: Scams can happen to anyone. So take steps to protect yourself and the seniors in your life.

More on this story can be found at these links:

How to Protect Aging Parents From Banking Scams. Yahoo!finance

5 Cyber Scams to Watch Out for in 2024. Barracuda Blog

You'd Never Fall for an Online Scam, Right? The Harvard Gazette

Applying the News Story

Cyber scams are targeting innocent people, especially seniors. Use this story as an opportunity to focus on the dangers of deception and theft, and how we can do a better job of educating vulnerable members of the community about online safety. Discuss ways that the church can help others in a practical and concrete way.

The Big Questions

1. If you or someone close to you has been scammed, how did you respond? What feelings rose up within you? What actions did you take, if any?

2. When, if ever, have you been a victim of any kind of deception or theft? How did it affect your attitude toward others? What impact did it have on your faith, if any?

3. What can the church do to educate vulnerable members of the community, especially seniors, about online safety? How is such activity grounded in Christian values? When, if ever, have you provided such help to another person? What specific assistance did you give?

4. Identify some of the desires or fears of a victim that leads to a successful scam. How can the Christian faith address these desires or fears in a way that lowers the risk of a person becoming a victim?

5. What positive steps can the church take to keep people on the good path that God lays out, reducing the chance that they will be led astray by fraudsters?

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

Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (For context, read Exodus 20:1-17.)

Soon after the Israelites are delivered from captivity in Egypt, God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first four commandments deal with the relationship between God and people (or first three commandments, depending on the system used for numbering), and the remaining commandments deal with the relationships between people, one to another. The beginning of this second section is, "Honor your father and your mother."

TWW Team Member Frank Ramirez believes that when we are told to honor father and mother so that our days may be long in the land, God "is not promising individuals a long life. It is addressed to society as a whole. Protecting the senior population who can no longer work hard enough to carry their weight at harvest and are vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse is a sign that the society will be long-lived. Scamming seniors degrades society. The same goes for all vulnerable populations."

Questions: How do you see scamming as an action that degrades not just individuals, but society as a whole? In what ways is the health and longevity of society improved by protecting seniors and other vulnerable populations from physical and emotional abuse? How does your church do this work, if at all?

Proverbs 14:15-16
The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps. The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless. (For context, read Proverbs 14:1-16.)

The book of Proverbs is full of guidance about wisdom, righteousness and justice. Many of the sayings of the book strike a contrast between the wise and the foolish, the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the unjust. The 14th chapter begins with a contrast between "the wise woman [who] builds her house" and "the foolish [who] tears it down with her own hands" (v. 1). The chapter goes on to compare "those who walk uprightly" and the "one who is devious" (v. 2); a "faithful witness" and a "false witness" (v. 5); the "wise [who] are cautious and turn away from evil" and "the fool [who] throws off restraint and is careless."

Clearly, Proverbs honors the wise, upright, faithful and cautious people who turn away from evil and fear the Lord. It also issues a warning to the "simple [who] believe everything," and are easy marks for scammers. Better to be among "the clever [who] consider their steps."

Questions: What is the danger of believing everything and being attracted to deals that seem to be too good to be true? How can the church do a better job of counseling people to be clever and "consider their steps"? How is such prudence a Christian virtue?

Acts 6:1
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. (For context, read Acts 6:1-6.)

After the first followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, the church grew among the non-Jewish "Hellenists" and the Jewish Christ-followers called "Hebrews." In the sixth chapter, a controversy arose when the Hellenists complained that "their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food." Caring for widows had long been a priority among the Jews, going back at least as far as the book of Exodus, in which God commands, "You shall not abuse any widow or orphan" (22:22).

The complaint was addressed when the community of the disciples selected "seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" to perform this ministry (v. 3). They prayed and laid hands on them, and the seven became the first deacons of the church.

Questions: How does your Christian community care for widows and other vulnerable people today? In what ways are you involved in this work, if at all? How might online safety be an aspect of this ministry, and how could it be connected to the instructions of the Bible?

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (For context, read 1 Timothy 6:6-10.)

Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, a younger colleague, urging him to remain in the city of Ephesus and provide proper instruction in the Christian faith. In the sixth chapter, Paul gives guidance about true riches and reminds Timothy that "there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it" (vv. 6-7). Perhaps this is the Scripture verse that inspired the saying, "You can't take it with you!"

Paul recommends that Christians be content with "food and clothing" (v. 8), and not fall into the trap of the "many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and despair" (v. 9). While scammers might be motivated by many evil desires, one of the most powerful drivers of fraudulent activity is "the love of money [that] is a root of all kinds of evil." Paul has seen that once the love of money is in control, then "in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."

Questions: When, if ever, have you seen the "love of money" lead to evil? How might this love lead to fraudulent activity? How can the church lead people on another path, one that is focused on love of God and love of neighbor?

For Further Discussion

1. "More and more congregations, and ministries are being targeted by scammers and phishing attacks," reports a synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "These emails or text messages often pretend they are a pastor or bishop and ask for private conversation, or the need for a favor, or to purchase gift cards. These attacks are a phishing or spoofing scam. This means that the email account or phone number has probably NOT been hacked. Attackers are using an alternate email address or phone number, and contacts found using AI software." Have you ever received such an email? How did you respond? What can the church do to protect its members from such scams?

2. When Jesus watched a group of rich people putting their gifts into the temple treasury, and then saw a poor widow put two small coins into the treasury, he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them" (Luke 21:3). Why did Jesus honor the poor widow in this way? What did it say about his view of riches? How can we honor vulnerable people in the same way that Jesus did?

3. "Combatting the financial exploitation of those over 60 years of age continues to be a priority of the FBI," wrote FBI Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall, who leads the Bureau's Criminal Investigative Division, in a report. "Along with our partners, we continually work to aid victims and to identify and investigate the individuals and criminal organizations that perpetrate these schemes and target the elderly." Elder fraud is probably a more insidious threat than the report shows, since many of these crimes likely go unreported. Why do you think so many scams go unreported? How can the Christian community help to get justice for its seniors?

4. Not even the world of religion is safe from scams, as there are fake charities preying on vulnerable people. According to the website Stop Elderly Scams, "Scammers create bogus religious charities or organizations, soliciting donations for purported causes such as helping the poor, supporting missionaries, or funding religious initiatives. These scams can be difficult to detect, as they often mimic the names and missions of legitimate charities." Have you or a loved one ever been the victim of a religious scam? If so, what did you do? How can others be protected?

Responding to the News

Talk with fellow members of your church about your experiences with scammers. Discuss how you can protect yourselves and others. Identify a group in your church that is particularly vulnerable to fraudulent activity and develop a plan for increasing their online safety. TWW Consultant James Gruetzner says that the advice he received two decades ago concerning internet scam attempts still holds: "When you get a strange email (or text) from someone, call them and talk to them directly to confirm its validity. It was true then; it is true now."

Prayer

Help us, Lord, to be aware of the dangers posed by online scammers. May we be wise and able to consider our steps carefully, not foolish and willing to believe everything we see and hear. We pray all this in the name of Jesus, the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Amen.

In the News

Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, a former U.S. Army private, of Stow, Ohio, was sentenced Friday, October 11, to 14 years behind bars followed by 10 years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in the killing of American troops. Bridges pleaded guilty last year to terrorism charges.

After nearly five hours of deliberations in a Manhattan federal court, Judge Lewis J. Liman rejected the same-day request by the defendant for a 40-year prison term.

"Honestly, I do believe that I deserve the maximum sentence," Bridges, 24, told the jurist. "I know what I did was wrong," he said, adding he would regret his actions "for as long as I live."

Liman said Bridges' willingness to provide terrorists with advice on how they could minimize casualties in an attack on Americans was "most chilling." But the judge said the soldier had "shown signs of remorse," including expressing relief after his arrest that he had been communicating with an FBI agent rather than with terrorists.

Beginning in at least 2019, Bridges researched and consumed online jihadist propaganda, conducting internet searches for terms such as "U.S. soldier shooting" and "Green Beret ambush," and expressing support for ISIS and jihad on social media. He joined the infantry in the U.S. Army in September of that year, and was based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.

About a year later, Bridges began communicating on an encrypted messaging application with an FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. Toward the end of 2020, Bridges told the FBI online covert employee (OCE) how ISIS fighters could attack U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Bridges also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and offered guidance about military combat tactics, with the understanding that the OCE would pass the information along to his ISIS contacts to help maximize the lethality of future attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East and the United States.

Then, in January 2021, Bridges gave the OCE two videos of himself showing support for ISIS jihad against American military personnel. He was arrested that month.

At the sentencing hearing, Bridges' attorney, Sabrina Shroff, requested that he be sentenced to the nearly four years he has already served behind bars. Leniency was warranted, she argued, because undercover U.S. law enforcement agents believed Bridges, who was alienated from his family, was an easy mark, so they "lured" him into the plot.

Prosecutors and two of his former commanders countered that Bridges should get the maximum sentence permitted for his crime.

"Cole Bridges used his U.S. Army training to pursue a horrifying goal: the brutal murder of his fellow service members in a carefully plotted ambush," Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after the judge handed down his ruling.

"Bridges sought to attack the very soldiers he was entrusted to protect and, making this abhorrent conduct even more troubling, was eager to help people he believed were members of a deadly foreign terrorist organization plan this attack," Williams added. "This is a betrayal of the worst order."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg agreed, calling Bridges "a traitor" who "attempted to murder American soldiers."

Fighting back tears, Master Sgt. Greg Fallen testified that the arrest of Bridges had left his platoon "with a sense of defeat."

"I still can't sleep some nights," he said, adding that soldiers who had befriended Bridges needed psychological counseling upon learning that their comrade in arms had betrayed them. "We will suffer with mental anguish for the rest of our lives," Fallen stated.

"My platoon, which could do anything, was instantly destroyed [after Bridges' arrest]," said Capt. Scott Harper. "He betrayed everything he was supposed to stand for."

More on this story can be found at these links:

U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Attempting to Assist ISIS to Conduct Deadly Ambush on U.S. Troops. U.S. Department of Justice
Ex-U.S. Army Soldier Asks for Maximum 40 Years in Prison But Gets a 14-year Term for IS Plot. Associated Press
Former U.S. Soldier Is Sentenced to 14 Years for Planning to Help ISIS. The New York Times
U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Attempting to Assist ISIS to Conduct Deadly Ambush on U.S. Troops. U.S. Army

The Big Questions

1. Name figures from history or literature who were traitors who betrayed others. How might they have tried to justify their actions?

2. What might lead people to betray others or ideals they claim to cherish?

3. What help, if any, have you found in our faith to help you when you have been betrayed? How should we respond in that situation?

4. What factors might make it difficult to forgive someone who has betrayed your trust?

5. What does our faith teach us we should do if we have betrayed someone or some principle we once held dear?

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

Genesis 42:21-22

They said to one another, "Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us." Then Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood." (For context, read Genesis 42:18-28.)

The story of how Joseph's brothers betrayed him is found in Genesis 37:12-28. Motivated by resentment and jealousy, they stripped him of the robe his father had given him and threw him into a pit, without access to food or water. They plotted to kill Joseph at first, but as they sat down to eat, they saw a Midianite caravan headed to Egypt, and thought they might as well make a little money by selling Joseph as a slave. By the time the brothers saw each other again, the circumstances were in stark contrast: This time, Joseph was second only to Pharaoh in power in Egypt, and his brothers were desperate for food in a time of extended famine.

Joseph dealt with his brothers in a way that brought them face to face with the way they had betrayed their own flesh and blood 22 years before. They saw that God knew their guilt (Genesis 44:16), and they could not escape the consequences of their sin. But Joseph refused to punish them in perpetuity. Instead, he assumed the role of family provider and caregiver (Genesis 45:4-15), giving them a powerful illustration of the way God treats people even when they mistreat and betray him.

Questions: Who (in addition to Joseph) was harmed by the brothers' betrayal of Joseph? What was lost, that could never be recovered, because of it? Where do you see hope, mercy and grace in this family saga?

Isaiah 31:6-7

Turn back to him whom you have deeply betrayed, O people of Israel. For on that day all of you shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you. (For context, read Isaiah 31:1-3, 6-7.)

In times of crisis, the people of Judah often sought assistance from Egypt rather than from God. Isaiah says it is a mistake to rely on military might or human strategy instead of trusting God to deliver (vv. 1, 3). Rejecting God and preferring idols made by human hands is a form of betrayal, a transfer of the allegiance we owe to our Creator to persons or things that are part of the created world just as we are.

Once when Moses went up the mountain to speak with God, the people, in his absence, asked Aaron to make gods for them that they could see (Exodus 32). When Moses came down, he asked Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?"

Questions: Why was Aaron susceptible to the request of the people to make idols for them to worship? What could Aaron have done differently to avoid betraying his responsibility to God and the people? What might make us vulnerable to people who might lead us astray? Why do we tend to shy away from the invisible God and attempt to replace the Creator with people or other created things?

2 Samuel 11:16-17, 25-27
As Joab kept watch over the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors. The men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well. ... David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, 'Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city and overthrow it.' And encourage him." When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD, (For context, read 2 Samuel 11:1-27.)

After King David had sex with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his officers who was fighting on the battlefield for him, she became pregnant. Thinking he could hide the truth about what he had done, David first recalled Uriah from war and encouraged him to spend the night at home with his wife. When Uriah refused to enjoy the comforts of home while his comrades in arms were enduring hardship, David resorted to more extreme measures, and ordered his commander to place Uriah in the fiercest hotspot of the war, and then to withdraw all support from him, so that he would die.

Questions: What led David to abandon his sacred duty to his soldier, Uriah? What steps might David have taken to protect himself from the temptation to forsake his responsibilities to his people? How were other people ensnared and harmed by his betrayal? What, if anything, could the military commander Joab have done that might have set up guard rails for David to protect Uriah and other service personnel? How did David's abdication of his responsibility affect his own spiritual condition? His relationship with God?

Matthew 26:14-16

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. (For context, read Matthew 26:1-16.)

Shortly before the Passover, a woman anointed Jesus' head with very costly ointment (vv. 6-9).

We know from John's account that Judas objected to the way she "wasted" the ointment, when it might have been sold and the money given to the poor. But John adds that Judas didn't really care about the poor, but embezzled funds from the common purse he kept for the group (John 12:1-8).

Immediately after that incident, Judas sought out the chief priests in order to make a deal: the betrayal of his master in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. As "one of the Twelve," Judas knew where Jesus spent time with his disciples and could provide the religious leaders with valuable insider information (John 18:1-2).

A few days later, Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples, when he washed their feet, even those of the man he knew would betray him (John 13:1-11), and he passed a choice tidbit to Judas, a gesture understood as a sign of affection in many cultures, after which Judas left to rendezvous with his co-conspirators (John 13:21-30). Betrayal wouldn't hurt so much if it was done by a stranger or an enemy, but when it is done by a "close friend," someone you trusted, who sat at your table and ate your bread (Psalm 41:9), it inflicts a special kind of pain.

When Judas realized that Jesus was condemned to die, he repented and tried to reverse his betrayal by returning the money he had received from the chief priests and the elders, but the religious authorities brushed him off. Having aligned himself with Jesus' enemies (John 18:3-5) and withdrawn from the fellowship of Jesus' followers, he had no one left to turn to for support. In despair, he went and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5).

Knowing Judas' vulnerability and intention to turn him in, Jesus still expressed great pity for his misguided follower, when he said at the Last Supper, "The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born" (Matthew 26:24).

Questions: Compare the impact of the soldier's betrayal on his unit with the impact of Judas' betrayal on the other 11 disciples. Might the trauma the disciples experienced after the crucifixion of Jesus have included the confusion, guilt and grief they felt over their companion's actions? After all, didn't Judas betray them as well as their Master? Might they also have wondered if they should have seen how vulnerable Judas was, why they didn't notice how lonely or depressed or angry he was? Might they have agonized over whether they could have done anything to prevent what happened, not only to Jesus, but also to stop Judas from committing suicide?
When we have failed God, what does it take for us to fully trust in God's mercy and to forgive ourselves as much as God does?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss this: In his book, Peace Child, Canadian missionary Don Richardson writes: "In 1962, Carol and I went to live among the Sawi [tribe of western New Guinea] ... who honor treachery as an ideal. In many of the legends that the Sawi people tell to their children around the campfires, the heroes are men who form friendships with the express purpose of later betraying the befriended one to be killed and eaten. The Sawi expression for this practice is 'to fatten with friendship for the slaughter.'"

The first time Richardson told the Sawi about how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, the Sawi expressed great admiration for Judas, and declared him the hero of the story! How could they communicate the gospel to people who valued violence?

Then Richardson discovered how the Sawis ended hostilities with other villages with whom they were at war. "To end the killing, one member of a tribe would offer to an enemy village his own child, and as long as that child lived, peace would reign."

Richardson saw in this sacrificial act a redemptive analogy to help the Sawis understand "the beauty of God's own sacrifice illustrated. When he called Jesus God's own 'Peace Child,' the people finally understood. When he then described Judas Iscariot as the person who would dare betray this sacred trust, they recognized him for the vile character he was. They understood, and many of them believed."

2. Cole Bridges' father Chris spoke at his son's sentencing about the "rocky relationship" he had with his son after he got divorced. Chris said his "heart goes out" to all the soldiers who were traumatized, but added, "I love [Cole] dearly and I'll always be here for him." Chris seems to recognize that his own actions may have led to Cole's decisions to betray others. How might the father's willingness to accept some responsibility impact the son going forward?

3. Scan and discuss "Former Indiana Sheriff Jamey Noel Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison as Part of Plea Deal," about a former sheriff who was recently convicted of felonies related to several ways he betrayed the public trust.

Responding to the News

If you are experiencing betrayal, or know someone who is, you may find this article helpful: Will I Ever Trust Again?: Understanding the Cost of Betrayal and Conceptualizing Recovery from Betrayal Trauma.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, who washed the feet of the disciple who betrayed you, teach us how to love that deeply. Remind us of how fully you have forgiven us, and restore us when we go astray. 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.