Sharing this thoughtful post by JIM DENISON of the Denison Forum - STEVE
Ebola and the antidote to fear
Louise Troh does not have Ebola. The fiancée of Thomas Eric Duncan
was quarantined for 21 days after he became sick, but that period has
now passed. Nonetheless, she is struggling to find housing. The
apartment where she had paid a deposit has now been denied to her.
Employees at Texas Health Presbyterian, where Duncan was treated, have
been refused access to restaurants in our area. Parents have kept
children home from school lest they come in contact with children of
those who have dealt with Duncan's family.
Dallas-Ft. Worth is my home and the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan
area with 6.5 million residents. We have seen three Ebola cases so
far. And yet the nation views us as "Ground Zero" for Ebola in
America. Some players on the New York Giants were concerned about coming to Dallas for last Sunday's game with the Cowboys.
One said, "I think guys might think twice if they were planning to
bring their wives or their families." Their owner was more pragmatic:
"the Cowboys are going to get it first, so it's to our advantage."
William Harvey claimed, "All we know is still infinitely less than all
that remains unknown." The British physician made his statement in the
17th century, but he would still be right today. The less we know, the
more we fear. And the more we fear, the less we trust.
Consider this observation by Robert Kaiser, retired managing editor of The Washington Post: "The Internet promotes fragmentation by encouraging the development of like-minded communities, from you and your Facebook
friends to avid Tea Party supporters . . . Surveys by the Pew Research
Center for the People & the Press show that increasing numbers of
Americans get their 'news' from ideologically congenial sources. The news media are fragmenting just as American society is fragmenting—by class, by region, by religious inclination, by generation, by ethnic identity, by politics and more."
The great need of our day is a moral and spiritual movement that unites
us across our differences and empowers us to solve our problems
together. Is such a movement possible?
A businessman named Jeremiah Lamphier thought so. On September 23,
1857, he invited the city of New York to a prayer meeting at Old North
Dutch Church in Manhattan. Six people responded. The next week there
were 14, then 23. Within weeks the movement grew to 50,000 praying
daily and spread to Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland. Within two
years there were one million conversions in a nation of 30 million. The
resulting Evangelical Social Awakening impacted millions more.
Is such a movement happening in New York City again? Since 1988 more
than 2,000 churches and 250,000 people have participated in concerts of
prayer for the city. "Movement Day" has been one answer to their prayers. Led by Mac Pier and Tim Keller,
8,000 leaders from 360 cities and five continents have gathered to
worship, pray, and advance collaborative partnerships that serve the
needs of their cities in Jesus' name. Tomorrow
is the fifth Movement Day. I will be there, and ask you to pray for
God's Spirit to do a transforming work in my heart and in the lives of
all who join me.
Ebola fears are making headlines where I live. Other fears are making
headlines where you live. What is our best response? John Newton: "If
the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, his
arm over us, his ear open to our prayer, his grace sufficient, his
promise unchangeable." David testified, "When I am afraid, I put my
trust in you" (Psalm 56:3).
Can you say the same?
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