In the first days of sheltering in place, I was an early if reluctant adopter of online 12 Step meetings. It took some time to iron out the kinks: finding the precise link, making sure your private chat comment was, in fact, private and, unsurprisingly, learning all over again how to raise your hand. Soon enough, like when I first came into the (in-person) rooms, my comfort level grew, and I looked forward to seeing my home group buddies in their little Brady Bunch boxes on my computer screen.
At some point in preparing to preach last Sunday, I began to hear the well-trod story from John 14 in a new way: in my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. Many, if not most, of us associate this lesson with funerals. Some of the commentators wrote something to the effect of “come on, lectionary, we’re in Easter. Why drag us back to the Last Supper? Bummer.”
Bummer, indeed. As these days of pandemic grind on, watching the news suggests a medieval text that lives still in the burial service of the BCP: In the midst of life we are in death. We are surrounded by death in a manner few have known. The mounting numbers are too much to wrap my brain around. Some days I’m just numb.
Then a colleague pointed out that the Greek noun for dwelling place is related to one of John’s favorite words, the verb for abide. Abide. Dwell. Stay. Remain. Abiding is profoundly relational. For those of us who deal with a disease of isolation, abiding with is essential. How often are we told that “this is a we program?” Our sponsors remind us that we are not alone, to stay in the middle of the pack. Recovery necessitates abiding with, staying connected to, each other, our sponsors, our Higher Power.
The number of deaths is still appalling and tragic, yet how blessed are we to have been offered new dwelling places in which to be faithful to our programs. For this addict, abiding with my precious companions in the Brady Bunch rooms of online meetings, I begin to see the promise of the Resurrection in new ways, that even in the midst of death we are in life.
Abide. Hang out. Hang on.
Paul J.
May 2020
