A Lazarus Experience
By Tom Boomershine
I have a new nickname, “Laz” for short. As some of you know, after having chest pains for about six weeks in February and early March, a catheterization revealed major blockage in the arteries of my heart. The word to Amelia was 99.9% in the main one. They wouldn’t send me home.
Quadruple bypass surgery the next day, March 17th: Maundy Thursday and St. Patrick’s Day. We hoped the luck o’ the Irish would manifest itself along with the power of Jesus to call forth life from death. Surgery went smoothly and there were sighs of relief all around.
But to keep things interesting, I had two subsequent hospitalizations of four and five days initiated with 911 calls and ambulance rides to the ER. These resulted from instances of being unable to breathe and passing out on two successive Saturdays. The first diagnosis was pneumonia; the second low heart rate caused by medication.
The Easter news? All that got sorted out and recovery is now proceeding slowly and steadily. Yesterday I returned to worship at our church and was dubbed “Laz.”
It turned out to be an experience of extraordinary giftedness. The surgeons and staff at Good Samaritan Hospital were wonderfully gracious and highly competent. I discovered that I have an incredibly diverse and extensive support system: family, Grace United Methodist Church here in Dayton, the Network of Biblical Storytellers, the community of biblical scholars, friends. Most of all, Amelia, who slept in a chair in my hospital room, managed the complex of doctors and visitors, and when I got home, was nurse to this recovering but very weak patient.
“Two Worlds Unite” by Cortney L. Haley
All of this was intimately connected with God’s spirit. Remembering and telling myself the stories of Jesus that I know by heart were a palpable source of experience of his healing presence. On three different occasions, Sherry, pastor at Grace, gathered friends around my bed and prayed for me. It kept God’s presence before me.
The chaplain at Good Sam, Michael, was constantly present and was so interested in my scholarship that we probably talked for at least ten hours during my days there. Amelia sold him a copy of
The Messiah of Peace the day after my surgery!
Two weeks of delicious meals from the Grace community. Visitors coming to “Tom-sit” for company, conversation, and to give Amelia a chance to run errands. Gifts all round, ever surprising. Abundant thanks to God and this incredible community of faith, formed by the Stories.
Tongues of Truth Returns
Gye Miller with true TOT member
“Tongues of Truth” is the storytelling ministry of Greater Love Christian Church in Dayton, Ohio. The group has a ten-year history under the leadership of Gye Miller. It has taken a rest in recent times, but in this resurrection season is being revived with spiritual energy as an intergenerational blessing to church and community.
Building on the theme of return, Tongues of Truth plans a Fall 2016 biblical storytelling event called “Returning: 20 Stories of Re-Arrival.” It’s an ambitious program of powerful stories, some told by multiple tellers. They are definitely up for it, as some of us recently learned when CinDay (the Cincinnati-Dayton Guild of the Network of Biblical Storytellers) met at GLCC in late April.
After getting to know one another’s groups over an exceptional potluck, we all rehearsed stories for upcoming tellings. We also practiced coaching each other (the gentle style taught by Doug Lipman in
The Storytelling Coach). This gave us confidence and suggestions.
The TOT members had only recently picked their stories, so were at an early stage of storylearning. Nevertheless, their tellings were wonderful to experience and we look forward to attending the Fall program.
For a preview of TOT’s “Returning” program,
click here…
…To Bring Out the Prisoners from the Dungeon
Telling Isaiah 42:1-9 for SONKA worship
By Amelia Boomershine, D.Min.
The Servant Song of Isaiah 42:1-9 grounded the theme “Blessed Are the Voices That Break the Silence” at the Spring gathering of SONKA. SONKA is a group of 78 United Church of Christ churches in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky who have covenanted together for joint ministry. The gathering took place at Trinity Community of Beavercreek, near Dayton, Ohio.
The April 30th gathering focused on mass incarceration, one of the most pressing systemic issues of contemporary American society. Rev. Sylvia Moseley, Chaplain at Lebanon Correctional Institution, presented compelling facts and explanations of the current situation in her informed and passionate keynote.
Rev. Kathryn Anadein, Designated Association Minister, led us through the program with skill and grace. I was privileged to tell the scripture for worship. The offering was dedicated to God and given to support the re-entry work of Volunteers of America in Cincinnati.
SONKA’s engagement with the challenging topic of mass incarceration demonstrates faithful acceptance of Isaiah’s ancient prophecy: “I have called you in righteousness…to open eyes that are blind; to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, from the prisons those who sit in darkness.”
