Column for syndication for first weekend Oct 2021

Doubters and Dodgers Push for Vaccine Exemptions

 

Have you ever noticed how two situations can seem unrelated, but you soon discover a connection between them?

 

The first situation developed this weekend while I was visiting my mother in a senior living facility in Chino, Calif.

 

Mom is 88 and needs a little extra help with daily living activities. So we hired an outside agency to provide a helping companion.

 

They sent Michelle, an active mother of two in her late 30s. She seemed just what Mom needed, a good conversationalist who's present and comforting.

 

During our get-to-know-each-other conversation Michelle mentioned how she recently began attending Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills.

 

When I asked her what she liked about her church she said, "Pastor Jack! He speaks the truth and preaches the Bible."

 

The church sounded familiar. Later that afternoon, an Internet search reminded me that  Pastor Jack is one of many pastors promising a religious exemption for anyone hoping to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine. As I shut my laptop, I resolved that this situation would become an opportunity for a field trip.

 

Late Sunday morning, I made a fifteen-minute drive to a visitor parking space outside the megachurch. A few minutes later I began wading through an unmasked crowd of at least 3,000 people to locate the church office. There, behind a welcome desk, volunteers were handing out exemptions to anyone asking.

 

So I asked for one.

 

Signers of this two-page statement must attest that the vaccine violates the biblical word. The statement is reinforced with a mishmash of verses I found hard to follow. The document allows the Bible to say what we want it to say in order to help us avoid what we don't want to do. (James 4:17; Romans 14; Romans 15:4; Acts 2:38-39; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Psalm 139:13- 16)

 

The desk volunteers must have guessed that I was confused, so they sent me back into the crowd to find their assistant pastor, Steve Hurlbert.

 

When I found him, I asked him what theological issues the church had with the vaccine.

 

"Some people have a real problem with how the vaccines are made and their use of abortive fetal tissue," he told me.

 

He then reinforced the exemption's main point. The vaccines are "sinful" because they use the "fetal stem cell lines from aborted babies." Hurlbert, a COVID-19 survivor, sees taking the vaccine as "a complicit action in the act of abortion."

 

There is no church that has a bigger problem with abortion than the Roman Catholic church. So I reached out to Dr. Jason T. Eberl, Ph.D., Professor of Health Care Ethics and Philosophy, Saint Louis University, a private Jesuit research university.

 

Eberl hears Calvary's argument as more than disingenuous because the legal test for any conscientious objector is "sincerity."

 

"Just because someone drops the words, 'fetal cell line' that doesn't mean that we automatically should give them an exemption.

 

For instance, no one is objecting to using the very same fetal cell line to test food additives or over-the-counter medication."

 

Eberl asks, "Are they truly conscientiously objecting to using a product with these cell lines or are they buying into a political narrative…?  If so, then they are using this as an excuse to avoid a vaccination mandate, and it's not really a sincerely held objection."

 

Eberl and others confirmed what I knew to be true, that there are no mainline religious organizations that have any opposition to this vaccine.

 

Like Pastor Hulbert, I went to seminary too. I too love Jesus and read the Bible. So I'm definitely in my lane to tell my Christian readers this vaccine doesn't violate scripture. It's not made from aborted babies.

 

As it turns out, Michelle's choice in churches is not at all unrelated to my mother's health. For you see, Michele, my mom's caregiver and Calvary attendee, tested positive for COVID four days after our last visit.

 

Medical misinformation bolstered by biblical misquotes is killing people. My brother died last December from believing nonsense like this. I hope my mom isn't next.

 

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Read the exemption statement from Calvary Chapel

 

Read more on how mainline churches see the vaccines.

 

Some say COVID-19 vaccine is the 'mark of the beast.' Is there a connection to the Bible?

 

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Contact Chaplain Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or voicemail (843) 608-9715.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Column for syndication for second weekend in Sept 2021

A Chaplain Manages the Risk

 

I've officiated dozens of weddings in my 30 years as a minister, but few were as fraught with risk as the one I performed some years ago in the acute care unit of the Sacramento VA Medical Center.

 

It all began when a nurse sent me to a room reserved for our more seriously ill patients. Inside, I introduced myself to a man in his 50s, small in stature and well-worn in the face. Sitting beside him, a woman held his hand under the bedcover.

 

"Your nurse tells me you want to get married," I said.

 

The couple locked their starry eyes on each other and nodded in affirmation.

"When?" I asked.

 

"Now," they said in unison.

 

"I don't know if that's…"

 

"Don't worry, Chaplain," the woman said. "I've researched it online. I know it can be done."

 

"Well, I'm not sure…"

 

"Chaplain," the groom interrupted. "I'm dying."

 

I paused to carefully consider the risk. Before I could agree to this, I'd have to run it past the hospital director for the Risk Management department. She'd need answers before she'd allow me, a hospital employee, to officiate this ceremony on hospital grounds.

 

She would ask, "Are they really in love?  How long have they known each other? How long have you known them?" Her cynical concern would be over whether or not this woman was just after the patient's pension.

 

Even if the woman's intentions were sincere, Risk Management would need proof that the patient's pain medication wasn't affecting his decision-making capability.

 

"Why now?" I said in a thinly disguised version of, "Why have you put it off so long?"

 

"We've planned it several times during the past two years, but his lung cancer delayed all attempts," the bride-to-be said. They'd even managed to get a wedding license once before but saw it expire when medical appointments and family drama interrupted.

 

"We're tired of delays. Today seems like the right time," she said.

 

The woman outlined a step-by-step process of the requirements. First, we'd need a doctor's notarized signature. Then she and I had to go to the county clerk's office for the license. After that, we'd return for the hospital ceremony, then circle back to the clerk's office to finalize it all.

 

After I agreed, the paperwork was easy enough to accomplish on our end. The doctor signed off, so the Risk Management department had no objection. However, the woman lacked transportation to the county clerk's office.

 

"I'll take you," I said, even though I knew the Risk Management folks would have a coronary if they knew I was transporting a family member in my personal car.

I did it anyway.

 

By late afternoon, I finally stood before the couple as their officiant. The bedridden groom wore a rose on his chest. The bride managed to freshen her look with a little makeup and a discounted bouquet from the hospital gift shop. A dozen hospital staff members stood as witnesses.

 

A few minutes into the ceremony, I asked the couple to repeat after me their promise to stay together "in sickness and in health…till death do us part."

 

Without hesitation, they echoed the traditional vows. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

 

Promising one's love is always risky and this couple knew that truth better than most. They knew what sickness and health meant — and within a few months she would experience what it meant to be parted by death.

 

At the end of the day, they'd appeared "before God and this company" to declare their eternal love, he with his literal dying breath.

 

And for me, as it turned out, I avoided the biggest risk of all — the risk that comes from not doing the right thing.

 

-----------------------------

 

Contact Chaplain Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or voicemail (843) 608-9715.      

 

 

Column for syndication for second weekend in Sept 2021

Editors,

 

I'm taking a photo journalism class so Photos for this column can be downloaded from https://norrisburkes.crevado.com.).

Not saying they're good. Just that they are on this site.

 

 

Chaplains Bring More than a Bible to Victims of Hellish Fire

 

In the aftermath of the Dixie Fire, perhaps California's largest wildfire in state history, I'm curious how chaplains are aiding in the physical and spiritual recovery of victims.

 

I meet my pastor, Mike Bivins, in the church parking lot at 6 a.m., and we head into the heart of the disaster zone for a strategy meeting with local pastors hosted by Greenville Southern Baptist Church.

 

Bivins directs volunteers from California's Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Ministries, DR for short. On the four-hour commute, he assures me that DR goes only where invited.

 

"We aren't parachuting in to rescue these people," he says. "We come only by invitation to work with local entities like churches or to partner with National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster."

 

While navigating winding highways and roadblocks, Bivins outlines the aid that we'll offer people affected by the fire: Help, Healing and Hope.

 

We bring more than "thoughts and prayers," he says. We put boots on those prayers by giving tangible help in the aftermath of natural catastrophes.

 

DR sets up portable kitchen units from which cooking teams put out 500 meals a day. Chainsaw teams clear property. Volunteers with flat shovels "muck-out" home slabs, scraping them clear.

 

Healing begins with recovery of personal property. We sift through ash for jewelry and other items with special meaning. Recovery of family heirlooms draws sobs of relief and joy from victims.

 

Hope shines through the heart of volunteer chaplains helping victims cope with personal losses, distilling spiritual issues.

 

Chaplain Brenda Murray knows what this means.

 

"We let people know we are here for them," she says. "It's mostly just being here for them, listening to understand their heart."

 

She adds, "We try to become the hands and feet of Jesus."  It's a phrase Bivins echoes during the drive.

 

Cliché, yes. But not.

 

Even chaplains want to fix things. Offer advice. Explain the pain.

 

But DR chaplains let people express their hurts and then let it be. Often, victims ask them to share the hope they quietly carry.

 

Just before noon, we arrive in a town burned to the ground. It is indescribable, so I snap pictures. (See them at https://norrisburkes.crevado.com.)

  

We meet for lunch hosted by a fire survivor. Our strategy-pie is cut into specific tasks and doled out for dessert.  

 

Some locals will host fire crews; some will collect community supplies to share with neighbors. Like the DR chaplains, they are in for the long haul.

 

After lunch, Bivins and I crawl back in his truck for the weary trip home, but he's not finished.

 

"One more stop."

 

In Indian Falls, we meet a family with a water well damaged by the fire. The homeowner hopes to restart it so he can supply water to neighbors with homes destroyed on all sides of his property.

 

Before repairs begin, we must pull out 175 feet of PVC pipe. For twenty minutes, Bivins and I join the family and strain with all we have. It gets stuck, and we go back for another try followed by three more.

 

The pipe comes out and my once-clean meeting shirt boasts mud and engine grease.

 

We return to Bivins' truck, wash our hands and share the two sandwiches I brought.

 

"So," I ask, "was that hands-and-feet work?"

 

Bivins smiles through his grease-smudged goatee. "I think you're catching on, Chaplain."

 

----------------------------------------

 

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is one of the three largest mobilizers of trained disaster-relief volunteers in the United States, along with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. I support them because unlike other charities, 100% of donations go for victim support. Administrative costs are borne by the 42 states with DR services.

 

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Contact Chaplain Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or voicemail (843) 608-9715.      

 

correction in graph 8

For clarity sake, I've made corrections in the last two sentence in the eighth paragraph.

 

This book has entertained children for decades as a spiritually relevant story of friendship and sacrifice. Cleary's artists continue to update her books, infusing interest for multiple generations.

 

 

Copy below is corrected copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chaplain's Annual Book Review Considers Children's Authors

 

Last year, I escorted a gaggle of readers to Republica De Francia, a school inside the gang-ridden neighborhood of Honduras' capitol, Tegucigalpa. We were there to help Chispa Project establish a library. As most of you are aware, my daughter, Sara, began Chispa Project in 2014 to create libraries in Honduran elementary schools.

 

As we inventoried the library collection of 2,000 books, the volunteers and I were surprised to recognize some of our own family favorites translated into Spanish. 

 

Today, my wife, Becky, and I want to use my annual book-review column to recommend the children's authors we shared with our children. Many are titles that can be found among the diverse collections of Chispa libraries and, if you volunteer in 2022, you may find your favorite books as well. 

Discovering a children's author that you love opens up a whole world of new learning. Standard collections include Dr. Seuss books as well as E.B. White's classic, "Charlotte's Web." Consider adding any of Laura Numeroff 's books that began with "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," illustrated by Felicia Bond.

 

In addition to those authors, our Honduran libraries carry books by Eric Carle, who wrote one of the five top-selling children's books of all time, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

 

Carle enhances his books with tactile methods that include tissue paper collage, hole punches, textured lines, and other, almost impressionist-type artwork. From his 70-plus books, we recommend "A Very Busy Spider" or "A House for Hermit Crab."

Becky's favorite author, Patricia Polacco, uses her illustrations to recreate renditions of her Russian roots. Her popular, "Rechenka's Eggs" describes the relatable Russian tradition of painting eggs for Easter. Despite the fact that she had difficulty learning to read in elementary school, Polacco has written over 100 books. Look for "Thank You, Mr. Falkner," her homage to the teacher who taught her to read. 

In her series about a curious and pesky little sister, Beverly Cleary made the Ramona character hysterically famous. Also, don't miss Ralph, her character in "The Mouse and the Motorcycle." This book has entertained children for decades as a spiritually relevant story of friendship and sacrifice. Cleary's artists continue to update her books, infusing interest for multiple generations.

Arnold Lobel writes the early reader series "Frog and Toad" which translates well in several cultures. The two amphibian friends become close despite their differences. Don't be fooled by the easy language and simple pictures. The stories provide thought-provoking meaning even while readers erupt in laughter. Parents can have fun with children by dramatizing the two characters in various ways.

A more recent book on the Chispa Project list is award-winning Jacqueline Woodson's  "The Day You Begin." The book examines the loneliness of feeling different while helping children discover that they are not alone. The artwork by Rafael Lopéz adds considerable inspiration.

Becky and I read these picture books to our children and grandchildren as early as the week they were born. But most children in Honduras have never seen a picture book since they are too expensive compared to a family's priority to feed their children.

 

Chispa libraries give me a chance to pass on the love of reading. We share our family favorites mixed with new titles by Latino/a authors and Honduran classics. The variety allows these kids and their parents to discover their own favorites.

 

Please write to me with your book suggestions for our Chispa library. And then consider joining Becky and me on our next volunteer trip in 2022 to give kids their first book. But – fair warning – our volunteers often find themselves like Numeroff 's character in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." They come back again and again.

 

---------------------------------------------------
Volunteer trips scheduled in May and July 2022. https://chispaproject.org/volunteertrip/ Donations for the Chispa project accepted online or by check. www.chispaproject.org/help

 

Contact Chaplain Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or voicemail (843) 608-9715.      

 

Column for syndication for second weekend in Sept 2021

 

Chaplain's Annual Book Review Considers Children's Authors

 

Last year, I escorted a gaggle of readers to Republica De Francia, a school inside the gang-ridden neighborhood of Honduras' capitol, Tegucigalpa. We were there to help Chispa Project establish a library. As most of you are aware, my daughter, Sara, began Chispa Project in 2014 to create libraries in Honduran elementary schools.

 

As we inventoried the library collection of 2,000 books, the volunteers and I were surprised to recognize some of our own family favorites translated into Spanish. 

 

Today, my wife, Becky, and I want to use my annual book-review column to recommend the children's authors we shared with our children. Many are titles that can be found among the diverse collections of Chispa libraries and, if you volunteer in 2022, you may find your favorite books as well. 

Discovering a children's author that you love opens up a whole world of new learning. Standard collections include Dr. Seuss books as well as E.B. White's classic, "Charlotte's Web." Consider adding any of Laura Numeroff 's books that began with "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," illustrated by Felicia Bond.

 

In addition to those authors, our Honduran libraries carry books by Eric Carle, who wrote one of the five top-selling children's books of all time, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

 

Carle enhances his books with tactile methods that include tissue paper collage, hole punches, textured lines, and other, almost impressionist-type artwork. From his 70-plus books, we recommend "A Very Busy Spider" or "A House for Hermit Crab."

Becky's favorite author, Patricia Polacco, uses her illustrations to recreate renditions of her Russian roots. Her popular, "Rechenka's Eggs" describes the relatable Russian tradition of painting eggs for Easter. Despite the fact that she had difficulty learning to read in elementary school, Polacco has written over 100 books. Look for "Thank You, Mr. Falkner," her homage to the teacher who taught her to read. 

In her series about a curious and pesky little sister, Beverly Cleary made the Ramona character hysterically famous. Also, don't miss Ralph, her character in "The Mouse and the Motorcycle." This book has entertained children for decades as as a spiritually relevant story of friendship and sacrifice. Cleary's artists continues to update, infusing interest for multiple generations.

Arnold Lobel writes the early reader series "Frog and Toad" which translates well in several cultures. The two amphibian friends become close despite their differences. Don't be fooled by the easy language and simple pictures. The stories provide thought-provoking meaning even while readers erupt in laughter. Parents can have fun with children by dramatizing the two characters in various ways.

A more recent book on the Chispa Project list is award-winning Jacqueline Woodson's  "The Day You Begin." The book examines the loneliness of feeling different while helping children discover that they are not alone. The artwork by Rafael Lopéz adds considerable inspiration.

Becky and I read these picture books to our children and grandchildren as early as the week they were born. But most children in Honduras have never seen a picture book since they are too expensive compared to a family's priority to feed their children.

 

Chispa libraries give me a chance to pass on the love of reading. We share our family favorites mixed with new titles by Latino/a authors and Honduran classics. The variety allows these kids and their parents to discover their own favorites.

 

Please write to me with your book suggestions for our Chispa library. And then consider joining Becky and me on our next volunteer trip in 2022 to give kids their first book. But – fair warning – our volunteers often find themselves like Numeroff 's character in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." They come back again and again.

 

---------------------------------------------------
Volunteer trips scheduled in May and July 2022. https://chispaproject.org/volunteertrip/ Donations for the Chispa project accepted online or by check. www.chispaproject.org/help

 

Contact Chaplain Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602 or voicemail (843) 608-9715.