RIP Kelly 9.30.15
To despair in death is to deny hope in the resurrection.
I write papers about medical ethics a lot. In every paper this is one of my soap boxes. If we actually believed in the resurrection of the body and eternal communion, Medicare wouldn't spend $50 billion annually on the last two months of patients' lives. We wouldn't poke and prod our loved ones, resuscitate them again and again, when their aged bodies are so tired. 80% of us wouldn't die in hospital facilities instead of with our families.
I digress.
You all know by now that last night Kelly Gissendaner became the first woman to be executed in 70 years in Georgia. You also know I've been involved in protesting this execution since February. The strongest memory I have is standing in the rain at the Jackson prison in March waiting for the news she had died, which never came. God did a miracle.
But sometimes God's miracles are not what we ask for. I'm reminded of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, when Martha says, "If you would've been here on time, he wouldn't have died." Jesus responds, "I am the resurrection and the life." Martha got to witness Jesus raising her brother from the dead this time, but little known fact: he died again someday.
God raised Kelly from the "dead" by staying her execution twice this spring, but like all of us eventually, she died. The true resurrection, the true miracle, the true hope, is that (in her own words) she "went out singing Amazing Grace."
Jesus was telling Martha not to despair in death. Not to believe that death had the final word, but to hold space for hope in an eschatological resurrection. I think he only raised Lazarus to help her believe in that resurrection.
Now, to grieve death is right and good. To fight against unjust causes of death is right and good. To be enraged and impassioned at death and those who cause it...that is a Christian mission. And I will continue. We will continue.
But despair is not grief. Despair says, "That's it, we lost." Despair says there is nothing after the end of the current sentence.
There is.
The death penalty will end in my lifetime; I'm almost sure of it. When the current generation of governors expires and reaches their term limits, my generation will step into their shoes. If there's one thing I have learned from my activism this year, it's that our greatest allies are often under 35. Have you met any Millennials lately? The death penalty will end in my lifetime.
But for today, I want to remind myself to celebrate God's future resurrection of Kelly, which will happen because she found God in prison. In prison! And all the hope she brought others, all the healing in her family, all the minds she changed, all of that is because from her prison cell she lived out her version of hope in the resurrection. If that's not subversive I don't know what is.
All the anti-death penalty words are important. All the activism is important. But when we "lose" the fight, we are not allowed to wake up the next morning feeling defeated. We are only allowed to celebrate that Jesus' words are true, that death is not strong enough to keep us from him.
I write papers about medical ethics a lot. In every paper this is one of my soap boxes. If we actually believed in the resurrection of the body and eternal communion, Medicare wouldn't spend $50 billion annually on the last two months of patients' lives. We wouldn't poke and prod our loved ones, resuscitate them again and again, when their aged bodies are so tired. 80% of us wouldn't die in hospital facilities instead of with our families.
I digress.
You all know by now that last night Kelly Gissendaner became the first woman to be executed in 70 years in Georgia. You also know I've been involved in protesting this execution since February. The strongest memory I have is standing in the rain at the Jackson prison in March waiting for the news she had died, which never came. God did a miracle.
But sometimes God's miracles are not what we ask for. I'm reminded of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus, when Martha says, "If you would've been here on time, he wouldn't have died." Jesus responds, "I am the resurrection and the life." Martha got to witness Jesus raising her brother from the dead this time, but little known fact: he died again someday.
God raised Kelly from the "dead" by staying her execution twice this spring, but like all of us eventually, she died. The true resurrection, the true miracle, the true hope, is that (in her own words) she "went out singing Amazing Grace."
Jesus was telling Martha not to despair in death. Not to believe that death had the final word, but to hold space for hope in an eschatological resurrection. I think he only raised Lazarus to help her believe in that resurrection.
Now, to grieve death is right and good. To fight against unjust causes of death is right and good. To be enraged and impassioned at death and those who cause it...that is a Christian mission. And I will continue. We will continue.
But despair is not grief. Despair says, "That's it, we lost." Despair says there is nothing after the end of the current sentence.
There is.
The death penalty will end in my lifetime; I'm almost sure of it. When the current generation of governors expires and reaches their term limits, my generation will step into their shoes. If there's one thing I have learned from my activism this year, it's that our greatest allies are often under 35. Have you met any Millennials lately? The death penalty will end in my lifetime.
But for today, I want to remind myself to celebrate God's future resurrection of Kelly, which will happen because she found God in prison. In prison! And all the hope she brought others, all the healing in her family, all the minds she changed, all of that is because from her prison cell she lived out her version of hope in the resurrection. If that's not subversive I don't know what is.
All the anti-death penalty words are important. All the activism is important. But when we "lose" the fight, we are not allowed to wake up the next morning feeling defeated. We are only allowed to celebrate that Jesus' words are true, that death is not strong enough to keep us from him.
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