by Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast, Conference Minister, February, 2003
Monthly Reflections from The Pacific ~ News and Events of the NCNC United Church of Christ

HIGHER GROUND

Words of encouragement and support for those ministering "in the fields."

On October 25, 2002, Cristina Martinez welcomed into her home 8 people--four of them strangers to her--and one dog. I was one of the strangers who stumbled through her doorway at midnight and remained through Hurricane Kenna's assault on Mexico's Pacific shore.

During those twelve hours on the hillside overlooking the Bay of Jaltemba, I found myself humming an old hymn:
         "O lift me up and let me stand,
          By faith on heaven's table land,
          A higher plane than I have found,
          Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

As the usually placid waters escalated into 30-foot waves, pulverizing retaining walls, shattering harbored fishing boats, surging far inland, I had good reason to give thanks that my feet were, in every physical sense, planted on higher ground.

Senora Martinez also had her feet planted on higher ground, in the theological sense. She was manifesting not only hospitality, but righteousness.

I had been writing steadily during the months of September and October, working on a book on the Psalms, so that I knew righteousness when I saw it in action. I had learned and relearned in my studies of the Psalms, that righteousness is one of the distinguishing characteristics of God, the Holy One, the Author of Life. "Righteousness" used to be a word I shied away from. It left a tinny taste on my tongue whenever I said it. Probably it sounded too close to "self-righteousness" for my comfort.

But real righteousness--the God quality stuff--bears no resemblance to the sanctimoniousness, smugness or pomposity of self-righteousness. The righteousness of the Almighty is the ability and the desire to make things right for people; to help the needy survive today, and to give them hope for the future. Human beings are righteous when they reflect that aspect of the Holy One's nature.

Cristina Martinez was righteous. She brought all of her unexpected guests to higher ground.

Just as the hurricane arrived, I was running up the stairs inside the house and found Cristina, coming down. She had stopped midway, her eyes closed in prayer. I stopped and prayed silently with her. We opened our eyes at the same moment, and I saw her fear before she spoke it. "I know I should have more faith," she said. "You have great faith," I replied, "it's evident in the way you've taken us in and given us shelter." "God has sent you to me," she responded, " I would have been in terror all alone."

          "My heart has no desire to stay," the hymn continues,
          "Where doubts arise and fears dismay,
          Though some may dwell where those abound,
          My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

One of the most persistent teachings of the Psalms is the need to trust in the Holy One, who is Righteousness, who will sustain us today and bring hope for tomorrow. So, it seemed, the Author of Life had set up, with some glee, an arrangement of reciprocity wherein those who Cristina brought to higher ground, likewise brought Cristina there.

While the wind roared from the east, contorting palm trees into impossible angles, unfurling banners of rain through the air, dimming the skies and turning the roads and the hillsides to mud, we mopped up the water that surged under an unfinished door, refastened windows that came open, and watched with awe the progress of the storm.

We knew that we were all bit players in this drama, just as we recognized that we were a beloved community within the realm of righteousness. We had been led to higher ground.

                                                                  ~ Mary Susan

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