Meghan Bunn--A Starbust of Hope

   

“Starburst—Something that looks like rays of light streaming out from the center.”—Miriam Webster definition.

When I first met Meghan Bunn, then age ten, she was awaiting surgery to remove what would later be diagnosed as medulloblastoma.   That brain tumor, plus other spots on her spine, would qualify her for numerous rounds of some pretty potent chemotherapy over the coming year.

On that pre-surgical visit I asked her what her favorite candy was.   In no time, I was in the gift shop hunting for and finding Starburst candies.  I rushed back to her room saying, “If it’s o.k. with your parents, you can have one now, but save the rest for when you are able to eat after the surgery.”

An experienced chaplain had once told me that one way to communicate hope to a child facing surgery is to say, with confidence, “the candy will be here waiting for you.”

What I never expected was how this child would become a “starburst” of hope for a church, a community, and for other children and families experiencing illnesses like hers.

It has been about a year and a half since that surgery.  I have had the joy of seeing Meghan return to Church, sometimes with casts from broken bones weakened from the chemo, a scarf for her bald head, and a smile broad as a shooting star!

She has been featured on numerous television and radio programs, in newspapers, at community events, and honored by her favorite team, the N.C. State Wolfpack

She has so impacted her friends that one friend asked that in lieu of gifts for her birthday party, that donations be made to Meghan’s medical fund.

Church members prayerfully followed every one of her crises and recoveries, crying with her pain, then celebrating her recovery.

Her family welcomed the birth of another sister during the course of her chemo (Meghan now is older sister to three beautiful girls).  Those little sisters certainly have a star to look up to.

And most people in Granville County now know Meghan’s name and when they speak it, they speak with more hope and with a lot of pride.

I don’t see Meghan and her family since I no longer am their interim pastor.  But it delights me to see her smiling face on Facebook, and to read about her from time to time in the media. I always feel more hopeful when I see her photo.

I think I now know why Meghan’s favorite candy is Starburst!   That’s pretty much who she is, “something that looks like rays of light streaming out from the center”!

 

 

Questioning an Attack on Syria

As the last of four children I had to learn early in life that pacifism was not always a bad thing.  As the skinniest kid in my class, I also learned that it might be wiser and safer to outsmart my opponents, make friends with bullies, and sometimes walk the other way when I saw danger. I am aware, also, that sometimes bullies do need confrontation and sometimes I might have to defend myself physically. 

At Sunday School, I learned about some sayings of Jesus.  I knew that turning the other cheek was a virtue, that loving my enemies was not an option, and that going the extra mile was something I ought to be willing to do when necessary.

My understanding of the ways of Jesus confound me today.

Atrocities of war are all around us.  Today I see images of children suffering and dying in Syria from chemical warfare.  As gruesome and revolting as these are, I still have to wonder if bombing  Syria would only add to the misery. I wonder who to trust in deciding who had these weapons.  I  also wonder where the concern is for children who are starving, who are homeless here and around the world, or who are victims of domestic violence and abuse in many places.   Where is the outrage about how violence affects children in the streets of Kiev, or the homeless boys and girls in Ecuador, or the girls and boys who are trafficked for illicit sex to our own country?

Yes, I am outraged by the exploitation of innocent victims, many of them children, in Syria, and Afghanistan, and Iraq, and wherever there is violence.   But I cannot for the life of me see how bombing more sites and the “collateral” damage, i.e. death of innocent children (which we may not hear reported in our news media for some time) will help bring about the peace and safety we seek for all our children.

The bombing and airstrikes may occur soon.  And perhaps there will be some positive result that I cannot imagine.  I will happily eat my words and change my opinion.   I know the arguments:  “Someone had to stand up to Hitler and force his hand….someone had to put Idi Amin out of power…someone had to stand up to slavery in the U.S. and stop it…” And those arguments are just.  And I am glad for the final results of all those noble efforts to confront evil, tragic as the loss of innocent life may have been in most of those cases.

John F. Kennedy’s undelivered speech in Dallas, Texas, contained these words: “We are the watchmen on the walls of freedom.  We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility; that we may achieve in our time and for all time, the ancient vision of peace on earth, good will to men.   That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength.”

It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to be the watchmen on the walls of freedom in every corner of the world.   We should expose every crack in that wall and every damage to it.  The question is how do we restore every wall?  And how do we enable others to do that when we cannot?   Can we be the watchmen, but not always the repairmen?

Is the attack on Syria really a punishment of another dictator, or an introduction of more troubles for innocent citizens?  Is this the way toward peace, or an ill fated trip to save the reputation of the United States?