Essentiality of clergy an indisputable truth
Rock star Jimi Hendrix quizzed “Are You Experienced” with his 1967 studio album.
A more important inquiry during the age of COVID-19 involves “Are You Essential?”.
On Monday, March 29, additional individuals that live, work, or educate in New Jersey became eligible to receive the vaccine.
The New Jersey Department of Health identified these new categories of essential workers in the following sectors:
•Food production, agriculture, and food distribution, including grocery store workers and restaurant staff
•Eldercare and eldercare support staff
•Warehousing and logistics
•Social service workers and support staff
•Elections personnel
•Hospitality, including casino workers and hotel/lodging staff
•Medical supply chain
•Postal and shipping service
•Clergy
•Judicial system.
It’s an interesting list and one category position offered surprise. Clergy seemed like a nobrainer for early access to vaccinations.
In fact, a discussion with Westminster Presbyterian Pastor Karen Hernandez-Granzen had touched on the value of clergy members.
Personally, pastors and other religious leaders deserved early access to vaccinations, especially when one considers their role in moving people through this maze of uncertainty and toward the Promised Land.
Most spiritual taxi drivers perform valuable services regarding the transport of souls from Point A to Point B — birth to death. Consider all the issues in between first and last breath.
Imagine the 550,000 U.S. citizens who perished via the coronavirus. That’s a lot of people who went home or elsewhere, plus, significant numbers of people left behind in need of spiritual guidance or memorial services.
Government officials determined which lives meant more than others, blasphemy for people who believe in any form of deity. The higher power of personal understanding refrains from flesh matters as Scripture implores being in this world but not of this world.
A flesh agenda has overshadowed the spiritual nature of coronavirus. Political leaders almost never invoke a need for prayer.
For the record, if COVID-19 adversely affected the elderly, Blacks, Asians and Latinos then they deserved immediate help. Instead, those groups remain disenfranchised, exiled from support as coronavirus makes a second pass through beleaguered communities.
Government propaganda and media members placed blame on minorities for stepping away from vaccination. That registered as fake news as distribution efforts never matched demand.
If officials say get the vaccine but have no injections available then that’s disingenuous. If pharmacies broadcast vaccine availability but fail to offer injections in urban stores then that bias puts neighboring communities at risk.
The U.S. system lurks as rigged, tilted toward the haves and angled away from the power of love. With life on the line, few people stand ready to offer their position to someone more deserving.
We experience another situation where U.S. interests have kicked deities and acts of love toward the curb.
As we move toward a post-pandemic existence and dealing with emotional and spiritual trauma, clergy members rank as more than simply essential.