Fortitude and Faith Joshua 1:1-9

When Gwen Carr came to New London this past week as a guest of the NAACP, she had a story to tell. Her name may be unfamiliar to you, but her testimony certainly is not. She is the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed on July 17, 2014 when New York City Police Officer, Daniel Panteleo, applied a notorious chokehold to keep Garner pinned to the ground. In a punishment that didn’t fit the crime, Eric, along with others, had been selling individual cigarettes on the street corner—hardly much of a misdemeanor, let alone something that should cost him his life. Garner’s final words have since been immortalized around the world: “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”—the same plea heard from numerous victims of this infamous police tactic, including Elijah McClain in Aurora, CO and in Minneapolis. The story Gwen Carr tells, however, isn’t limited to the death of her son nor to incidents of . It also includes her life of faith as part of the Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington, New Jersey. As is true for many within the Black community, the role of the church as an advocate and supportive cast is crucial for families who have suffered injustices, indignities, and traumas, as it does for Gwen Carr. Except, she is one who often takes up the role of advocate and moral support to those who have lost family members, particularly to police violence. She has written a book on the topic and now travels around the country at the invitation of churches and community groups (like the one in New London) addressing concerns

1 about racial injustice and hardships many in the Black community face. Gwen’s personal story is one of overcoming hardship. At 26, her husband—Eric Garner’s father—died from a stroke, leaving her with three children, ages 4 months, 4 years old, and 5 years old. With help from her parents, Carr went back to school and earned an accounting degree. When her brother and his wife died a few years later, she took in his three children without hesitation—raising the brood of six on her salary as a post office accounting technician, in a house she bought in Bedford Stuyvesant. “My brother would have [done] the same for me,” she says. “I never even put them on welfare.” …1

Her story sounds much like those she hears from others in her church family. “They’ve been very beautiful—showed us a lot of love,” her husband, Benjamin, acknowledged. I’m not surprised by Gwen Carr’s ties to her church. Many Black leaders arise from congregations that birthed and nurtured their faith. Inspiration from God is often the guiding force for those who face difficult challenges, whose faith seeks a measure of solace, strength, and hope that is tangible and life-empowering. Faith is often the source of fortitude—the courage that allows one to act boldly and maintain one’s focus against overwhelming odds, which certainly is true of Gwen Carr. It’s the type of strength that turns an average individual into an extraordinary one—a common person into an uncommon hero. Fortitude is what often creates the leaders we admire most. The late Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes, who served for many years as the Dean of the Chapel at Harvard, described fortitude in this way:

1 Rouse, “Family and Faith Guide Eric Garner’s Mother a Year After His Death,” WNYC News, July 17, 2015.

2 Fortitude is the ability to stand in hope against the overwhelming pressures, tragedies, and fears of the world and, most especially, against the fear of death and the reality of mortality. … Fortitude supplies us for the combat that allows our inner strength to contest and ultimately prevail over outward turmoil…Fortitude is that moral quality that allows us to persevere when others would give up or give in; it is the fuel of the long-distance moral runner who, despite inner fatigue and the apparent outward success of others, nevertheless keeps on keeping on. It is thus perhaps the most enabling and valuable of all the virtues. 2

Fortitude in the life of Gwen Carr is what it takes to stand up for what is right when so much is wrong. It is something we all possess in varying degrees, but with so many Black mothers burying their sons and daughters, fortitude found in faith becomes a source of deeply- needed grace in the Black community. Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous prayer is often whispered daily: “Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Courage or bravery, though, isn’t something a person discovers in the abstract. It is discovered in the process of living life—moving forward from trauma to find meaning out of that which is otherwise meaningless. As Aristotle noted: We become brave by doing brave acts; …[B]y being habituated to despise things that are terrible and to stand our ground against them we become brave, and it is when we have become so that we shall be most able to stand our ground against them.

As Carr speaks of her own life before her son’s death: I was just going about my daily routine, minding my business, a very low- keyed individual. Life was okay as I know it…I had the basic necessities, and as far as I was concerned, my children were good. My grandchildren were good. It was like, life was okay.

2 Peter Gomes, The Good Life, 228, 229.

3 Until, of course, the day Eric died—senselessly for no reason. Then her zeal was born from grief. It was a stepping out in faith against all odds, doing the right thing, and trusting God. Mind you, brave people are not fearless—they are merely acting in ways not to allow their fears to define them or disable them. I find that to be true in many people I encounter who initially let their fears rise when faced with a frightening prospect, but then, with perspective and faith, realize they are able to move forward and find strength and courage they were not aware was within them. It is to, as Martin Luther King put it, “…build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” Courage and bravery are summoned up within us when we act to do what is right. In the action, the “dike of courage” is built to hold back fear. There is much truth to this, not just in relation to social causes or injustices. It’s true whatever challenge we face—be it personal or social, related to our health and welfare or in a workplace, school setting, and the like. Summoning courage to right what’s wrong begins when we act, because until we act, we are not fully committed. Courage and fortitude come to those who are committed. The Bible, of course, is replete with various “brave hearts”— depicting remarkable courage and strength in the face of adversity. Where would we be without the story of David and Goliath, or Elijah facing down the prophets of Baal; or Daniel in the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace? All sorts of stories and memory verses inspire both faith and fortitude. Such is true in the character, Joshua, who was portrayed by the storyteller as one who never doubted himself, never questioned his

4 calling, and never seemed to come up short. He was a man of action—the prototypical strong and courageous warrior—with legends about his exploits in leading the conquest of Canaan and the Israelites into the Promised Land. It’s both glorious and gruesome in the annals of Israel’s history, except, according to archaeologists, none of this ever happened. There is no evidence of such a conquest into Canaan; at most, it is believed the Israelites emerged from within Canaan initially as hill tribes and nomadic shepherds. So what we have then is not recorded history in chapter and verse, but legends developed much later in time to justify a claim to the land itself— something that still occurs in our time with Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Still, even as a creation from a storyteller’s mind, what is noteworthy about Joshua is the courage he possessed going against overwhelming odds, just like David going up against the Philistine giant, and all the other hero stories that romantically present Israel’s amazing strength and success against more imposing rivals. From the start, Joshua was not well-equipped for the assignment he was given. Yes, he was the right-hand man of Moses, who had led the Israelites from Egypt through the wilderness, but now Joshua was commissioned to lead them into the Promised Land by militant conquest and then go on to conquer the entire Mesopotamian region! Though he seemed fearless for the task, in truth, what threat did they pose? Joshua’s army was an inferior force. His people had no sense of the land they were entering. They had no arsenal of weapons. His own leadership was relatively untested. He was given a commission to lead his people into enemy land and take possession of it, and to

5 ensure their survival and success after forty years wandering in the wilderness. As the storyteller wanted to impress his audience—the impossible odds were against them all. It would take fortitude, along with faith in God—much like every challenge they faced. Joshua was handed the impossible task of leading and protecting his people going forward with this commission: Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it.

What did that mean? What was this “book of the law” that he was to abide by? Interestingly, the Book of the Law actually refers to a period five to six centuries later during the reign of the great messianic reformer,

King Josiah (639-609 BCE; see II Kings 22), where the high priest Hilkiah “discovered” the Book of the Law hidden in the temple. It was presented to Josiah, who then in “Joshua-like” fashion, crusaded to purify Judah of its religious idolatry and foreign influences to lead them back to their faith. This “book” is believed by scholars to be the original form of Deuteronomy (and its corresponding history in Joshua and Judges), which presumably was written during the reign of Josiah to justify his cleansing of the temple and land.3

3 For the author of the Deuteronomistic history, Josiah’s reign marked a metaphysical moment hardly less important than those of God’s covenant with Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt, or the divine promise to King David. It is not just that King Josiah is seen in the Bible as a noble successor to Moses, Joshua, and David: the very outlines of those great characters—as they appear in the biblical narrative—seem to be drawn with Josiah in mind. Josiah is the ideal toward which all of Israel’s history seemed to be heading…Josiah’s messianic role arose from the theology of a new religious movement that dramatically changed what it meant to be an

6 So, for the storyteller, the reference to the Law for his audience could only refer to what Josiah was doing in their time, and by doing it he created a direct tie between their times and that of Joshua, which then was rooted in Moses, from Egypt to the end—an experience with the divine presence and power of God that rose up at the right time within the ones who were called to lead—the same power and spiritual presence of God who would help Joshua and later, Josiah, discover their own fortitude and faith. Joshua, like those who followed him in Deborah, Gideon, Samson, David, Esther, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah, Daniel, John, and Jesus (his namesake) would find his strength in the Spirit of God! Even though this is a contrived story, it is still a biblical one. So it’s more than myth or fantasy, as I see it. There’s a message within, which I can confirm. I, as well, have experienced the strength of God empowering me at various times, as I’m certain you have, too. Facing adversity is what usually generates anxiety and fear in people; we’re easily intimidated by persons and situations that seem overwhelming and threatening—at least until we step up to the challenge. Dwelling on it only magnifies the feelings of vulnerability and weakness; whereas, acting on them, even against all odds, is what begins the process of summoning the courage, fortitude, and strength to meet the challenge. That is where God’s strength is found. Whether or not a threatening situation is related to our health, our welfare, our relationships, our jobs, our finances, or daily injustices, crimes, or bigotry, God is the source of strength for us to meet the challenge.

Israelite and laid the foundations for future Judaism and for Christianity. (Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed, The Free Press, 2001, pp. 275-6.)

7 God is with us in the act of standing up for what is right and not cowering to evil. Everyone needs God’s strength in times of trouble. Everyday people are left hanging on by a thread, relying only on prayer (which can seem so futile and fruitless, at times), holding out for a miracle— for some great wrong to be made right. Some never live long enough to see things made right. Many people are stuck in resignation and despair until the presence of God takes over and lights a fire of indignation and defiance—necessary defiance to no longer take it—to no longer remain a victim—to no longer accept oppression as a way of life—to no longer cooperate with an oppressive force—to no longer wait for someone else’s permission or favor—to no longer let another child be lost—to no longer give up and say “it’s God’s will,” when it isn’t—to no longer be considered a nobody. If you recall the Exodus story, remember God is the one who defied the powers of Pharaoh—the God of Israel, not the people themselves—who rose up in defiance and protest against Pharaoh, pillaging the Nile Valley with plagues and violence! YHWH was the one taking down the system—it was God who was defunding the armies of Pharaoh at the Passover! That’s the power of story and of God’s Spirit—to inspire people with redemptive narratives that give them strength to meet the challenges of life. We all are somebody under the love and grace of God! Friends, this is an important time to realize what’s happening right now in our world. God is at work, liberating lives that have been enslaved to what is evil. —yes, they do; but there are some lives that have always mattered, while many others have not.

8 And now those lives that haven’t mattered will find their day of reckoning, recompense, and redemption. It’s about time that this great wrong is made right! As Dr. King’s words counsel us: Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it. Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.

It happens when people step up and act out to change what’s wrong and refuse to remain silent any longer. That’s why we’re in a time of cultural and spiritual reform that takes fortitude and faith. Gwen Carr represents those mothers and fathers who step up out of their terrible grief and take on the system that has enslaved them—accepting the unwanted, uncomfortable mantle of a leader to do the right thing! Each of us can take on the mantle of our choosing to help us to defeat whatever impossible odds we face—whatever it is. We all need to summon fortitude and faith to fight for life—not just our own, but for the lives of others. What the mother of Eric Garner represents is that, like many others, what strength she cannot provide, what courage she cannot summon, what resolve she cannot see within herself, and what love she cannot yet feel for those who oppose her does in fact come through the power of the Spirit when it is needed and with others, who will generate the presence and power of God, too. It’s unfolding for us now. A land of great promise is now being courageously conquered with a spirit of justice and righteousness, dignity and

9 equality, mercy and love. Fortitude and faith walk these streets right alongside those who are marching in them seeking their day of deliverance from that which oppresses. The exodus from slavery in this country is not yet over! The exodus is not yet complete! Maybe it’s only through the eyes of faith that we can observe this liberating trend as a movement of the Spirit. Most may view it as a historic accomplishment for the descendants of those once enslaved. Some may view it through eyes of fear and stubborn resistance. Whatever it is, those who had no strength shall find it. Those who lacked courage are discovering it. Those are signs of God’s presence and favor. When God is on your side, and you are on God’s side, no power in heaven or on earth will ever remain unmoved.

The Rev. Dr. Paul C. Hayes Noank Baptist Church, Noank CT 5 July 2020

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