“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NRSV)
When the safer-at-home order came from Governor DeSantis, I decided that I needed to find a television show that I could watch at night since I am not much of a television watcher. I do not remember how I found it except that I believe that it was in my Netflix recommendations, but I started watching a show called “Royal Pains.” Please do not Google it or search for it; there is no moral redeeming quality to it. However, it fit the bill for what I wanted: mindless television entertainment that could get my mind off the world and its current challenges.
The premise of the show is about a young, handsome, talented emergency room physician who bombed out of a high-pressure job at a New York City hospital because of a mistake and finds himself, through a series of events, starting a concierge general practice in the Hamptons. His brother is the CFO and there is a over-qualified Physician’s Assistant who holds the entire operation together.
What makes me chuckle during every episode is there is always a situation where someone is in distress and inevitably the doctor just happens to be in the neighborhood with the exact medical supplies needed and saves the person’s life. And if he does not have the needed supplies, he improvises. I think the show’s producers really stretched believability the time he used a candy cane yard decoration as a hollow tube for an emergency tracheotomy.
And yet, there has been a faith lesson for me on my nightly binge watches. Hank, the doctor and leading character, has come to represent God for me in these “distant times.” Hank always shows up, always knows what the person needs, always comforts, and is always present until everything is okay.
Perhaps, like me, you need that reminder today too. God always shows up, God knows our needs before we ask, God is always ready to comfort us, and God is always present.
Rev. Dr. Dawson B. Taylor
Senior Minister
For those isolated in nursing homes:
Loving God, remind me that you always show up. Amen.