One of the great analysts of human behavior was named Theodor Geisel. Some of you know the name by which he is primarily known—a hint: his middle name was Seuss. Yes, Dr. Seuss, that writer of children’s books, demonstrated great insight and communicated it in wonderfully humorous ways. In one of my favorites, which is 70 years old this year, Horton Hears a Who, there is an elephant named Horton. Of course, elephants have large ears, so Horton can hear that which others could not, which in this case were the cries of distress from microscopic beings who lived on a speck of dust. Once the large elephant discovers the existence of these tiny Whos, he shows he also has a large heart and takes responsibility for their well-being, placing the speck on which all of Whoville exists on a soft clover.
But as Horton the elephant begins to express his concerns for the Whos, the other animals, not wanting to be bothered by such a possibility, begin to ridicule him for his belief that these beings merit any attention or care. These animals exaggerate their behaviors that hurt the Whos as they express their incredulity that someone believes such small matters matter. They were more interested in what was convenient and what they thought made their lives better than what was right and fair. At one point in the story, Horton finds the clover on which the Whos live after the other animals had hidden it, and with great relief and urgency, he cries out: “My friends! Tell me! Do tell! Are you safe? Are you sound? Are you whole? Are you well?”1
The Hebrew word, ‘shalom,’ found in scripture, generally gets translated as ‘peace.’ But shalom is much more than that – it is a reality where all are safe, sound, whole, well, as indicated by our friend, Horton. Bryn Mawr Presbyterian is blessed to have staff who seek to express concern for our members’ well-being. All five pastors meet weekly to talk confidentially about the pastoral needs of folks within the congregation and how to show appropriate love and care. We also email and text one another with updates in between our meetings. We have on staff a half-time nurse, Carol Cherry, and a half-time social worker, Kathryn West, who provide physical, mental, and spiritual health and well-being resources. We also have our Middleton Counseling Center led by Director Kiki McKendrick, with 13 therapists and two spiritual directors, which offer counseling and support groups. There are laypeople involved in various ways that also seek to reflect God’s care on concerns, large or small. All these staff and lay people work to enable the membership and beyond to be safe, sound, whole, and well.
We realize there are times when those four words do not describe how individual lives are going. If you ever lose a loved one or a job, if you are facing a health or a relationship crisis, if you or someone you know has suffered abuse or a chemical dependency, or if you are facing financial constraints or legal charges, you can trust someone on the caring team with sensitive information. A person or team could walk you through a challenging time, referring you to helping agencies as appropriate. Contact info is on the website for each part of the caring team. So, like Horton says, “My friends! Tell me! Do tell! Are you safe? Are you sound? Are you whole? Are you well?” When someone is not safe, sound, whole, or well, we, like Horton, plead, “Our friends! Tell us! Do tell!” so we can seek to respond in ways not just reflecting Horton’s care, but what goes beyond that with God’s care.
1 Theodor Seuss Geisel, Horton Hears a Who!, Random House, 1954.
