By Kenneth Lynn Jobe
The word enthusiasm originates from the Greek word entheos, meaning “filled with
a god within,” referring initially to divine inspiration and later to passionate zeal.
I am building a bridge. It is a suspension bridge across a clear water creek on my plot of land in Tennessee. I have walked many trails, even from Georgia to Maine over a 6-month stretch. I have seen many trail bridges and always wanted one across my creek.
Building a pedestrian bridge to span 112 feet is no easy task. Especially one that must withstand the spring rains which take the creek out of its banks most every year. It takes a design, which I had no knowledge of, and thousands of parts, big to small, which in some cases I did not know the name of.
It simply takes “figuring it out.” Like how do I get concrete to an isolated location in the woods, remote to even a small rural road? How big does the cable need to be and how do I stretch the ungainly thing? And no dozers or cranes or big construction firms please. Let’s just use hand tools and small powered equipment to minimize impact on the site. It mostly takes enthusiasm and a desire to do it.
Well, my bridge is near completion. The major components are standing proudly as evidenced by the picture. I will soon walk across my creek without getting my feet wet.
So, what is the point? The point is the symbol. The point is that a person or a group or a church must have enthusiasm to accomplish a task.
I have been interested in the Creation Justice Movement since 2019. The UMCJM effort is trying to get our church to muster the enthusiasm to take on a mission of discipleship, saving planet Earth—to take on attending to and preventing human suffering, indeed the suffering of all living creatures, from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. The UMCJM’s recent open letter to our bishops is part of this effort. Our church has not yet taken up the cross on this one. The more people who speak, the more likely our church is to do so.
Some people say finances hold us back. Or politics holds me back. Or a family in the church works in the coal industry and that holds me back. Or I have not heard my minister speak on these issues and that holds me back.
Our church founders, Peter and the Apostles, also held back. They shrank from responsibility until the day of Pentecost. Then they got the enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit. Then it was a new day. Same folks. Same resources. Same political circumstance. But oh, the difference! They had enthusiasm. They had desire.
Lynn Jobe served four years as an officer in the US Navy on a nuclear submarine where he made three patrols in the North Atlantic. Lynn had a 34-year career with Corning Incorporated including directing the 2015 renovation of the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. After retirement he walked the 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail in a single season. He is interested in reversing climate change and has lobbied with Citizens Climate Lobby in Washington, DC. Lynn continues to engage with others including the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement to build momentum toward passage of meaningful legislation to replace fossil fuel with energy from our sun.