Once again this past week we were confronted with the need to separate truth from falsehood.

With over 1,200 Covid-19 deaths in Iowa alone and with death toll in the United States closing in on 200,000, we learned from his own words that the President knew the coronavirus was a major threat to our nation’s health—“deadly,” he called it—but chose to publicly deny this. As cases increased, as deaths increased, he continued to minimize the problem, to lie about its seriousness, and to ridicule efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

We have become inured to lies and falsehoods over the past 3½-4 years.

Knowing that we are not hearing the truth has become the distorted reality in which we have lived through each day. Fact-checkers are kept busy around the clock. Back in June, the Washington Post stated that the President had made 20,000 false or misleading claims since the beginning of his presidency.

Now we know just how destructive and yes, even deadly, those false claims are.

Our ongoing pursuit of the truth, then, is vital to our well-being as individuals and as nation.

As the academic year begins, then, we are confronted with the urgency of a primary goal of education: getting at the truth.

 

SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Proverbs 9:1-12; John 8:12, 31-32

SERMON       “Learning in the Pandemic”

The Rev. Bill Lovin preaching

 

ANTHEM                   "Be Thou My Vision," arr. Dennis Janzer

Avery Nabholz, soprano

Wen Chin Liu, alto

Colin Wilson, tenor

Josh Ramseyer, bass

Andrew Knapp, trombone

You can view and download a copy of the bulletin here.

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