Superhero Spotted in Baltimore

Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes have dominated American comic books, television, movies, videogames, and other media. Most parents, especially those with boys, have wasted many hours as well as gallons of liquid gold (gasoline)during the days leading up to Christmas trying to locate and purchase the current year's must-have superhero toy. Raising our three sons during the 80's we saw the rise of techno-superheroes like the Transformers and the bioscience-superheroes like the Teenage Mutant Ninjas. Although superheroes vary widely, all have extraordinary powers and abilities.

During the 1960's, I spent many hours in front of our black and white television set watching such superheroes as Superman, Batman, and the Green Hornet. By the 1970's, I was watching shows like the Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman. And thank God for the invention of color television, because I can't imagine looking at Wonder Woman's costume in anything else but living color.

However, unlike many boys my age and many adult men as well, I was not interested enough in the subject to read and collect superhero comic books. In part, because as a child I was not a big reader; which is hard for even me to imagine since now I typically read several books a week. As well, I suspect my lack of fixation with fantasy heroes was the result of having a few of real heroes in my life--one or more of these individuals I would classify as superheroes.

During the mid 60's I was privileged to meet a preacher who would eventually become a superhero in my eyes. Beneath his short stature, balding head, horn-rimmed glasses, mild demeanor, articulate speech, intellectual brilliance, and innovative thinking, Bishop Monroe R. Saunders, Sr. could be described as nothing less than a superhero to those who knew him. His personal intervention in the lives of thousands of individuals in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean could easily have been chronicled as a superhero series in DC Comics or Marvel Comics. Gotham City might have had Batman, but Baltimore had Bishop Monroe Sr. Saunders, Sr. However, on August 7, 2008, the amazing adventures of this superhero came to an end at the age of 89.

Like most superheroes, Bishop Saunders, Sr. always seemed to miraculously appear when someone's life was in the most desperate need of rescuing. His presence, wisdom, and sense of humor had a way of bringing calm to the most chaotic of situations. The many times that Bishop Saunders came to my rescue could probably fill a book as well as a cinematographic epic as long as Gone With the Wind. When my dad was dying of colon cancer Bishop Saunders, Sr. would show up at our home every morning to pray and encourage my dad with his words of wisdom.

I recall on another occasion Bishop Saunders, Sr. coming to my rescue when my mother was going through treatment for cervical cancer. After finishing a lengthy course of weekly outpatient radiation treatments, my mother was giving radiation implants (a solid form of seeds or capsules placed in the body in or near the cancer cells) to complete her course of therapy. This several week period of hospitalization required my mother being isolated from the general hospital population. Also, staff and visitors had to wear lead gowns to enter her room and remain at a distance of at least six feet from her bed. On the day that she was scheduled to have her implants removed, her doctor was nowhere to be found. As my mother became anxious about the delay, the hospital staff repeatedly tried reaching her physician. When her anxiety began approaching the point of hysteria, I had no one else to call to our rescue but Bishop Saunders, Sr.

Despite his busy traveling schedule and extensive civic duties, Bishop Saunders, Sr. always seemed to be available in the time of crisis. On some occasions he would just show up at your hospital room, your house, or your office before anyone could call him. He would even walk into the Mayor's office or the offices of top corporate executives without an appointment. When asked how he knew to come, he would simply say something like, "I dwell in the spirit" or "I frequent the heavenly realm."

On the evening I called him to come to the hospital for my mother; just knowing he was coming began to calm my fears and anxieties. At the point that I could see his silhouette coming down the hospital corridor, it no longer mattered to me what time the doctor was going to arrive. All I knew was that my superhero had come to my rescue bringing the peace and presence of God. Knowing that he walked with God and heard from the LORD was the intervention I needed that evening. And after Bishop Saunders, Sr. prayed and left the hospital, who should come into the room but my mother's physician.

While preparing to leave the initial funeral service for Bishop Monroe R. Saunders, Sr. a parishioner went into cardiac arrest in the church parking lot. And like his father, Bishop Monroe R. Saunders, Jr. stopped his grieving to accompany the family to the hospital; where he spent most of the night by their side. On the evening of the final funeral service, as the Saunders family was preparing to enter the church, I received a message that the parishioner was being taken off life support. And like a superhero, he was ready to strip off his mourning garment and soar to the family's rescue. However, like Batboy or some other superhero's trusty sidekick, I reassured him that his place was to be with his own family and that I would take care of this crisis for him.

In this advanced technological age, our spiritual heroes seem to no longer walk among us like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Paul, and Monroe Saunders, Sr. Today, the spiritual heroes of the church are esteemed for being media stars, financial tycoons, and marketing executives.

Nevertheless, those who save the lost, raise the sick, feed the hungry, counsel the confused, and visit the imprisoned-- although barely recognized by the masses and rarely praised for their services--are the world's real superheroes. They go to court with us or our children. They pray, fast, and cry with us. They feed us with God's word week after week and year after year. And like our comic book superheroes, they quietly return to their mundane lives after performing their miraculous feats.

"I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD."--Jeremiah 23:4 (NKJV)

Dog Days of Summer

Several years ago--it was actually a decade ago when we lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland--we had a black Labrador Retriever, named Max, as a member of our family. Most summer days when no one was to be home we would tie Max to a tree in our backyard or to a post on our deck. His lead was 100 feet long, so he was able to freely move around. And during the heat of the day he was free to go under the deck to enjoy the shade or lie under one of the many shade trees in our heavily wooded backyard.

On one summer day Max decided that he didn’t want to take a nap under a tree or under the deck, but on the sofa in the family room. So Max climbed up and opened the patio door and proceeded to enter the house. Unfortunately, Max had somehow wrapped his lead around the legs and wheels of the barbeque grill on the deck. Therefore, as Max tried entering the house, the barbeque grill followed him until it reached the raised sill of the door. Unable to continue rolling across the sill and Max unable to reach the sofa, he pulled the grill until it toppled over and he was able to drag it completely into the house.

When my oldest son arrived home, he found Max laying on the family room sofa sound asleep on his back, enjoying the cool from the air conditioner. Obviously, exhausted from the ordeal of getting into the house, Max was snoring so hard that he never realized someone had come into the house. What a sight; the dog asleep on the sofa, the barbeque grill turned over in the floor, and the carpet covered with charcoal soot and old grease.

The phrase Dog Days or "the dog days of summer", was used by the Greeks and the ancient Romans to refer to the hottest days of summer. The ancient Romans would sacrifice a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days of Summer to appease the rage of Sirius (the “Dog Star”), believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. Despite the fact that was not an expert in ancient mythology; having to clean up all of Max’s mess by his self, my son felt like sacrificing that black dog, on that hot summer day to appease his rage.

There are times when we are thrust into situations where we find ourselves having to clean up someone else’s mess. For instance, parents seem to always have to clean up their children’s mess--from an infant’s dirty diapers to a toddler’s toys out of place to a teenager’s pregnancy to a young adult who has broken the law. Siblings throughout their lives find themselves having to cleaning up each other's mess--of course some siblings seem to make more messes than others. Spouses have to clean up each other mess as well--one refuses to curb their spending or one fails to keep their vow to be faithful. Pastors as well are often forced to clean up messes that have resulted from parishioners refusing to live by the word of God or sound pastoral advice.

As frustrating and preventable as cleaning up someone else’s mess might be, and as much as you would like to throw them to the dogs, don’t forget the times that someone lovingly chose to clean up the messes you made in your life. Also remember that, today, you may be cleaning up someone else’s mess, but tomorrow someone might have to clean up a major mess you have made.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.--Galatians 6:1-3 (NLT)