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Convergence calls us to covenant life, Bishop Ward says at health conference

Mississippi Conference Bishop Hope Morgan Ward talks about covenants of health at "Empowering Ministries of Health" Sept. 25 in Wichita. (photo by Susan Cooper)

Written: 10/18/2007

By Susan Cooper
"Kansas West Connection" editor
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Mississippi Conference, began the Sept. 25 plenary session of the �Empowering Ministries of Health� national conference in Wichita, with a story about going to the doctor four years ago for a physical.

Ward related how after the nurse had measured her, the nurse said Ward was 5 feet 7 inches tall. Ward argued with the nurse and insisted that she was 5 feet 6 inches tall. Eventually, the nurse shook her pen at Ward and said, �You may have been 5 feet 6 inches at some point in your life, but today, you�re 5 feet 7 inches.�

The nurse added, �Most people are taller than they think they are.�

Ward said she had a friend who, for a period before the doctor�s appointment, had been telling Ward to �stand tall.�

�And somehow, I got taller,� Ward said.

She then cited the story of the �bent-over woman� from Luke 13:10-17, when Jesus healed the woman on the Sabbath who hadn�t been able to stand up straight for 18 years.

�God still tells us to stand straight, to stand tall,� Ward said.

She then told the participants about a group trip to Scotland. One woman in the group told Ward about a similar experience with her height. The woman had been through a divorce and had actually gotten shorter. After she had gone through the healing process from the divorce, she was physically taller.

While still in Scotland, one of the Bible readings for the group turned out to be Luke 13:10-17, the healing of the bent-over woman.

Ward said she saw overwhelming convergence from the physical exam, the woman in Scotland and the Bible reading in Scotland.

Convergence can be defined as �a coming together from different directions, especially a uniting or merging of groups or tendencies that were originally opposed or very different.�

Ward said convergence is sensing a call of God.

�What�s waiting to be born in us? What is God inviting us to next?� she asked the group.

Covenant is a big part of the Wesleyan life�a rule of life.

A rule of life may seem heavy and prescriptive, but it�s what helps us stand up straight in God, helps us to be more whole.

Our rule of life is whatever we do to make ourselves better, according to Ward.

More than a decade ago, Ward�s husband was trying to get her to exercise. She wasn�t interested in exercising. She said she�s the type of person who likes to sleep as late as possible.

She had told her husband she would start exercising Jan. 1, 1995. When the day came, her husband tried to hold her to her promise, but she didn�t do it. He said, �You�re never going to do this, are you?� Ward told him, �No.�

That spring, she went to a seminar in Raleigh, N.C., on covenant life. On May 7, the participants were asked if there was anyone willing to be a spiritual partner in life. Ward said she about came out of her seat.

�I was so mad at this convergence,� Ward said. She was convinced this was pointing her to exercise with her husband.

�Out of sheer anger at this convergence, the next day, May 8, 1995, I ran two miles with my husband,� she said.

Ward has continued to exercise since then. She and her husband now spend 40 minutes exercising each day. They chose 40 minutes as �sort of a Lenten thing.�

�It�s become a rule of life,� she said. �I feel better now. I don�t feel well if I don�t exercise. I�m a more peaceful being. It helps me be more disciplined in life.�

She believes becoming disciplined in one area of life helps people be more disciplined in other areas, like nutrition.

Ward said Mississippi is the least healthy state statistically in the United States, and she knows that the United Methodist clergy there need to become healthier.

She said the Mississippi River Delta Region has the worst poverty in the state, poverty that affects how the people there eat, what they do and how long they live.

Ward said she saw a sign at a grocery store in the Delta advertising that $20 would buy a family a week�s worth of meat.

�You know what that meat is?� Ward asked. �It�s bologna, hot dogs, sausage, fat back and ham ends!�

Recently Ward preached during a worship service in a Delta church, and the members had a dinner for everyone after the service. The Wards were brought broiled chicken and broccoli for their meal.

�But I could smell fried chicken,� Ward said.

It turned out that although the hosts recognized the need to serve healthy food to the Wards, there was fried chicken at the buffet table for everyone else.

�At least it�s a step forward, right?� Ward asked with a smile on her face.

Finding a way to get healthier food to the people in Mississippi is something Ward really wants to pursue. She knows that high fat, unhealthy food is the only option for many people there. She wants to expand opportunities for people to grow healthier food and for the local people to have access to it through farmers� markets and other venues. She wants to get healthier food onto the tables of the poor.

The health consciousness of the Mississippi Conference as a whole is improving, according to Ward. At the 2007 Annual Conference, 602 people signed up to use pedometers and log how they walk each day. A competition between the districts has developed from this, and when the Tupelo District got behind, the district superintendent contacted the district clergy. They walked around Tupelo, logging their mileage, to get the district back in the lead.

�How this all happened was convergence, not a top-down sort of thing,� Ward said. �People had a �sense of call� about this. Where is God leading us?�

She said scripture, exercise healthier eating and rest, or Sabbath, are all part of the healthy lifestyle covenant.

�Sometimes we want to do it, but we can�t, like me on May 7,� Ward said. �But the more we talk about it together, the stronger the convergence. This helps us move forward.�

Ward then talked about a doctor�s visit on Sept. 8, 2006. During her physical, it was discovered that her heart rate had slipped to 22 beats per minute. They performed two EKGs on her and diagnosed her as having bradycardia, a condition where the heartbeat is considered too slow. The next day, Ward was fitted with a pacemaker.

�I said to the cardiologists, �What did I do wrong?� I wanted an explanation,� she said.

She was told that the condition usually isn�t related to lifestyle or stress.

�I believed if I do everything right, I�ll live to be 110 and die in my sleep,� Ward said. �But it doesn�t work that way.�

Ward told the participants, �We open ourselves to God�s grace. We don�t get a guarantee, but it plants good seed. God is with us every moment.

�It�s a wonderful thing, to have this invitation from God to stand tall.�

She said the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a time to see the greatness of God. And on that day, Jesus healed the bent-over woman.

�Those who were still swirling around in darkness didn�t get it,� she said.

Ward asked the participants, �Where�s the convergence of what you�ve been hearing here since Sunday and will hear through tomorrow?

�May we be alert and awake enough to hear him,� she said. �What is God calling us to do next?�