Coming up in Worship

In this series, Hurricane, we explore how God is our shelter and always ready to come to our aid in times of trouble. And troubles come that only God can get us through. However, God allows us to suffer the consequences of our collective decisions.

For a companion book, we’re using Ocean Vuong’s best-selling novel and Oprah Book Club selection, The Emperor of Gladness. One of the main characters, Grazina, is an elderly widow dealing with dementia who persuades Hai, a young adult, to become her caretaker. Over the following months, the unlikely pair forms a life-changing bond based on love, empathy, spiritual reflection, and heartbreak. Through this, their relationship changes Hai’s view of himself, his family, and a community on the edge.

Both hurricanes and dementia are destructive forces that form without regard to our hopes and dreams, interrupting life with a destructive force that we’re unable to stop once they’re underway. But do we play a role?

The debate about the existence of climate change ended years ago. No one can force us to believe it doesn’t exist, but we all have the power to ignore the warnings. Despite our personal views, storms are becoming more severe and frequent, leading to a rising toll of lives and property. Among weather events, hurricanes are the most powerful, occurring more often and with greater strength.

The Department of Energy published a controversial report written by five authors who were hand-selected by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former executive in the fossil fuel industry. Not surprisingly, the report concluded that “carbon dioxide-induced warming appears to be less damaging economically than commonly believed.” This group was subsequently disbanded in response to a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists, which alleged that the group had violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by failing to disclose its formation and by deliberately presenting a one-sided argument.

Tracy J. Wholf, Senior Coordinating Producer of Climate and Environmental Coverage for CBS News, covered the science community’s response, claiming the report did not fairly represent a scientific understanding of climate change. The report was reviewed by more than 85 climate experts, who noted that the report misrepresented scientific literature and cherry-picked data to support its conclusions.

The policies of our current administration appear to be suffering from memory loss brought on by a disease that causes them to choose to ignore factual data and instead fabricate their own reality.

The Alzheimer’s Association website describes dementia as a general term for the loss of memory, language, problem-solving, and other thinking abilities, especially when these symptoms are severe enough to interfere with daily life. And dementia is usually the result of Alzheimer’s. Dementia is not a single disease. Instead, dementia refers to a collection of symptoms representing a variety of diseases.

To diagnose Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, doctors review the patient’s medical history, conduct a physical examination, collect data from lab oratory tests, and look for changes in thinking, day-to-day function, and behavior associated with each type of dementia.

Notice the importance of both historical context and scientific data. Ignoring either one makes it difficult to come to a factual conclusion. The disease is likely to go undetected, but the symptoms will persist and likely worsen. The patient and their family suffer whether or not an accurate assessment is made.

What do hurricanes and dementia have in common? The first similarity that comes to mind is the destruction and turmoil caused by our climate, in the first case, and by disease in the second.

We’re all familiar with the damage caused by hurricanes. More of us are also facing the heartbreak of dementia. The effects of both hurricanes and dementia are evaluated in stages. Hurricanes are rated by categories based on wind speeds, while dementia is measured in progressive stages. The higher the category or stage, the more severe the impact.

God is our shelter and is always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths, even if the violence shakes the seas, roar and rage, and the hills.
Psalm 46:1-3

Our national dementia goes undetected if we all choose to ignore history and scientific data. Moreover, in the case of our recent onslaught of national dementia, we’re all facing a rapid increase in suffering. Fortunately, most are not fooled by fools, and many are sounding the alarm.

Similarly, the Word of God spoken throughout scripture sounds alarms that we all need to hear. God’s alarms are timeless and thus beg for faithful interpretation by persons chosen to speak truth to power. However, since God’s Word requires interpreters, there are always false prophets who convincingly deceive those for whom their interpretation may fit the listeners’ preconditioned ideas.

Church bells remind me of the prophetic voices found in scripture and elsewhere. Speaking truth to power, prophets throughout history have spoken and sang warnings both to leaders and to the people they aspire to lead.

What do you feel when you hear Church bells?
Is it a sound that signals hope?
Like the lost seaman hearing the lighthouse horn,
it sings comfort to my soul.
But an alarm also sounded, time to change course
before my journey ends.
What do you feel when you hear Church bells?
Do they stir your heart to sing?
The fog horn has sounded danger ahead,
For my path was well worn.

Maybe you’re walking along a familiar but unsettling path. Maybe you’ve passionately supported our current president, hoping for a better tomorrow. Hopefully, you’re beginning to focus more on facts than on lies.

So far, the U.S. remains a democracy, offering hope that new leaders will be elected. But we’re going through a very dark time. Our leaders have failed us, but instead of listening to the warnings, they continue to organize around principles that fail to care for God’s beloved. A hurricane is forming, and the destruction is already underway.

Here is the outline of our series:

Please join us each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. We share our weekly episodes on Facebook and our YouTube channel, and go live at 10:30 a.m. You can find these links and more information about us, or join our live broadcast on our website, FlintAsburyChurch.org.

Pastor Tommy

Ocean Vuong. The Emperor of Gladness. NY: Penguin Press, 2025.

“How Do Hurricanes Form?.” © Spaceplace, 2025. Retrieved from link

Tracy J. Wholf. “More than 85 climate experts say Energy Department report on greenhouse gases is ‘full of errors’,” © CBS News, September 2, 2025. Retrieved from Link

Rev Dr Tommy McDoniel. “A Certain Road.” © Tommy McDoniel, June 18, 2006.