A Volley from the Canon, Number 99 Say It

A VOLLEY FROM THE CANON, NUMBER 99

“IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING”

Shamelessly adapted from a sermon by the Rt. Rev. Catherine Waynick

Camp Allen, Texas, June 3, 2011

The man near death was in his 60’s. His doctor called the chaplain because his cancer patient “should have” died days earlier, and was in great pain, but seemed to have something unresolved. Perhaps the chaplain could help him. Upon her visit, he came out with it immediately. He didn’t know if his father ever loved him or not. The father had never said so, and it bothered the man. It happened that the patient’s father, in his eighties, was still alive, residing in a care facility not too far away. The chaplain called and explained the situation. “Could you possibly come?” she asked.

He got someone to drive him, and came to his son’s bedside. “I thought you always knew that everything I ever did was for you—all the work, and travel. I wanted a better life for you. I love you, and I’ve always loved you, and I always will love you.” They visited for a while, and the father, tired, returned to his own facility.
In less than twenty minutes, the patient died peacefully.

Whenever we say, “It goes without saying,” we then go ahead and say it. We have to, because nothing actually goes without saying. We need to say what we mean, what we think, what we feel—otherwise, how is anyone to know? We have to say we love one another. We have to say we are sorry. We have to ask for forgiveness. We have to say we forgive.

We are believers in Jesus. Everybody knows that, right? We go to church. We give to the church. We try to live according to God’s way. Our friends understand that, certainly our family does. It goes without saying.

Yes, too often, it does. But in our Baptismal Covenant, vows we renew on a regular basis, we promise to share “by word and example” the Good News of God in Christ. Note that it does not say, “by word OR deed.” We are inclined to make an option out of an inclusive.

We are unlikely to take to shouting praises to Jesus from rooftops. That is not our style, and likely not all that effective, anyway. But we are clever people.
We can figure out when the time is right, the opportunity presented, to tell the people who need to know where we stand on important matters. We worm our golf scores into conversations, surely we can manage this.

It goes WITH saying.