Almost an octogenarian now, it took me over sixty years to agree with the bard that, “Sweet are the uses of adversity.”
My first adversity was in 1945, when I was a medic in WWII and got a dishonorable discharge for going AWOL to bury my recent convert from Hinduism to Christianity. Instead of wallowing in my adversity, I decided to make this bardic maxim my mantra. As I inhale, I feel the cool air ascending my nostrils with a hiss:
“S-W-E-E-T.” As I exhale, I mutter: “ARE THE USES.” As I inhale again, I think: “OF.” As I exhale again, I ejaculate “ADVERSITY. When breathing in, the abdomen goes out, when breathing out, the abdomen goes in.
Count your adversities a blessing in disguise. Look for the silver lining behind the ominous clouds and dissipate them with the above maxim, mantra, rosary or verse from the bible like, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake (Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 10).
My second adversity was after the ministerium assigned me to two parishes in the capital, Georgetown, British Guiana. I made my epiphany and triumphal entry first at Epiphany Lutheran Church. But Calvary Lutheran Church was my calvary where I was figuratively crucified by a newly arrived missionary (Paul), who wanted to live in the city.
As a missionary turned politician, his agenda was to usurp my “bishopric” and send me packing into the rural areas where there was no electricity (but kerosene lamps), no running water (except when I ran down the road and ran back with a bucketful), no telephone or TV, no indoor plumbing (but outdoor latrines), and myriads of mosquitoes that spread malaria, filaria and yellow fever.
The first plank on his religio-politico platform: He wanted to close both Calvary and Epiphany and start all over again because, as he said, both churches were founded on sinking sand in that these two parishes were made up of the Catholic and Anglican rejects, i.e., divorcees who were barred from the Table of the Lord in their churches. For espousing his cause, I got into deep trouble with my native bishop who founded those two churches.
The second plank: Paul insisted that the only scriptural means of becoming autonomous, is by tithing . This caused quite a furor. The people claimed that they were not under the law but under grace and that salvation is free for all.
Paul knew that artesian well water is free for those who can afford to pay for the pipeline, So Paul told me to tell them, “True, salvation is free, but you’ll have to pay for the pipe line.” These former Catholics and Anglicans were accustomed to raise money by bingo, and Tea Parties called conversazione for dining and dancing not without a well stocked bar. I told Paul that it would be impossible to teach old dogs new tricks. For these reasons he wanted to disband these two congregations.
In trying to be a reformer, I alienated my people. Since these two congregations were predominantly black, Paul successfully ingratiated himself with them by giving an eight year scholarship to a black boy to study for the ministry in Puerto Rico. As a result, Paul was in (the city) and I was out in the mosquito infested rural areas.
However, this apparent adversity proved a blessing in disguise. In the first place, I did not want those two city parishes for two reasons. I was not called to compete in the sheep-stealing business. Secondly, I had a mandate to “Feed sheep,” as Jesus said to Peter (John 21;16) and not to amuse goats (which Lutherans are good at). Suffice it to say that I found my niche to live up to the mission statement of my SACRED ORDER OF AQUILA AND PRISCILLA (SOAP) which I founded in 1945 to Teach, Preach and Heal based on Matthew 4: 23.
I enjoyed TEACHING religion in the Lutheran High School all day, then in the evenings, I stood up at the roadside PREACHING to evangelize Hindus and Moslems in order to plant Emmanuel Lutheran Church. I was also in the HEALING ministry, having been trained as a medic. I wrote prescriptions for tropical diseases like yaws (called frambesia by Albert Schweitzer). These medications were sold over the counter.
While my colleagues are now pushing up daisies in (Jim Jones) Guyana, my adversities have turned out to be blessings as the “Lord opens the windows of heaven and continues to pour out His blessings on myself, children and children’s children until there is no room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
As an Old Catholic Priest, I shall continue to pray not only for the living but also for the repentant dead in purgatory especially those who persist in transgressing the Psalmist’s injunction: “Touch not the Lord’s anointed, and do His prophets no harm.” (Psalm 105:15).
For more information on “How to meditate to transform adversities into blessings,” please visit me at: www.uc.edu/lachmaem
Monday, July 7, 2025