Today's Daily Lesson is from 2 Kings chapter 2 verses 9 through 14:
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
One of my prized possessions on this earth is a stole that once belonged to my friend and mentor Ted Dotts. Ted played a major role in getting me to Duke Divinity School, where I met Irie. So I and my children owe a whole lot to him.
Ted was a gentle, but serious prophet, and a leader on many, many, civil and human rights fronts, including LGBTQIA rights. Ted was probably on his way to being Bishop in the Methodist Church in the 70s but began publicly advocating for the equal rights and full inclusion of gay and transgender persons in Lubbock and in the Methodist Church. He never did make Bishop out in West Texas, but will be remembered longer than any who did. Texas Tech named an Ally award in honor of Ted and his equally-strong and courageous wife Betty, who gave to me Ted's beautiful stole after he passed.
It is an honor to have that stole. It's as close a thing to Elijah's mantle as I own. I wear it when I need courage. And I used it to tie a symbolic knot on the hands of two men whose wedding I officiated just a few weeks ago.
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow's Lesson is 2 Kings 5-8.
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