Lingering Hope and Salten Pillars

By Dr. Sylvan A. Lashley

The BEA-CON
University of the Southern Caribbean

Genesis 19:16 (KJV):  And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city

I wish you the best of the Sabbath morning from this outpost of the University of the Southern Caribbean in Orlando, Florida, where 20 students await their turn to transfer out to the University of the Southern Caribbean in our “Early College” program while yet others wait at other academies in Florida. It is Alumni Weekend on main campus and alumnus Pastor Bertie Henry, the Caribbean Union Conference treasurer, graced us with his Vesper message and alumna Mrs. Heather Dawn-Small, Director of Women’s Ministries at the General Conference, will share her Sabbath fare with the assembled hosts of Israel.  Today, we examine from the School of Business, this whole business of “lingering hopes”, culled from that “whispering hope” phrase of yesteryear.

 The concept of lingering is older than the hills; it connotes that act of remaining where you should not be, consciously or unconsciously, beyond the time when it is safe to do so.  Lingering operates in the physical, mental, psychological and spiritual world. There is the malady of lingering doubt that sometimes assails the soul. It is in that quick moment of indecision that men are born, made or diminished, nations destroyed, shots fired and careers broken. It is not the ponderous thought of measured analysis that matters most as it is the decision style that entails lingering doubt over every matter.  Lingering is a practice born of deliberate habit, until it assails the soul and roots in the ego; it starts in the subconscious and invades the character.  Like a silent deadly cancer, it can envelope the soul, taking us into habits that seem to be appear from nowhere. I am convinced that lingering doubt can become part of a lifestyle that translates to life’s activities.  While Nero twiddled thumbs, Rome burnt.

After all, Lot had made his name in Sodom. His daughters had gotten married and grand-children played around. What more could an old man want; crime was rampant, the violent homosexual type and more, but one stayed indoors—it came with the territory. Mrs. Lot was comfortable—life rolled along—she had made friends among some of the ladies. While they lingered in the culture and life of Sodom, a pernicious, yet unseen spirit had invaded their lives, such that they could now hardly discern danger. But that day came when they needed to be rescued from their comfort, the comfort that benumbs the senses at the door of eternal damnation. For Lot, probation was fast closing in, yet the Spirit was willing to wait, but not forever.  In spite of ourselves, God “lays hold upon us to rescue us from spiritual danger”.  Yet, some who are wont to linger, while leaving the ivoried halls of dangerous comfort, are wont to look back, to yearn, to travel in both worlds. It is not possible. There comes a time when a clean break must be made, in habit and thought and lingering, not even looking back to the “leeks and onions of Egypt”.  It is at that moment that salt takes over, solid, ignoble rock-salt that hardens the heart and moves into the area of the unpardonable sin. 

What will be our choice today, a salten pillar, stacked across the landscape of believers, doing nothing, just there, existing and exercising all the mere formalities, agreeing with everything or disagreeing with everything, ‘going along to get along’? To linger is to die, to become  salten pillar and so we will, but there is no need to die; we must live, alive with more than a whispering hope and a lingering doubt. There is hope—Someone is there to “lay hands on us urgently”.