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BY MONROE WRIGHT

Dayenu ? It would have been enough. ... If he had brought us out of Egypt. If he had executed justice upon the Egyptians and their gods. If he had slain their first born. If he had given to us their wealth. If he had split the sea for us. If he had drowned our oppressors. If he had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years. If he had fed us manna. If he had given us Shabbat. If he had given us the Torah. If he had brought us into the Land of Israel. He built the Temple for us. Therefore, how much more so do we owe abundant thanks to God for all the manifold good He bestows upon us.

What is the local church to do about HIV/AIDS? It is one in a list of many confessed urgent needs. The response is: Of course the church will do something about this vital concern, but what?

Now some 20 years after the only other United Methodist national AIDS gathering, 150 of us gathered in Washington, D.C., and sat at the feet of the best teachers ? those whose lives have been chewed raw by this disease.

The recurring prologue to our conversations was the sorrowful lament, 'What else is there to say?'

There was nothing new to be said. Nothing new was heard. Even the latest epidemiological projections are the same as a decade ago: expansion of the disease among women and people of color in the United States; a rapid explosion in India, China and Russia; and the church, for the most part, remains silent or worse, all too ready to stigmatize.

So what is the church to do to be part of God?s redemptive love? Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said in the 1980s that AIDS was the refiner?s fire ? a fierce critic of social systems and a light into hidden areas of our common life. This refiner?s fire has the possibility of righting wrongs or to consume both the afflicted and those who cause injustice.

What is the local church to do? What am I to do? We should pray. Dai ? it would be enough ? if we did that and nothing more, that would be enough.

Preachers are called to speak the word AIDS and reclaim the sacredness of those affected. We are called to proclaim from the pulpit that without exception God loves all his children. We can open doors. We can be ready to stand beside those dealing with this disease (care-givers, those infected, relatives, friends). Dai ? it would be enough ? if we did that and nothing more, that would be enough.

Healing services, especially when celebrated within the context of the regular Sunday worship, provide spiritual hope not only to those dealing with this particular disease but all of us as we deal with our own brokenness. We can support in special ways persons living with HIV/AIDS through spiritual retreats, counseling, befriending and embracing. Dai ? it would be enough ? if we did that and nothing more, that would be enough.

For those called to a broader field there are too many opportunities for both giving of money and talents here and abroad, both long and short term. Our Conference?s relationship with the church in Zimbabwe, VIM missions and the newly launched UMC Global AIDS Fund (with its goal of $8 million) are but a few examples. Dai ? it would be enough ? if we did that and nothing more, that would be enough.

It would be enough it we simply manifested Jesus Christ to others. Dayenu.

The Rev. M. Monroe Wright Jr. is pastor of Lanham UMC.