A Wedding, An Ocean, Two families of Eight, Ten Friends, And Feasting Galore: Luke and Abby Myhre, 15 June 2019

Luke and Abby shone this week. They created community as they brought their families together, pulled a handful of their friends into the event, added generous piles of good food and music, and reveled in the natural beauty of a New England beach. The context was wind, sun, waves, lights, stories, grills, toasts, songs. The event was a traditional recital of vows in the eyes of God and humanity, pledging to forsake all others and cling until death pried them apart. The joy spilled liberally to all of us.

Each couple's wedding is unique, and this one reflected Abby and Luke's desire for a longer deeper intimate time with a handful of people. Abby's parents will also gift us with a larger reception in November, after Abby's grueling fellowship in trauma care is completed, which will be more like a normal wedding reception. But for the marriage itself, Luke and Abby wanted a meaningful setting and a small group of people. They are both embroiled in probably the most demanding year of their work-lives (let us pray it gets better!) and only managed a long weekend to spend on the event (honeymoon will have to wait). Given those limits, they asked their parents and siblings and a small representative number of high school, college, and med school friends to come. And the only two surviving grandparents!  Since Abby's family has a vacation home in Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusettes, and she's spent some of her summer there every year of her life, they decided to make the party there.  Nantucket has been a whaling and fishing base since before recorded history, and became a refuge for indigenous Americans when European settlers dislodged them from the rest of the coast. Soon English whaling ships were coming there too, and dumping their ballast of rocks to make cobblestone streets, building their weather-worthy homes of cedar shingles that turn grey over the years of wind and rain and sun. There were small farms, and a good harbor, a few roads, gulls and seals and sharks, dunes and moors and pines. In the last century the island as become a resort destination but maintained its natural spaces, uniform cottages, and coastal flavor.

I can't possibly give a full and adequate account, the time was so rich. Abby's mom put us in contact with her neighbor, and we were able to rent the house next door for the week. The sheer logistics of managing two families, 26 people (two of whom were over 80), arrivals and departures by ferry and airplane, two extra locations (an air bnb for the friends and a beach-side house with a deck for the parties), rentals of tables and plates and cutlery, decorations, music, grills, food . . . all with one pick-up rented by Luke plus the Harries' vehicles, was daunting.  The audacity to make it all fairly DIY and outdoors given the blustery winds and frequent cool foggy clouds in June did give everyone some pause. But it all came together in a memorable and beautiful way.

Highlights include:

• Radiance. The bride, in our humble opinion, simply sparkled, and confirmed minute by minute how good God has been to our family to cross her path with Luke's. She is cheerful, competent, brave, firm in her foundations, sticks to her beliefs, looks out for others, and turned an event in which the bride is traditionally a bit passive into one where she went out of her way to engage and serve. She baked her own wedding cake! A six-layer carrot-cake marvel.  She sang a solo! She danced her heart out, laughed, and walked determined to enjoy the weekend in spite of gloomy weather forecasts. Oh, she also looked stunning. I think seeing her there by the ocean gave us a fuller picture of her beauty, in her natural habitat.
• Conviviality. The groom set the tone, and the entire group followed. Luke, as we who have loved him his whole life know, is a force of nature. He has a wonderful ability to pull a group together, to get a dozen people into a cold ocean to ride waves, to have the idea of his church being chairs in the sand on the beach and make it happen, to envision seared tuna and perfectly grilled steaks and citrusy drinks and jovial music, and it wa-la, there it is. He was up early and late, picking up the rentals, meeting people at the airport, shuttling food and drinks, telling stories, listening to friends. Did I mention the colored disco strobe lights that transformed the kitchen into a dance party? He's a person who thinks outside the box and pulls us all to a better level, whose zest and faith and kindness and sharpness make things fun.
• Feasting.  Can I mention the food again? We had two dinners at our rented house, the Harries had us over too, then there was the rehearsal dinner, the wedding day brunch, and the wedding dinner. One night Caleb and Jack rolled out probably 50 or more fresh flour tortillas. Another Julia and Jack did dozens of date-goat's cheese-bacon appetizers. Friends and dads were often at the grill, friends and moms were making salads and sides. There were bottles of wine and a champagne toast. Some items were brought in catered and others made from scratch, but each event included savory flavors in a setting of cheer and conversation. Luke requested Caleb to read in the ceremony one of our favorite passages from one of our favorite books, the Supper of the Lamb, a culinary and spiritual reflection on the Kingdom of God. This was appropriate to the wedding and also to the entire long weekend of fellowship.
• Wind and Waves and Sun and Stars.  June 15 fell on the full moon, and nearly the summer solstice. And in spite of a rain-cloud prediction, the rehearsal-dinner day and the wedding-day turned out to be sunny.  There were bike rides and runs, dips in the ocean, surfing, paddle ball, even a little soccer. This wedding weekend reflected Luke and Abby's love for the outdoors, for activity, for natural beauty, for the environment. And as a special gift: just as we set up the chairs and the beautiful wooden arch that Dr. Harries, Abby's dad, had made for the ceremony down on the beach, a seal pup came up in the waves and waited for his mom.  We were a bit nervous about him being distressed or abandoned right in the middle of the wedding ceremony, but by the end there was a burst of squeals and his mom came back and swam off with him. Pretty cool. How many weddings have you been to attended by a junior seal??
• Siblings. I can't say enough about how awesome the siblings were.  Abby's two brothers did a lot of set up and take down. And they made such moving speeches about her.  They were ages 11 and 16 when she was born, so they have always been part-brother part-parent in their protective relationship with her. Luke's siblings (and I may be a bit biased here) threw themselves 100% into this week. Long difficult travel, late nights and early mornings, cooking, cleaning, errands, hammering nails, building structures, setting up chairs, washing dishes and more dishes, whatever needed to be done. Caleb wrote and performed a spoken-word poem-rap that did not leave a dry eye. Jack and Julia gave deeply personal and genuine tributes. A wedding is a focus on the bride and groom for sure, in this case the only-girl by-a-long-gap youngest and the super-confident-by-a-short-gap take-charge-oldest. It would be easy for siblings to roll their eyes and withdraw, but these five entered in with all their hearts. And Abby's two sisters-in-law too! 
• Friends. As mentioned above, Luke and Abby know how to choose them. The handful that represented at this event (the original plan was immediate family only, and the hardest part for Luke and Abby was probably limiting themselves to 3-4 friend invites each when they have so many others they would have loved to celebrate with . . .) were not just fun and articulate and interesting, they were talented cooks and eager workers. This was an all-pitch-in event, and they did. They made our parental enjoyment even greater with their enthusiasm and help. And when we were talking after, several mentioned that the invitation to participate was actually a highlight and not a burden. 
• The over-80 crowd. My mom and Scott's mom were champs. They hung in with the literal and figurative whirlwinds of activity. They walked on the beach and even climbed a ladder, and my mom briefly joined the dancing. They were determined to participate, and they did.  Ruth had been gone from her home since before Jack's graduation, so it was quite a long stretch for her of travel and time with us. My mom had her to Charlotte for a few days so they could fly together. They both did so well, and everyone loved having their generation participate.
• The details.  In the end, a lot of a wedding boils down to details. And Abby's parents excelled in the details.  Her dad Tom made a fun sign with the origins and mileage of each traveler, put up strings of lights, built the wedding arch. Her mom Rhonda created beautiful tables, lights, fabrics, photo displays. Even matching t-shirts for everyone! She ordered  L and A m&m's, had sweet personalized details at every turn. I scoured our boxes of stored stuff to find childhood photos and Scott made fun slideshows, one for Luke and one for Abby to kick off the memories at the rehearsal dinner. He also worked very hard with Luke and Abby to write a traditional ceremony and a short but glorious sermon. We created a liturgy for the rehearsal gathering too. The flowers contained herbs as a nod to Abby's love of gardening. 

In short, we had a blast. 

Our first time to have a child married. Scott's first time to perform a wedding ceremony (he got a one-day license for the state). And not the first but the most extensive time for Scott and Jack to do wedding photos together. The official pictures are yet-to-be seen from the hired photographer, but we've been enjoying the spontaneous shots that Jack and Scott took, some of which are highlighted in this post.

I wish I could post Caleb's poem, which was far better, but I don't have a copy or permission. So I'll end with the sonnet I wrote for the occasion:

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A Wedding Sonnet

For Feasting with Disquietude

Honoring Luke and Abby

15 June 2019

Let this night’s marriage feast defy death.

For where two cross wills, then choose one

The serpent’s sting’s another step undone-

Fierce faith exhales a resurrecting breath.

A breath, a taste, a glimpse, but not yet cure

Though fangs pulled, the bite inflicts a bruise

On heel and hearth. Every cup a drop must lose.

Almost heaven, almost home, almost happy, almost sure.

So close reveals so far. Feasting, we feel disquietude.

YET FEAST WE CHOOSE. A table laid now shines

Shadows into retreat, invites all to dine

A cheery, glorious, inclusive, messy multitude.

This is the redemption of the damned.

This is the supper of our LAM(b).

Martyr's Day, Uganda: making Christianity African

Today Uganda commemorates the boys and men burned to death in Namugongo for their faith, on June 3, 1886. The year before, the Kabaka Mwanga had already killed a missionary James Hannington and a Ugandan Catholic leader Joseph Mkasa Balikuddembe, and up to 45 were killed between 1885 and 1887. But the sheer scale and public spectacle of the 32 martyrs burned on June 3, combined with their courage and conviction as they died, shook perceptions of the new faith. Prior to this event, Christianity could have appeared to be a Western religion associated with the colonial interests of Europe. A perception which no doubt held some truth. What angered the Kabaka to the point of such mass cruelty? The loss of his power over his people. The same thing that angered the rulers of Jerusalem, and Rome, and a thousand places before and since: faith in Jesus took priority in the believers' lives, even over loyalty to the king. They would now weigh their actions, right and wrong, priorities, obedience, on a standard that was outside of and higher than the opinion of the Kabaka. This included the tradition that young male court pages were also the sexual partners of the Kabaka, a practice they realized they could now resist. Jesus always sounded political to those who took his words seriously. Kabaka Mwanga understood that. He felt threatened, and he struck back. The resistance to his sexual exploitation no doubt left him feeling disempowered, but there were also likely good reasons he was worried that if his citizens sided with the new religion they would also side with the British.  It was complicated. But the result was not a whole-scale embrace of European rule; it was an eye-opening grass-roots ripple that turned into a wave that said, this is something real. Something African. These 32 went to their deaths singing and praying to God to forgive their oppressors. And their death caused all around them to confront their faith, and to say, this is not a way to gain the world, this is a way to gain your soul.

Uganda's recognition of this event includes two major memorials (one Catholic and one Anglican/Church of Uganda), parades, a University, the national public holiday. Martyr's Day forms a central place in Uganda's story, self-perception, strength. Which is interesting in the 21rst century's obsession with the so-called prosperity gospel, with the constant world-wide fallacy of equating faith and power, Jesus and wealth, right and might. Martry's day preaches the cross. The 32 chose a freedom of conscience that was more valuable than life, an integrity that cost them a horrific painful death. In stark contrast to preachers with personal jets or promises that belief produces health and wealth, the martyrs arrest the attention of the world with a stark holiness: theway of the Kingdom of God is the way of the cross. 

This is not a naturally appealing story in any culture. But the improbability provided key evidence that the followers of Jesus transcend any national identity.

Within my lifetime, this story had another Ugandan chapter.  Another ruler, Idi Amin, felt threatened by the clergy who questioned his excesses of power. He also sent Christians to their death, notably Archbishop Janani Luwum in 1977.

Uganda's witness to the world powerfully questions blind obedience to the powers that be. Followers of Jesus in many times and cultures have had the conviction and courage to stand up to injustice in the political sphere, and in doing so have met the suffering.  Just as Jesus did. 

Ebola Vaccines, Justice, and the crazy confluence of life imitating art

Eleven years ago, in the wake of potentially the hardest month of our lives (death of our dearest friend, separation from our kids, staring down our own mortality as we waited through 21 days of Ebola incubation), I wrote a book for our kids that helped us all honor Dr. Jonah's sacrifice and process our own grief.  Last Fall, it was published. The plot involves a hemorrhagic virus, political corruption and intrigue, potential immunity, risk, friendship, mystery.  I know I'm not objective but it's actually a good read. ( I wish more people would buy it and read it, but I'm stymied on how to promote that . . . . message me if you have an address for me to send copies to anyone famous . . . ).

officially enrolled, standing outside the doors of the NIH

Tuesday, Scott and I drove to the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, where we were enrolled in a trial to study the newest attempt at an Ebola vaccine. VSV-EBOV was developed by a scientist hired in the Canadian public health system. Like many advances in science, this one came from alertness to unexpected results. Because Canada 20 years ago lacked adequate high-security biocontainment laboratory facilities, while such level-4 labs were in process Dr. Feldman used a safer method of studying Ebola.  He attached an Ebola glycoprotein to an unrelated virus called VZV, vesicular stomatitis virus, a virus not particularly dangerous to humans that caused disease in sheep and cows. He was infecting mice with this modified VZV-EBOV virus, and noticed that they were not getting sick. He wondered if the glycoprotein was inducing immunity, so got permission to try a real Ebola virus on the mice.  They survived. This research was picking up in the early 2000's, and post 9-11 there was renewed interest and funding for combatting bioterrorism.  The US military paid to test the potential VZV-EBOV in monkeys.  It was effective. A small US company bought the rights to the vaccine but then nothing happened to develop it for almost a decade.  The decade in which our Bundibugyo epidemic occurred, though this strain was different so the vaccine may not have helped us. Why the long dormancy? Ebola occurs sporadically, in rural African places, affecting predominantly poor and isolated populations. That was not enough to drive the market towards profitability for vaccine development.

Then in 2014-2015, an Ebola epidemic in West Africa raged out of control. There was panic that this disease would spread out of Africa. It became clear that a larger company would need to buy the vaccine rights to move forward on testing and development. Merck bought the vaccine, and GAVI stepped in to push development forward. Pharmaceutical companies are profit-driven entities, and there is not much profit in Ebola. I know that many people put faith in the free market to solve our problems, but in this case we would NOT be where we are today without GAVI. GAVI is an organization seeded with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation that now includes dozens of other private foundations and national entities, a massive alliance to bridge the gap between need and profit.  Simply by infusing 5 million dollars into Merck to get the vaccine up and running for clinical trials, and promising up to 300 million dollars into the future, we went from a monkey-experiment to viable human use. By the time they were able to field test, the massive multi-country West African epidemic was nearly over, and those trials were not sufficiently powerful to prove the vaccine's effectiveness. However the capacity was now primed to be ready for the next disaster. GAVI continued to push behind the scenes from 2016-2018, actually quite remarkably they went against their own policy in order to fund a vaccine that was not yet licensed.  When Ebola was confirmed in North Kivu province, Eastern DRC, on August 1, 2018, they were ready.

This epidemic is not showing signs of control yet

Over the last ten months 122,695 people have been vaccinated in a ring strategy: once a diagnosis is confirmed, all the contacts of that person then all their contacts are vaccinated. Initial results from this epidemic show 97.5% efficacy for this vaccination, though it takes about ten days to see immunity so the post-exposure strategy has some drawbacks. Health care workers have been immunized in the region pre-exposure as well. The VSV-EBOV vaccine still has not been adequately studied for licensure: dose, duration of immunity, need for a booster dose, safety in children and pregnant women, etc. are all unanswered questions. Our Serge medical workers in DRC and Uganda received the vaccine, but we sadly missed the moment when it was being offered. The hospital where we work is probably the closest in Uganda to the DRC border, about 60 miles from Beni and 100 from Butembo/Katwa, the disease epicenters, with thousands of people crossing the borders and dozens of alerts for potential cases we have felt both vulnerable to exposure, and awed that none has yet occurred. We assumed that if a case was documented in Uganda, we would be offered the vaccine then, and hoped it wouldn't be too late.

the location of the disease does not inspire action . . . this is a close-up of the DRC-Uganda border zone. We live in the whitish grey area just above the top blue line

Darker maroon = more poverty. Note DRC and Madagascar . . 

However, even GAVI support and good testing results and 1877 cases with 1248 deaths demonstrating need are not enough to overcome the "opportunity cost" for Merck to devote more factory time to Ebola vaccine production. As they clearly state, there just may not be enough money in it for them. Generally the insecurity in Eastern DRC (132 attacks on health facilities over 10 months killing 4 and wounding 38) also produces some victim-blaming and hand-up-in-the-air-what-can-we-do disinterest. If the market is only governments and NGO's, and the ongoing potential is limited, they just might not scale up. So a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that going forward vaccine dosing would be cut in half or quarter. Having already faced Ebola in Bundibugyo (both of us) and Liberia (Scott) with no vaccine, and knowing there is a very effective vaccine now, we decided to pursue a back-door option.

The National Institutes of Health here in the USA are studying the VSV-EBOV, and graciously agreed to enroll us.  We had to spend a day at the main hospital, having blood drawn (9 tubes each!!), a physical exam, signing consents, waiting for the live-virus (the animal mouth-sores one that carries the Ebola protein, not an actual Ebola virus) to thaw from its storage at negative-60 degrees, then being injected with the very painful solution. The next 48 hours were a bit rough for me, basically like the flu with aches, fatigue, and a pretty high fever. Now we will return in 30 days for titres, then every time we are in the USA for more to follow our immunity over time. At 18 months we will be randomized to get a booster or no booster. This will help governments like the DRC or Uganda, and international organizations like the WHO or UNEPI, decide whom to immunize, when, with what dose, and how often.

About to be jabbed

Probably more than you wanted to know about Ebola vaccines. There are a dozen more in earlier stages of development. But I found the story instructive. Science is driven by brilliant people paying attention to incongruity, but it only moves forward with financial support. The original researchers were working in the public health lab, but they patented and sold their method. The geographical and economic gap between disease and the capacity to address it means that pure market forces will not lead to the capacity and innovation that the majority world needs. If HIV/AIDS had not spread in the American blood supply and gay community, would we have the incredibly effective medications we do today? Most likely not. For majority-world problems that actually harm/kill/lose years of life on the most massive scale, we need the kind of public-private partnerships that are driven by justice and not just by self-interest and profit. The global connectedness means that a dedicated research nurse in Bethesda, Maryland, who took time to listen to our story and accommodate us in a trial, can be impacting the course of an epidemic ten thousand miles away. GAVI just approved another $9million for this epidemic response. There are good people making good decisions out there, which gives us all hope.

A decade ago, a vaccine for Ebola was a dream in a book. Now we actually got one.  Amazing.