Highlands NC Rotary - Chaplain's Page

      When you were little, how many times were you prompted by your parents to say “thank you”? How many times have you helped your child –or someone else’s- to remember to say it? As adults we know how much a simple “thank you” is appreciated by the giver.

     I am reminded of a story in which a little boy’s pet dog died. The parents knew it would happen sometime, but there really is no way to prepare for how they would feel in the face of such a loss. So they prayed that God would help them to feel better, that they would be comforted. And then their little boy went one step further-he told them that he had said “thank you” to God for his pet.

     That was when the real healing began. His gratitude for a gift, beyond his crying and sorrow, was beginning to make him whole. Sometimes, probably most times, we have to give thanks before we are healed in order to become whole.

Dear Lord,
The source of all our thanks and Thanksgivings,
For all that we are and for all that we have,
We give you thanks for all our blessings and for making us whole.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
October 2010

     Psychologists tell us that we don’t understand the wishes of our own hearts. In our desire to justify and rationalize our behavior, we “sweep under the rug” or bury in our subconscious minds, desires both good and bad that are too disturbing to be faced.

     Maybe this is why we have turned the Golden Rule into a simple, narrow standard that is easier to live with than the uncompromising command to love our neighbor. In fact, instead of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, we even have reversed this scenario and “if that son of a gun acts like an sob to me, then I’ll act like one to him also”. Sad.

      But deep inside, our Inner Self as Jung calls it, we want a whole lot more than that. We show it in our quick response to anyone who seems to truly care about us personally. A thousand polite relationships cannot take the place on one real friend. What we want and need is love, and if we are to follow our Lord, that is what we are required to give.

Dear Lord.
     Help us to love our neighbors.
                                                                          Amen

JOHN DONNE
March 2010

A visit to London is incomplete without seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral. Its architectural form was born of the brilliance of Sir Christopher Wren, and its spiritual foundations were built upon the ministry of John Donne. Donne was a superb priest, poet and theologian of the seventeenth century. In the prayer I offer, he uses simple language to remind us that our final trust and strength is to be found in our relationship to God.

O Lord,
Never suffer us to think
That we can stand by ourselves,
And not need thee.


                                              John Donne

MATERIAL POSSESSIONS
March 2009

Sometimes we are tempted to think if we could accumulate a sufficient nest egg, we could relax and have time for what we consider the most important things in life: quality time with family and friends… I have an unsettling feeling some fallacy lies hidden in this logic, that I am missing some liberating paradox of biblical proportions. A story of Anthony de Mello, a priest from India reminds us of that paradox.

The rich industrialist…was horrified to find a fisherman lying leisurely beside his boat.
“Why aren’t you fishing? asked the industrialist.
“Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman.
“Why don’t you catch some more?”
“What would I do with them?”
“You could earn more money,” was the reply. “With that you could fix a motor to your boat, go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to own two boats… maybe even a fleet of boats. Then you would be a rich man like me.”
“What would I do then?”
“Then you could really enjoy life.”
“What do you think I’m doing right now?”

Dear Lord:
As we are able, instead of being resentful and remorseful in today’s trying economic times,
Help us to recognize and enjoy the present blessings of our lives;
And to realize that
“One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions…”
                       Luke 12:15
                                                                              Amen.

     This year Hanukkah begins at sundown December 21 and lasts the traditional 8 days. To our Jewish friends we wish you Happy Hanukkah. Western Christian churches are now celebrating Advent, the beginning of the Liturgical year. It started November 30. But no matter what our religious preferences might be, have we one or not, let us all focus on our commonality, rather than our differences.

     The word "Advent" means "coming. It also is a time of waiting - expectant waiting - for God to send His love and light into our darkened human world and into the wilderness of our individual lives. Christians know and celebrate the season of Advent as a time of personal self-reflection and self-examination, in anticipation of Christmas, Christ's birth. It is a time of discovering how we, as individuals, can be lights in the world.

     The advent wreath is a circle representing the unending love of God. Evergreens adorning the wreath symbolize the hope of eternal life that all of God's people share.

But be we connected to the love of God in the Christian or Hebrew or other tradition, there is a deeper message - a message more than our making preparations for Christmas - more than parties and presents and cookies and decorations.

     Advent is a time of silence and a time of opportunity - to quietly listen for the voice of God calling us to journey to a new place; a time to allow Him to come into our lives and open our hearts to receive His grace; a time to look and listen for signs of His being with us.

Dear Lord:
As anxious children long for the coming of Christmas morning,
So may we yearn to hear the Advent message.
Let us be still this season and receive God's peace.
And let us be heralds of good tidings and joy to all peoples.

                                                                                    Amen.

WILSON GAS & ELECTRIC