Highlands NC Rotary - Chaplain's Page

ADVENT - A TIME OF OPPORTUNITY
December 2008

     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.

ELECTION DAY
November 2008

     Today is Election Day - a time of privilege for us citizens of the United States. This next three-month span includes the election of a new President, the transition between governments, and the inauguration of our new President. This meditation does not focus on politics, of which we are all tired and have differing opinions, but on praying for our nation and its government in these periods of transition.
           ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Pray that we may be guided in our choice of leaders and give thanks that we are allowed to make this choice.

     Pray that the outgoing government will retire gracefully and that the new government may build upon its successes and make amends for its mistakes.

     Pray for a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, a vision of God's will for the nation, and responsiveness to the needy in this nation and the world.

     Pray for the President of the United States and the President elect, for the Congress and the Supreme Court, and for all representatives who serve the common good.

     Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the world's people is governed, receive our prayers, that all peoples in their vocations and ministries may truly and devoutly serve you.

                                                                             Amen.

Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer and Forward Day by Day November 2008.

THE AUTUMN OF OUR LIVES
October, 2008



     For many of us, autumn is our favorite season of the year - the annual splendor of the fall colors, the crispness of the mornings, college football, the World Series, and a slower pace of life.   Regarding our lives, autumn also is the beginning of decline, but a time or maturity.

     Maturity encompasses introspection - an inward looking according to our hearts - the deepest seat of who we are. It involves looking beyond our cultural values - of money, of education, of job, and of status - to a deeper meaning of life.



     Maturity involves being in full accord and of one mind. It is not doing for selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, to regard others as better than ourselves. It is to not look at our own interests, but to the interests of others.

O God:
Grant us the fullness of your grace;
That we earthly creatures, running to obtain, may slow our paces
To see the true colors of fall,
The colors that are ever there;
The true things of God,
The true colors of who we are.
And to dwell on things heavenly - heavenly about ourselves -
So that we might better see the God within us.

                                                                      Amen.

HOW CAN A MORTAL BE JUST BEFORE GOD?
September 2008

A PRAYER OF INTERCESSION
August 2008

   (I never cease to be amazed how God intercedes in our daily lives - if we give Him the opportunity. My wife Midge and I were preparing to take home communion to a fellow parishioner this past Sunday and we were in need of a prayer. We came upon the following, written by former Rotarian Allen Hetzel, whom many of you know. The parishioner happened to be his sister. I offer the following for all of us in our times of need. )

  O God, we open our hearts to you in this time of sickness, and time of confusion, a time full of both fear and hope, questions and thanksgiving.
  We pray that we may feel your healing power in this moment. May we feel this power as close to us as the air we breathe, as the blood running through our veins, as the hands that hold us. May we know that in moments such as these, you, O God, suffer with us, and guide us; always working for the mending of what is broken.
  We pray that we may feel the love of family and friends, who remember us in prayer, that we may feel this love as a warm comforting light holding us in the gentleness of grace.
  O God, you are a tender shepherd who leads us through dark valleys to places of light and peace. Guide and keep us that we might not lose sight of your love.
                                                                          Amen.

LESSONS I' VE LEARNED
July 2008

I've learned that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
I've learned that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I've learned that being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength or ability to help him in some other way.
I've learned that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I've learned that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I've learned that like is like a roll of paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I've learned that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned that money doesn't buy those things which really matter.
I've learned that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
And lastly, I've learned that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular -God's ineffable holiness - God within us and God among us.
                                                                             Amen.
Edited from Andy Rooney