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               Jim Rothermel             Pete Ray            Joe Simmons      Diane McPhail

NEW YEARS ’RESOLUTIONS 2012

January 2012

     Another year has ended; a year filled with losses and triumphs, pains and healings, sorrows and joys.
     2012 is upon us. Let us pause and look upon this New Year as an occasion to assess who we are and where we are in our lives; and to make our course corrections that might be necessary.

SHEER SILENCE
August 2011

     We live in a mountainous area of our country, and mountains are important in our religious and folk beliefs. Many people climb  a mountain for prayer or spiritual vision. The effort of climbing focuses our attention, and the view from the top gives us renewed perspective and vision. Above the clamor of daily life, we can hear “within” more clearly.

     The dramatic signs of God’s mountaintop presence might be manifested by mighty winds or storms. Yet our mountaintop experiences of sheer silence might be the most remarkable gift that our Creator has bestowed upon us; for paradoxically, I believe it is in silence that we are best able to hear God.

     I have come to understand that my best thinking takes place in the silences I am able to create. More importantly, I realize that God requires silence if his voice is to be heard. So much of prayer is not what we say or think or ask, but is what God expresses to us in that silence. We can so easily be a riddle to ourselves! In the silence and alone with God, so much of the riddle is to be answered.

                                                           Amen.

    SEEING THEE    
May 2011

Lord, purge our eyes to see
Within the seed a tree,
Within the zygote a child,
Within the shroud a butterfly.

Within a spring shower a rainbow,
Within a stormy sea a safe port,
Within inner turmoil thy peace.

Till taught by such we see
Beyond all creatures and creations, Thee.

                                                                          Amen.

With assistance from Christina Rossetti
 

SPRING 2011

The beauty and magnificence of spring:
Daffodils, tulips, new green,
Red buds and dogwoods.

The feel of the warming sun,
Smells of sweet pastures and the good earth,
Regeneration and renewal,
Nature’s wondrous cycle of death and rebirth.

The season of the year when God displays himself,
When his spirit reminds us that He is always there.

Dear Lord and Creator:
Forgive us for our spiritual blindness that prevents us from recognizing the wonders of our earth.
Open our eyes to see and our minds to behold 
Your glorious garden that bursts into life in spring.

                                                                                 Amen.

AT CHRISTMAS

      Have you ever noticed how at this time of year our feelings seem to change? We become more open, more tolerant – we’re even nice to people we don’t particularly care for.  The Christmas spirit.

      This time of the year predisposes our minds to welcome God; a time to recognize Him as present in the events of our daily lives.

     In this regard, I offer the following edited poem by Edger Guest.

 A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;

He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season is here;

Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before,

And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.

He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;

When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.

When it’s Christmas man is bigger and is better in his part;

He is keener for the service that is prompted by the heart.

All the petty thoughts and feelings seem to vanish for awhile

And the true reward he’s seeking is the glory of a smile.

Then for others he is toiling and some how it seems to me

That at Christmas he is almost what God wanted him to be.