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Friday Vespers
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Please join us for vespers - a time of prayer, readings, Taize chant, and silence - at 6:30 p.m. on the three remaining Fridays of Advent (December 6, 13, and 20). This indoor service will be held in the parlors at 85 Grand Street. |
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Restoring Soul Wounds of war
December 8
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Join us at the Hope Center from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, December 8th when the Rev. Chris Antal addresses issues of moral injury and soul wounding and the role and responsibility our society has in transforming the tragedy of war into post traumatic growth.
The Rev. Antal is the Director of Faith Community Development at Soldier's Heart and pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Rock Tavern. Previously he was a military chaplain in Afghanistan and a hospital chaplain at a regional trauma center.
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On the Agenda
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Every Day
4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Our House is open
85 Grand Street
M & W at Noon and
Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.
Meditation
85 Grand Street
Sundays
1:30 p.m.
Weekly worship
85 Grand Street
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Spread the Word
Help us spread the word about our work in the Burgh. In addition to telling your family and friends about us over lunch or dinner, you can also
Then go to
 where you can "like" us.
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We hope your Thanksgiving was joyful and . . . Thankful and that you are looking forward, getting ready.
We've got lots to be thankful including the news we share with you in this Gram. Over on the left is a reminder about Advent Vespers which began last Friday and a other reminder about the Rev. Chris Antal's talk about the wounds of war. Below, there's a note about Thanksgiving at Our House, the feeding of the 1,200, and Steve's reflection on trust, Bobby McGee, and a world of possibilities.
We hope you enjoy!
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Thanksgiving at Our House
 By the time Thanksgiving Day rolls around here in the Burgh, guests at Our House have had their fill of turkey and all the fixings thanks to more than a half-dozen churches and soup kitchens. So . . . with the help of our friends at Cornwall Presbyterian Church, we feasted on lasagna, salad, breads, and an assortment of home-baked pies washed down with some great local cider. Above, long-time supporter Pat Parker dishes it out. |
 About 1,300 Newburgh families were able to have Thanksgiving dinner this year thanks to the efforts of Loaves & Fishes, a coalition of local food pantries and churches. More than 100 volunteers were on hand last Monday to bag up rice, beans, stuffing mix, fruit, vegetables, yams, cranberry sauce, and other essentials. By the time they were finished, a sea of 1,150 grocery bags covered the gym floor at First United Methodist Church (top photo). Then on Tuesday morning, volunteers like Assemblyman Frank Skartados (photo at left) bagged up turkeys, threw open the doors and welcomed all who came. This year, Loaves and Fishes got a big hand from Thomas O. Miller, a regional food distributor, which made it possible for the organization to purchase 900 turkeys directly from a supplier then stored and delivered the turkeys at no charge.
The annual event would not be possible were it not for hundreds of volunteers and dozens o f churches working through the year, planning, raising money and collecting food during the month of November. We've already begin that effort.
If you'd like to make a tax-deductible contribution, it's not too early . . . you can mail it to Newburgh Loaves and Fishes, P.O. Box 2844 , Newburgh NY 12550.
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Advent 2 - A world of possibilities
At the very moment that St. Ruth told me about how our friend Vonnie had had her coat, keys, and cell phone stolen from the weekend soup kitchen she manages, I was opening the paper to an AP story about how "America has become land of the mistrusting." The story reported that, in 1972, half of Americans said that people can be trusted. In the most recent poll, only one in three said that others can be trusted. The sobering news is that it will be tough to reverse the trend because our trust levels are set by the time we're in our mid-20s. After that, researchers say, some major disaster like a war or earthquake or superstorm to unify people and promote trust.
The story goes that Kris Kristofferson was inspired to write the famous line "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (Me and Bobby McGee) after watching Fellini's "La Strada" (the road), an extremely powerful film starring Anthony Qu inn and Giulietta Masina. It is when we have nothing left to lose that we can overcome our fear that we'll lose control because we have already lost control over our lives and our stuff and our "power" and prestige and influence . . . It is when we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.
As we read in next Sunday's gospel reading - Matthew 3:1-12 - John the Baptist stepped out into the wilderness to call others to change the way they'd been living, to prepare the way for God. Life was brutal under the Roman occupation; the people had nothing left to lose. So John essentially said, "Come to terms with this reality and stop pretending, find hope, get ready for a new life in a new world."
What's that new world like? The other readings for the day - Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-7 & 18-19, and Romans 15:4-13 - are about a world of peace, justice, and radical hospitality, a world in which we love and trust and care for one another. It was a radical, counter-cultural notion then. It is a radical, counter-cultural notion today. And, now, more than ever, it seems that it is just what we need. |
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