We trust this note finds you well and thankful on this Memorial Day weekend. As we take time to remember those who have died in war and those who are dying, we also remember the war wounds we all carry
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GNIC President Deke Spierling gets a hug from a Vietnam Vet during at the end of Sunday's ceremony when we visited the park's veterans memorial.
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and the pain of God over what we do to one another in God's name. We pray for healing; we pray for peace. That was the central theme of a Service of Remembrance, Lamentation and Hope held at Newburgh's Downing Park on Sunday afternoon. The event included prayers, readings, music, and the testimony of Barbara Allen whose husband was murdered in Iraq by a fellow soldier. The event was co-sponsored by the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council (GNIC), Soldier's Heart, and your ministry. |
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A lot of help from our friends . . .
Did you ever notice how coincidences happen more often when you pray?
We've been sitting with some hard realities these past many weeks. We have room for others to join us in residence here at Hope but the rooms need to be fixed up, the roof needs repair, and the big community kitchen and dining room need a complete overhaul . . . of even more pressing concern, there's no grant money this year to help finance the cost of keeping Our House open and serving the 50 to 60 sisters and brothers who visit each day. We - Ecclesia's board and fri ends - have been doing a lot of brainstorming, organizing and praying, telling God that we know help is on the way and asking God to speed them up.
Just about that time, we got a note from our friends at Danbury's Long Ridge UMC saying they'll be bringing three car loads of volunteers over on the 14th to help clean and paint and otherwise spiff up two or three or four rooms and do whatever else they can. . . As you saw in last week's EG, our UU friends stopped by to deliver a welcome banner and plant flowers by the front steps. And, this week, our friends at Moulton Memorial Baptist Church stopped by to see what we needed and made a donation that will cover the cost of several night's of dinner for folks who would otherwise go hungry. If that's not enough, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh has tentatively agreed to make us a "Brush with Kindness" project.
While all of that's going on, folks from Cornwall and Calvary Presbyterian Churches have donated dinners and, our friends Dan & Christine donated a phone to replace the Our House device that's seen better days . . . It seems that, every day, someone is stepping up to help out in whatever ways they can.
If you're not one of them and would like to be, drop us a note by clicking here.
It also goes without saying that we can really use your financial support as well. We've launched a new campaign using the best and least expensive base we've been able to find. Click here to check it out or click on the donate button at the top of the page.
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O'er the lamp parts we watched . . .
Tim Decker, center, and the Fox Hill Community's Tim Hindley, right, set up shop in the parking lot one day last week and put a lamp base on the table project Tim D's been working on. Duane Sausville, left, stopped by to check out the work that went into creating this one-of-a-kind table.
The table's made from wood scraps donated by Fox Hill. Tim sanded and glued each piece into place to create the table before staining it and sending it off to be polyurethaned. All that's left is to install the lamp parts . . . stay tuned. |
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The ant, the elephant and the saint
Here's a story for you:
Once upon a time, an elephant was walking down the road when she came upon an ant lying on its back with its little ant legs up in the air. What are you doing lying there in the middle of the road with your little ant legs sticking up in the air, asked elephant. Well, said the ant, I heard the sky is  gonna fall so I'm getting ready to hold it up. The elephant laughed the way that elephants do. Why you're just an ant, she said, you cant hold up the whole sky! The ant thought a moment before saying, No, but I can do my part.
I tell you the story to explain why one line, in particular, jumped out at me the moment I read next week's gospel lesson - John 17:1-7. (Go ahead, click the link, take a read, and see if you can guess what it was!). It was the part where Jesus says to God: I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.
Just doing my job is something we hear from war heroes and cops and firemen and so many others who do extraordinary and often heroic things by just doing their jobs. It's rare, if ever, that we take the same approach to our life as people of faith.
Right?
We expect to get something for all the good stuff we do. Good stuff like working at the soup kitchen or buying flowers for the altar or running the rummage sale or showing up almost every Sunday and kicking some money into the plate. Besides, we're believers, so we should have our place in heaven . . . and, hey - it's a quid pro quo world.
But in that single sentence, Jesus lets us know that we're to do what we're called to do not to save our own souls or to get our names on plaques; we're to do what we do for the glory of God.
And, how do we know what we're called to do?
Well . . . The story goes that when Francis of Assisi lay dying, he said to his brothers I have done what is mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours. Duhhhh! The answer's right in front of us - we're to do what Jesus tells us to do, we're to love God with all that we are and to love others completely, even our enemies. The rest will come from that.
Well . . . just a suggestion.
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