Peace in the Middle of a Storm My room mate is currently listening to Pope Francis address the nation on TV via EWTN (Friday, March 27, 2020). The passage selected was Matthew 8:23-27; Jesus calms the storm. The message focused on faith. Jesus and his disciples had entered a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. While at sea in the darkness, a great tempest (storm) appeared threatening the lives of the disciples who struggled to save themselves. Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat, the first to sink into the overpowering waves. The disciples woke Jesus up and cried in fear, “Don’t you care about us? We are perishing.” Jesus gets up and calms the storm and turns to his disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” The passage concludes with the disciples marveling that the sea and the waves obeyed Jesus. Pope Francis used the passage to encourage the people; we are in “a storm,” in darkness and whi...
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It’s Time to Pray One of the hymns I remember singing in Church had the following lines: It’s time to pray to the God who watches o’er us It’s time to seek His help without delay The world is dark for the clouds of war still threaten It’s time for all America to pray John W Peterson (1921-2006) In the past few months or more, I have seen disasters in Australia; a large forest fire threatening wild life and homes nearby. I have seen earthquakes that threatened lives and destroyed homes in south side of Puerto Rico near Ponce and surrounding areas. There was endless flooding in Missouri, Mississip...
FAMILY HISTORY When I lived in Philadelphia, I was invited to be a workshop presenter at the Philadelphia Area Sunday School Association’s Annual Convention in November of 1996. My workshop was titled, Family Systems: Ministering to today’s Families. I facilitated this workshop three years in a row and each year the classroom would fill with participants. My goal was to make the workshop interactive, educational and fun; a little humor that captivated the audience and encouraged participation. The tools used were a colorful mobile (stained glass rainbows) to which I credit Edith Schafer; she mentioned this image in her writings about Family. Handouts of charts displaying the positions and roles of each family member and their definitions. Lastly, my favorite Biblical story in Genesis chapters 29, 35 and 37 to which we would draw on the chalkboard a genogram (Family Tree) and brainstorm together what we saw as “red flags” when working with ...
Doors in 2020 One of my favorite songs of the 1950’s is Green Door written by Bob Davie and Marvin Moore and sung by Jim Lowe. I used to love playing the 45 rpm record as a small boy until it broke. My brother had a fit because I would not let him play the 45’s Mom gave to me (she divided her 45s between us) so he jumped on my bed and landed on some of my 45’s; Green Door was one of those record that broke that day. Mom found out what he did and took the record players and the records from us. It was not until we were in high school that she gave them back. Green Door is about a guy who can’t sleep and is trying to get inside behind this green door. Behind the door he hears a piano playing, a lot of laughter going on and he longs to know what is behind the door. The guy tries knocking, tries name dropping that “Joe sent him” only to be laughed at and have the door slammed in his face. He did not have the “right credential.” ...
CHRISTMAS Christmas was the best time of the year for me as a small child. The very first Christmas that I can remember was when we lived in a second floor apartment above an ice cream/candy story owned by Abe and Cathy Stango. At that time it was just my Mom, Dad, my brother and me. Mom would tell us the story, “The Night Before Christmas” and my brother and I would be excited about getting up the next morning to see what Santa Claus brought us; even though we did not have a chimney. But it was okay because our bathroom had a door that led out onto an open the roof with a fence around it which Mom was able to hang clothes out to dry. It was always a challenge to go to sleep the night before; Mom would say to us that Santa would not come if we were not asleep. The next morning, my brother and I would be up very early, sneak down the stairs to the living room and see presents under the tree. We would lay awake waiting for Mom and Dad...
Thanksgiving As I am writing this “blog” I am thinking of a man I had come to know when I was installed as a member of the Beacon United Presbyterian Church, affiliated with the United Kensington Presbyterian Larger Parish of Philadelphia that included, The Wilkey Memorial United Presbyterian Church, Twelfth United Presbyterian Church and Trinity United Presbyterian Church. The man of whom I am referring is the late Reverend Dr. Edward Bradford Davis, who was then Senior Pastor of the Parish. Sadly, the Parish does not exist today. Whenever Dr. Davis met new comers, or persons at various functions, he would proudly share with them his being a descendant of William Bradford who, with other passengers sailed on the Mayflower from England to “The New World.” Dr. Edward Bradford Davis, this is dedicated to you. When I started elementary school, we were taught about the “First Thanksgiving;” how Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower, landed in Plymouth Rock, ...
Who Do You Say You Are? Two weeks ago all employees at CAMBA (my place of employment) had to complete a mandatory training on Confronting Sexual Harassment. This training, sponsored by New York City Commission on Human Rights was quite an eye-opener; I learned quite a bit that was helpful to know but at the same time, left me to wonder; where are we as a people in this modern world of “political correctness” heading? I immediately thought about “broad is the way and many there be, but narrow is the way and few there be” (Paraphrase of Matthew 7:13-14). The training on Confronting Sexual Harassment was certainly true of the word, “CONFRONTING.” I was confronted with, “Who are you and how do you express yourself as a person of gender;” who do you say you are? Did you know that “gender” no longer means “are you male or female?” Did you know that “gender” has two parts to its definition; the sex to which you are “naturally” born and the sex to w...