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| Along the Way 11-24-10 |
 Special Wednesday EditionThe church office is closed tomorrow (gobble, gobble!) and Friday so I am sending some random notes today. Here goes: • A PHONE CALL OF GRATITUDE. I received a phone call of gratitude from the mother you saved from eviction last week. She came by the church office to express her appreciation, but I was at a funeral. She called twice before finding me, and could not have been more humbly grateful. Our congregation helps many, many people, thanks to your generosity. Keep praying for those in poverty, seeking God’s guiding hand for our nation and for our city. • PAYING ATTENTION. I am reading a book called Jesus Freak by Sara Miles, a stirring record of a California church with an empowering and chaotic feeding ministry run by the poor. Miles observes that one of the finest ways to serve God each day is to pay attention. Pay attention – not just in the moments of incredible joy or pain – but in life’s ordinariness. There’s no telling how God will use those who pay attention! • STOP YOUR WHINING! Joe Queenan recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal about whining: “In a thrilling move that could change the face of sport in this country, the National Basketball Association has instituted a ban on whining. If a player whines about a foul call, either by rolling his eyes or punching the air or waving his arms in utter disbelief or making any theatrical gesture that seems to belittle the official, he will immediately be slapped with a technical foul. Wouldn’t it be nice if American society as a whole immediately instituted an across-the-board no-whining rule?” • AN INTERESTING STATISTIC. (I came across this recently and found it too interesting not to share.) In 2000 there were more Catholic baptisms in the Philippines than in France, Spain, Italy and Poland combined according to a study of demographic and social trends shaping modern Catholicism. • A LONG LIST OF GRATITUDE: Finally, at our Interfaith Thanksgiving Service Tuesday night, Rabbi Arnold Belzer suggested that each of us could easily make a list of 100 things we are grateful for. My list grows daily, and I pray that God is opening your eyes to God’s incredible grace and outstretched hand of goodness as we experience it through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Enjoy the cranberries and pumpkin pie! Creede Hinshaw |
