<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div><br><br><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> "Fr HC Smith" <<a href="mailto:howard.smith@anglican.org.au">howard.smith@anglican.org.au</a>><br><b>Date:</b> February 2, 2011 4:32:32 AM EST<br><b>To:</b> "Propertalk" <<a href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic@ecunet.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[propertalk.topic] Epiphany 5 Gospel</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> <a href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org"><a href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic@ecunet.org</a></a><br><br></div></blockquote><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>Hi friends,</span><br><span>I certainly appreciate all the work of those who post to this meeting; you help me to broaden my picture. I hope that some of my thoughts will add to your outlook as well. Here are a few short thoughts for the Gospel for Epiphany 5, from and Australian angle.</span><br><span>Howard</span><br><span>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br><span></span><br><span>* Today we heard Jesus tell his followers they are like "light".</span><br><span>+ Have a look around at the lights we use in Church: candles;</span><br><span>- now imagine it's dark and the electricity has gone off: we</span><br><span>only have the candles;</span><br><span>- now look what happens when I cover up a candle with a</span><br><span>"snuffer";</span><br><span>- it's no use any more.</span><br><span>+ One of the things Jesus is reminding us about, today, is that we</span><br><span>turn lights on, or we light candles, so that they will be useful;</span><br><span>- lights can help us a lot, in the dark.</span><br><span>- With lights we can do all kinds of things that can't ordinarily</span><br><span>do when it's too dark to see.</span><br><span></span><br><span>* So what might that mean, since Jesus says we can be like lights?</span><br><span>+ I reckon he's saying that we can be very helpful and very</span><br><span>useful to each other.</span><br><span>+ God made us to be helpful to one another,</span><br><span>and especially useful in helping us to live the way God knows is</span><br><span>best for us, the way set out in the Scriptures and in the</span><br><span>examples of people who have lived before us.</span><br><span>+ There are many people we come across who help us to do</span><br><span>things we can't do for ourselves;</span><br><span>- e.g. in hospital (when we are sick and depend on others for</span><br><span>so much) we have doctors, nurses, social workers,</span><br><span>psychologists, Chaplains .;</span><br><span>- in schools we have teachers, assistants, clerical staff,</span><br><span>cleaners, bus drivers .</span><br><span>- in shops we have knowledgeable staff, decorators and</span><br><span>designers, accountants .</span><br><span>- all these people are like lights in dark places, people who</span><br><span>help us do things we can't do all alone.</span><br><span>+ But as well as that there are friends who can help each other;</span><br><span>- and we can be friends to other people too:</span><br><span>- we can listen and understand, we can encourage, we can</span><br><span>laugh together, we can walk together, we can work together.</span><br><span>+ There is something you can do for someone else.</span><br><span>- Jesus encourages us to reach out to others and offer some</span><br><span>help,</span><br><span>- in other words: to be like a light when it is dark.</span><br><span>+So don't hide away in your own little space: show your light!</span><br><span>- and one of the good things that happens is that we will</span><br><span>encourage other people to "turn their lights on" too;</span><br><span>- and that makes even more light, so we can do even more</span><br><span>things.</span><br><span></span><br><span>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *</span><br><span>The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith</span><br><span>Retired Anglican Priest</span><br><span>Orange NSW</span><br><span>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *</span><br><span></span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>