<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div><span>Thanks Joe, for all you do. And thanks Bob Morrison, for getting things started for our reflection. Below is what I have for tomorrow. -Shalom, Bob Cook, Waynesboro, PA</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18.6667px; font-family: garamond,new york,times,serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoTitle"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Third Sunday In
Advent</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"">Christ UMC<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Dec
16, 2012 <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Luke 3:7-18 & <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Matt 2:16-18</span></b><span style="font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">hen a tragedy like the
one in Newtown, Connecticut occurs, across America we become one community
together, asking the same questions and sharing the same pain.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everyone is asking why such a thing as this happens
time after time in this, our beloved country? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">We know the storyline
from an all too familiar scenario. The shooter is a young man or maybe two
young men, often with a history of mental illness. They never seemed to fit in,
though they often were bright and promising students.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were loners, sometimes bullied by peers
and nursing whatever hurts or grudges or bitterness was theirs. They live in
communities in Colorado, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia and
Oregon; often in small towns or suburban communities. Their families are
usually middle class, hard working and many, church-going.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then, something just
unhinges them and the rage is released. In the end, innocent lives are lost,
families are forever wounded, communities are plunged into grief and we all
feel less safe. We close the proverbial barn door after the horse has left,
with updated technologies and ever greater security.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Finally, we are left asking questions and
trying to find out answers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Some say we need better
gun laws. Others say it’s because prayer was removed from public schools in
1961.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Some believe that violent movies
and even more violent video games are to blame. Still others say that it’s the devil.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t know the reasons why and I don’t
know even if there is a single answer at this time to be had.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But I do know what I feel. And I do believe
that God feels deeply for the families and communities who experience such
things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is the third
Sunday in Advent, the “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Pink Candle</b>”
Sunday, where it’s supposed to be about joy. But today, we cannot call this
candle, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">the candle of joy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are sad today and we must embrace our
mourning.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We must do this for the
children and teachers and the mother and yes, even the boy who was the shooter
in Connecticut and the one in Oregon, too. These are all God’s children—precious
to God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We must embrace our mourning for
the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, family and friends and neighbors
of the victims. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We cannot just “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">move
on</i></b>.” Such tragedies ask us to think and to pray and to hope.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have faith, strong faith, that there will
be a day when we hear again laughter and joy; but it is not today. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">On this day, how can we not hear weeping and
feel sadness?</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In another small town,
long ago, a mad-man swept in, misusing his authority and nursing his worst fears.
In a short time, precious children were lost—sacrificed to the madness of
hate.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Matthew’s Gospel quotes the
prophet Jeremiah as he sought to understand Herod’s incomprehensible act:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“A
voice was heard in Ramah, lamenting, weeping, great mourning;</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rachel
weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Because</span></i></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">they
are no more”</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"">Matthew understood that trying to explain the pain
does not make it go away. You have to sit with it, sit together and find your balance
again together, in community.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is
something we have to share to be able to have the grace to bear it. It is then
that we hear God’s voice guiding us to be more compassionate <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>and more gracious so that we can together find
solutions to address the violence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As Meister
Eckhart, the medieval spiritual mystic, said, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Truly</i></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">, it is in the darkness that one
finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to
us.</span></i></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Into the darkness
of his time came a man named John. He was wild-eyed, dressed in a rough
camel-hair tunic, blunt of speech and sharp of tongue. The old timers knew his
father, Zechariah, a respected old priest. They remembered that John’s birth
was an unusual one and he would be an unusual person—like a star-child or
indigo child, who comes bearing special gifts just when the world needs them
most yet least, expects them. John called the people to him with a frightening
eye and thunderous voice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">He called them the offspring of snakes and had no fear in
speaking the truth. He did not comfort them; he confronted them. The plainer he
spoke, the larger the crowd. They wanted to hear what he had to say. They
believed that God was speaking to them through John. Even if they winced with pain
at his words, they had the strong desire to hear them. Then, they asked him,
what they should do? He told them nothing they did not know before. These
people were the heirs of the promise to Abraham.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"">John just told them the truth: <span style="color:black">If
you have two coats, give one to the poor. If you have food enough, give some to
those in need.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The tax-takers were told,
“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Collect
no more than the law allows</i></b>.” Soldiers were told to stop terrorizing
people, don’t use your power to accuse falsely and be content with your pay.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">Nothing he said was new; they’d heard it all
before every time someone opened a Bible. It was always there. But somehow,
John made it come alive—alive enough to get their attention, convince them of
its truth and to cause deep regret over their past ignoring of the Word of the
Lord.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">When John spoke to his people, he called them to
be baptized like a gentile-- to see themselves as outsiders to the Covenant
they had with God. He did this because the promise of Abraham does not work
unless you practice the faith of Abraham. John is giving them a game-changing
challenge: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">If you believe in God, then
do what God wants you to do.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;tab-stops:81.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black">How we need a John the Baptist—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">a
fearless prophet</i>—willing to stand up for God in our culture!</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">We love our freedoms and we dislike it when reminded
of our responsibilities. And we love, truly love the making and spending of
money. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Like it or not, money is our culture’s measure of success</i></b>. We
know that people will still sell their soul for the love of money. We’ve seen
it! Yet, many say they want a Christian nation and lament the days when it
seemed we were; few are willing to do what it means to be a citizen in a godly
nation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">I’ve often heard it said that America will not
fall because of our enemies abroad; but rather America will fall because of
decay from within. Think about the things that Christians—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">church-going people</i>—tolerate. The video-game industry sells
products that allow kids to practice killing, making people into targets. There
is no sense of a person’s humanity, family or personhood. They are just a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">target</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>The movie industry sells violence wholesale in theaters and on video—and
we buy it! And this is not even scratching the surface. Churches are so worried
about survival, and keeping the doors open, we’ve forgotten our purpose. God
wants to heal our world, to heal individuals as well as communities and to heal
cultures that are sick unto death.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our
purpose is to bring Christ’s healing presence in our world. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">John came as a special child, bearing the gift
of God’s truth. Jesus came as a star-child to heal the sick and make us whole. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The Church also God’s gift to the world, needs
to recover our purpose in the healing of God’s world.</b><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black">So let us begin by mourning with those who mourn
and sharing the comfort of the Christ who bore the cross for the healing of our
world. And then, let us do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. In the
name of Jesus the Christ. Amen. </span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;
line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></div>
</div><div> </div><div><span style="color:rgb(96, 0, 191);"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;">“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” </span><br style="font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;"> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20105.Joseph_Campbell" style="text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;">Joseph Campbell</a> </span><br></div><div><br></div> <div style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Joe Parrish
<joeparrish@compuserve.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Propertalk@stsams.org <br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> propertalk.topic@ecunet.org <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Saturday, December 15, 2012 4:55 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Propertalk] [propertalk.topic] Fwd: Draft<br> </font> </div> <br><div id="yiv1534576641"><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4">H<font size="4">ere's a statistic<font size="4"> from Mayors Agains<font size="4">t Guns:</font></font><br>
</font><font face="Arial"><font size="4">"</font>As horrible as it sounds, mass shootings have become
common in our country, and 34 Americans are murdered with guns every
single day. That means 48,000 people will be murdered with guns in the
president's next term.</font><font size="4">"</font><br>
<font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4">
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<div style="font-family:arial, helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black;">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Joe Parrish <joeparrish@compuserve.com><br>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Dec 15, 2012 3:26 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Fwd: [Propertalk] Draft<br>
<br>
<div id="yiv1534576641AOLMsgPart_1_05aadb9c-bc44-4241-b9ea-4b0fdaed6da7">
<font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4">
<div> F<font size="4">orwarded:</font><br>
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<div style="font-family:arial, helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black;">
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<div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><br>
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<div style="font-size:14pt;font-family:garamond, 'new york', times, serif;">
<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;">
<div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> "<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:robertpmorrison@charter.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:robertpmorrison@charter.net">robertpmorrison@charter.net</a>" <<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:robertpmorrison@charter.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:robertpmorrison@charter.net">robertpmorrison@charter.net</a>><br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold;">To:</span></b> Propertalk <<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:propertalk@stsams.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:propertalk@stsams.org">propertalk@stsams.org</a>> <br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, December 14, 2012 4:39 PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold;">Subject:</span></b> [Propertalk] Draft<br>
</font> </div>
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This has been changed and edited as news of the CT school killings came in, and will go through revisions, I'm sure, before Sunday morning, but I thought I'd send along my thoughts as of now ..<br>
<br>
Prayers for all!<br>
<br>
Bob<br>
<br>
<br>
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (c)<br>
ZEPHANIAH 3:14-20 16th DECEMBER, 2012<br>
PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 CANTICLE 9<br>
LUKE
3:7-18<br>
<br>
Very few can be unaware of what happened at Clackamas on Tuesday afternoon. It’s one of those shocking events that draw us up short, and when it happens on one’s own doorstep it’s all the more distressing and disturbing. On top of that, as I was working on the sermon, came the news of the shooting at the Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.<br>
<br>
I don’t know which emotion comes into play most – horror, anger, frustration, incredible sadness – for everyone involved. It seems as if some people are grabbing our emotions and wringing them to breaking point. We hardly know where to turn. We don’t want to look at or listen the news for fear of something else being reported, some sign of personalities snapping, of a seeming break from all that is decent, and just, and honouring of the sacredness of life.<br>
<br>
A friend’s e-mail told of how she felt after the
destruction of the World Trade Center towers. “I remember on 9-11 that I kept saying to myself, ‘Where is God in all of this, where is God in all of this?’ It was a deep repetitive groaning. Maybe the fifth or sixth time I asked, ‘Where is God in all of this?’ it became a question asked and answered. ‘Where is God?’ ‘In all of this.’ I am not sure I ever felt the presence of the Spirit more intensely than when she answered my groaning prayer that day.<br>
<br>
Whatever happened last week will, unfortunately, happen again. Maybe this is part of what the Apostle Paul meant when he referred to the whole of creation groaning. Everyone, I imagine, sucked in her and his collective breaths on Tuesday and Friday, and tears came unbidden to their eyes.<br>
<br>
One of my first thoughts was of the store owners and the teachers whom I know; and, sometimes not remembered in the same instant, the emergency
responders – law enforcement, fire department, ambulance crews – all those whose job it is to enter into the black places of life for the safety of others. And I found myself praying for those whom I know, even if they weren’t in Clackamas or Newton, praying for their safety, giving thanks for their service, remembering their families.<br>
<br>
We’re all bound together by what happened – whether it was in this State, or across the country, or half way across the world. ALL such tragedies chill us, perhaps because we have difficulty coming to be able to say that God is in all of this; perhaps we feel helplessness because we don’t know what we can do in the face of the fact that life is filled with danger and disaster, often completely beyond our control.<br>
<br>
Not to belittle it in any way, but the terrible tragedy aside, I suggest that it may help to think about this.<br>
<br>
One thing
really impressed me about the situation here in Oregon. Two things – well, probably more. The 911 call went out and within sixty seconds, the first emergency responders – it was one of the law enforcement agencies – were there. Sixty seconds, with no warning, no premonition that something was going to be happen, some law enforcement officers were right there.<br>
<br>
Last week I mentioned “God winks”, little signs that God has something to tell us which will help our living situation. God also has a way of trying to get people to be right there to hear something, to see something, to do something, right as it’s needed, or pretty close to it.<br>
<br>
Does this work every time? Of course not – we know of people who’ve been in pain and not had anyone show to help for what seems like an eternity. But there ARE those inexplicable occasions when someone who has the ability to make a difference IS almost on
top of it. I’ve been engaged in some of these, and we get to the point of almost taking it for granted. Yet a person IS present when needed.<br>
<br>
The second thing that impressed me, besides the almost instant appearance of law enforcement officers, was the fact that the Mall’s administrative staff, the store owners, everyone involved there, had participated in thorough classes and discussions to deal with precisely this sort of an event. They’d been trained, and, more importantly, they’d listened to folk tell what possible scenarios might look like. They seemed to have run things often enough that when the horrible challenge of Tuesday afternoon presented itself they were able to respond to ameliorate the crisis.<br>
<br>
As soon as the tragedy hit, the responders and the employees, and the shoppers, rushed people outside or into the backs of stores and under counters, where strangers became acquaintances
very quickly, and folk helped one another survive the hours of waiting till they got word that it was safe to come outside.<br>
<br>
Once again, it was a matter of knowing how to respond – how to react with a stranger, how to deal with one’s own feelings, how to deal with danger and challenge.<br>
<br>
I pray none of us will be exposed to anything as critical as what happened last Tuesday or Friday, but we ALL have to face times of difficulty, in which much is asked of us. We have to hope and pray that we’re up to that challenge. But, in addition, what I hope and pray is that I’ll be there for someone else, I’ll be able to encourage them, pull them to safety out of crushing experiences in life; help them find their way through events that pressure them and threaten to squeeze life, and joy, and meaning out of them. It’s in times like these – not just Clackamas and Newton-type events – but
hospitalisations, news of friends going through crises, people stuck and unsure how, or when, or why to act; people who’re trying to repair relationships, or make a break from situations that are being destructive – I hope and pray that I’ll be able to respond, just as those trained officials, and store workers, and administrative staff were able to do for the reported ten thousand in the Mall at the time of the shooting.<br>
<br>
These people were able to react because they’d thought of at least some of the possibilities, and they’d prepared themselves. And I, I hope, I am enabled to play a little part in the lives of some because I know that there are people looking out for me – for instance, by the e-mail I received from a special friend on the East Coast, who wrote, “I hope you know that since hearing the news of the shooting in Portland that you have held a firm place in my prayers.”<br>
<br>
It’s
been experienced time and time again that when disasters hit, all sorts of new communities are formed, and the vast majority of people work to establish something like a family in which we can feel safe, no matter what’s going on outside. It may be prayers; it may be e-mails; it may be phone calls; it may be people stopping on the street, asking, “How you are, what can I do to help?” Community does that for people. It makes the needs, and longings, and loves of one person one’s own, in order to help protect, to heal, to nourish the other – as the first responders and staff did when they shoved people through the doors, and under the counters, and into store rooms.<br>
<br>
I hope I can do that for others.<br>
<br>
I, along with everyone else, can do that much more efficiently, more lovingly, if I’ve had some preparatory thoughts about how to respond.<br>
<br>
John the Baptist is such an
amazing figure. We’ve probably tried to clean up the dirty, rough edges of him and his clothes, not mention where he ate.<br>
<br>
If we’d been part of the populace of Jerusalem and its surrounds back then we might not have looked forward to his appearance. Just as today, if we hadn’t noticed before, we may not have been thrilled to have heard the Gospel read to us. I can imagine many – including myself! – say “Oh, NO! Not John again!!” We may think that he’s the greatest pain we’ve encountered for ages. We may wonder why stories of his exploits and speeches seem to stand at the gateway to God’s encounter with us in the Person of Jesus – until we think about what he was trying to do; whom he was trying to reach.<br>
<br>
John didn’t have a limited view on things. He wanted to reach everyone, He didn’t care about social standings or economic categorisations. He didn’t even care whether or folk
were religious. His job was to make sure that the greatest number of people possible were trained to take seriously the job of being prepared to face whatever emergency might come along. He wanted them to make their trust in God and their devotion to God second nature.<br>
<br>
He knew what it was like to be under threat of danger, or rejection, or isolation. He knew what being separated from family and friends was all about. He knew how it felt when people attempted to demean others, or even take their lives away. Not only did he know, but he wanted to help people to be alert to everything which could harm them. He didn’t know what pressures might befall his listeners – or us – but he knew that we’d often have an uphill battle, that we’d be exposed to many things which might not only endanger ourselves – our souls and bodies – but also our loved ones, as well our neighbours, and the folk across the country and the world.
It was John’s burning passion to ensure the no one would be unaware of how to prepare for any occasion when we faced difficulty, and also be prepared to accept the most powerful help, and assurance, and love imaginable.<br>
<br>
You might call John the ultimate Risk Management expert. He knew what land mines lay ahead for people and, frankly, he was infuriated at the folk who wouldn’t listen; who thought he was talking to everyone else but them; who’d go on their own merry way, regardless of how it affected themselves and those around them; go on their merry way perhaps until it was too late. John treated his job – remember how Zechariah described him as he looked down on his infant son? “You are the dayspring from on high”, the guide sent from heaven to warn of approaching important decisions; the escort who could accompany us into the presence of God on earth, but could only hope that we’d be ready, ready for every
challenge.<br>
<br>
Nothing can take away the shock of last week. Nothing may really prepare us for that punch in the stomach when some other act of horror is perpetrated.<br>
<br>
But John – and this Season of Advent – remind us of God’s presence, of God’s love, of God’s incredible compassion. John calls us once again this morning to be ready to act, to do whatever we can, to remember the urgency of knowing that God IS present, and will ALWAYS be present, and of how we’re called to act for God wherever and whenever we can.<br>
<br>
We can’t hide ourselves from those acts of terror. Nor should we hide ourselves from the call to be ready to respond. But we must never forget those thousand upon thousands who are there for us, to support us, to help us in our ministry, as we need to be there for them in whatever pains they bear.<br>
<br>
Our cry should NOT be, Oh, NO! Not John again!!” but, “Where is God? In ALL of this!”<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Robert
P Morrison<br>
Interim Vicar<br>
The Episcopal Church of St Alban<br>
PO Box 1556<br>
Albany OR 97321 541-921-1076 (cell)<br>
<br>
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