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| Flowers in memory of Betty Powers |
Summer Altar Flowers: Do
you have flowers in your garden you'd like to share? Our liturgy is enriched by
memorial flowers -- or flowers given in thanksgiving. Last Sunday's were
arranged by Sammie and given in loving memory of Betty Powers ... as Sammie
said, "to help keep our memory of Betty alive." Do you remember
her?
Services this coming
Sunday, June 13th and the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, will be
at 8 and 10, with a coffee hour
following each service. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.
Readings for this
Sunday: 1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a
Our ALL-PARISH PICNIC at White Lake Park, off of route 16 in Tamworth, on Sunday, June 23rd is coming up! We have reserved the pavilion. We will gather at 10:30 a.m. for an informal outdoor eucharist; that will be followed by the picnic and social and recreation time! Hamburgers, hotdogs, and veggie burgers – and the grills to grill them on – will be supplied. We ask you to bring salad, chips, beverages, or desserts. The lake will be available for swimming and kayaking. The lake is shallow for quite a distance, so it will warm up quickly and will not pose deep water risks for young ones. The pavilion and the rest rooms are wheel chair accessible, so our hope is that it will be a fun, multi-generational gathering for everyone. Feel free to invite your friends.
There is a $200 fee for the pavilion and that covers the
admission fee for everyone in our group. Just tell the person at the gate that
you are here for the Saint Andrew’s Picnic. One household has already
generously volunteered to cover a significant part of the cost of the fee. If
you would like to help defray the cost, mark that in the memo line of a check,
and know that your contribution will be appreciated by all of us.
The regular 8:00 service will be held at Saint Andrew’s as
well.
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| A winning smile from Peg Cade's great-grandson, Caleb, who was in town for a visit with his mother. |
On God's Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good
After traveling the country
this spring — while keeping an eye on Washington, D.C. — I am more convinced
than ever that our personal decisions, choices, and commitments will change the
world more than our politics.
The common good and the quality of our life together will finally be
determined by the personal decisions we all make. The “commons” — those places
where we come together as neighbors and citizens to share public space — will
never be better than the quality of human life, or the human flourishing, in
our own lives and households.
Here are ten personal decisions
you can make to help foster the common good.
1. If you are a father or a
mother, make your children the most important priority in your life and build
your other commitments around them. If you are not a parent, look for children
who could benefit from your investment in their lives.
2. If you are married, be
faithful to your spouse. Demonstrate your commitment with both your fidelity
and your love. If you are single, measure your relationships by their
integrity, not their usefulness.
3. If you are a person of
faith, focus not just on what you believe but on how you act on those beliefs.
If you love God, ask God how to love your neighbor.
4. Take the place you live
seriously. Make the context of your life and work the parish that you take
responsibility for.
5. Seek to develop a vocation
and not just a career. Discern your gifts as a child of God, not just your
talents, and listen for your calling rather than just looking for opportunities.
Remember that your personal good always relates to the common good.
6. Make choices by
distinguishing between wants and needs. Choose what is enough, rather than what
is possible to get. Replace appetites with values, teach your children the same,
and model those values for all who are in your life.
7. Look at the business,
company, or organization where you work from an ethical perspective. Ask what
its vocation is, too. Challenge whatever is dishonest or exploitative and help
your place of work do well by doing good.
8. Ask yourself what in the
world today most breaks your heart and offends your sense of justice. Decide to
help change that and join with others who are committed to transforming that
injustice.
9. Get to know who your
political representatives are at both the local and national level. Study their
policy decisions and examine their moral compass and public leadership. Make
your public convictions and commitments known to them and choose to hold them
accountable.
10. Since the difference
between events and movements is sacrifice, which is also the true meaning of
religion and what makes for social change, ask yourself what is important
enough to give your life to and for.
Finding the integral
relationship between your own personal good and the common good is your best
contribution to our future. And it is the best hope we have for a better life
together.
Jim Wallis is CEO of
Sojourners. His book, On God's Side: What
Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good,
is now available.
See you in
church!
Blessings, Heidi+