Peggy's Ponderings

1 John

2009-12-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John4:7-8

Workers

2009-09-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord sends workers into the harvest. That's what Jesus said to do. I take it seriously and the Lord is sending us yet another worker. I find it exciting but it befuddles some who do not understand that the Lord very literally answers prayers, especially those directed in scripture.

Unless we want the church to die, why would we not welcome qualified candidates to the ministry? Not everyone who feels a call is going to be qualified or appropriate for a particular denomination. But we all serve the same Lord. And people are dying without the Lord every day. I am thankful that our little denomination welcomes women and a variety of people, but they will not welcome everyone. There are people I send to other denominations. Not everyone with a call to serve the Lord as a pastor is suited to this denomination.

What gives me that right? I'm not on any committee or in a position of authority dealing with the newly called. If the Lord sends someone to me, it is He who has given me the authority to help them to the next step. If the Lord does not send them, I do not see them.

This denomination is made up of primarily southern churches, the majority of which are small, too small to support a minister well enough to pay off school debts. While a small percentage make a decent living, the majority do not. Many must have another source of income and pastor part time. Either that or live in poverty. Very few people are cut out for a deliberate life of poverty and low income.

The attitudes are primarily southern and rural. Those with non rural attitudes flock to Memphis and a few other city areas with CP churches. There is often a disconnect between those in the city and those in the rural areas. People in Memphis are used to city incomes and city standards.

St Louis Thoughts

2009-09-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

We visited some mega churches that started out in homes with small groups of people. We did not know that before we visited them. It is my opinion that it is quite possible to plant a new church in the St Louis area, particularly the suburbs. A CP church could be planted by someone who knows the culture of the area and it would not take a lot of money to get started.

Culture and understanding of mindsets matters. Metropolitan areas of larger cities have different attitudes, expectations and ways of getting things done than those in the much slower rural areas and small towns. Add to that that each part of the country has its own personality, history and customs.

Kansas City appears to be cursed for CP churches. They have had some good, healthy churches going but somebody always seems to kill them. It doesn't seem to matter who the pastor is or much about the congregations, they are DOA. There are a lot of words about it, but when the light shines on the truth, love and consideration for others has not been present. You shall know them by their fruit. The city has spiritual issues. Lord please, Deliver us from evil.

But St Louis is a different matter. Perhaps the Lord would bless (and protect from evil) a CP church in St Louis? The battle is spiritual. I see hope and much possibility here.

I vaguely remember the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He had a vision to fly higher and faster but the other seagulls on the beach had very limited vision. They were scrabbling on the beach for cast offs and left overs, garbage, fighting among themselves for scraps and territories without any vision of what they could be. Every so often CP's remind me of that story. Very few seem to have much vision, but a few do. They fuss and fight over things of little or no consequence and ignore the vision. Sometimes they even tear one another apart and behave like the gulls of the story, not very nice.

BUT, the Lord has called us to this denomination for a reason. He has a vision for the the denomination could be (as those who started it envisioned long, long ago). If I did not firmly believe that, I would have been history a long, long time ago. God has a plan and He is going to do wonderful things. I am here because the Lord sent me. I can also see others he has sent. Some very clear, some are "we'll see" depending on their fruit.

"Whosover will", is true of denominations as well as individuals. The denomination is slowly declining and there is some decay within, not so much evil, just death of churches and of enthusiasm. Far too many want to be served and even demand it, forgetting that believers are servants of the living God, not entitled bumks and freeloaders.

If the Lord does not have a plan, and I am sure he does, I am wasting my time and energy and, as a faithful servant, I need to use my limited time on earth to glorify God and to further His kingdom. Without the Lord, I/we can do nothing. With the Lord, all things are possible and we expect miracles. Anything less is simply human effort.

Missouri was once a very vital state for CP's. Now it is, for all intents and purposes, on life support and rapidly declining. We lose churches every year in the rural areas, where the young move off and the older ones move on to glory, leaving no one to run the church. (The children are not necessarily the future for individual churches. They grow up and move away. The future of the church depends on continually winning souls of all ages, like a flowing stream of water irrigates plants and keeps them alive and healthy.)

I will pray about St Louis and the potential to start a new church here. perhaps the Lord will send someone with a vision and ambition and knowledge, which are much more important than making sure the money is there before they start. We'll see what the Lord has in mind.

From The Front Porch

2009-09-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

My front porch is a wonderful place to sit this time of year and drink coffee or tea. The temperatures are nice and the shade of the big tree makes it very comfortable. Sometimes my husband and I sit out there and talk and eat dinner. Other times I visit with my children, family or friends. Sometimes I sit out there and talk to the Lord. The front porch is a place for prayers.

When I am reading or studying, the front porch is very comfortable. I love to read my Bible as I sit outdoors. The birds sing and sometimes land very close to me. The roses and the flowers brighten the area. The trees rustle, the neighbors wave, and the cars that go by every so often sound like the waves of the ocean. When it rains, the front porch is a shelter as we watch the comforting drops fall and the rivers form in the streets racing to the end.

At night, I sit on the porch in the dark and listen to the sounds of the night, the crickets, a occasional frog, the leaves, the faint sound of traffic in the distance and sometimes a train whistle far off. It is beautiful and peaceful. There are a lot of college students on the block and sometimes they will be out laughing and talking, but never a problem. If they see me we wave at one another.

The front porch is a good place for phone calls. I enjoy watching the rabbits, the squirrels and the birds as I converse with others. So many phone calls pertain to difficult matters, it is comforting to be in a peaceful setting to keep it all in perspective. God is in control and he does not change. He loves us and cares about what happens in our lives. He comforts us and gives us peace. Some of the things we concern ourselves about are only temporary. Nature is a reminder. The Lord created it and the Lord is with us still, even when we forget. We are small, the Lord is huge and he can handle any problem.

We are so blessed. lord help us to open our eyes and to be aware of the beauty all around us every day.

CP Priority Goals

2009-08-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

One of the priority goals for the denomination as printed in the Yearbook on the first page is, " Recruit, educate and nurture clergy and laity for their specific ministries."

In the last year, we have met many people who have expressed an interest in pastoral ministry. Most aren't interested in the CP, especially the younger ones. One went with the Baptists (and his family was long time multigenerational CP's), one with another denomination, and another in our church is still in high school and still pondering the call. We are going to give him some time and mentor him since he is not ready to make a solid commitment.

I have volunteered to mentor a twenty something young man who feels called to ministry. He has 3 small children, and the middle one, a 4 year old, has two kinds of cancer and had a bone marrow transplant yesterday in KC. There is no hurry. He will probably go with another denomination, but I am going to work with him to get his educational background going. He is an old friend.

We are priviledged to have two ordained men who are interested in exploring the possibility of having their ordinations recognized by the CP church. Both are seminary graduates. One is a doctoral student from Korea, studying here. He does not speak much English. He was ready to start the process but wanted to wait another year before going to the Program of Alternate Studies. Session did not push him. That was okay. He spent a lot of time in contact with others in the denomination, including Dr. Yoong Kim, pastor of the Korean CP church in Memphis and George Estes and others. They convinced him to attend PAS this last summer because there was a special program for Korean speaking pastors being offered. I know that Tom Campbell was consulted and Robert Rush had some kind of knowledge of what was happening (but may not have been involved). The denomination has special ways of doing things for international pastors but I do not know what they are. I leave that to the committees.

Pastor Andy had been in our church for a while and was interested in the possiblity of becoming a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. He is a little bit younger than us and has a lot of potential. He read the Confession of Faith and felt like it was something he could uphold. Since Pastor Park was going, session decided it would be good to send Pastor Andy too for a couple of classes.

The chairman of the presbytery's Committee on Ministry was called, Leslie Bone, and he said he could not get ahold of all of the committee, just some of them, but go ahead and send the pastors to PAS and they would meet with them in August. He said there was no money so session had to pay for it themselves. From there the committee would decide what they wanted to do next and whether they would accept them. He did not guarantee anything. Tom Campbell was also called. He said he did not have time to meet with the two pastors prior to PAS but it was okay to send them to PAS and he would talk with them later about what he might suggest to the COM.

Session sent both men to PAS to take the classes concerning Cumberland Presbyterian History and Polity and whatever the Korean classes were. Those classes would give them a good basis on which to decide if the CP ministry was for them. They are also good classes for any person to take. Everyone in the church is welcome to take any class at PAS any time they want. No matter what else is required, these classes are basic for everyone. Both had a very good time of fellowship and getting to know what it means to be a Cumberland Presbyterian. They had as good of a time as I had when I went.

The two men went before the Committee on Ministry after they went to PAS. I do not know if either will be taken under care of presbytery at this point.

Everybody starts at the bottom it seems, whether you are a high school student or a seminary graduate makes no difference. I was amused to be placed on the same level as high school juniors and seniors when I started the process, even though I have a master's degree from a seminary. I got to have a lot of fun that way though. I loved going to PAS and meeting all the people with all the activities and classes. I miss going.

We are recruiting clergy, at least when the Lord sends them, but most decide way before they get to the COM that this denomination is not for them and move on. I guess that's what we call the discernment process. CP's are mostly southern, mostly rural, with low pay. I tried to recruit a PCUSA pastor in his late 20's to join us when his position fell through, but he said no way. I think my question was an insult to him. We are too small and PCUSA people at his educational level can expect to make $60,000 to $80,000 a year with benefits. That's what he told me. He did get a job at a level acceptable to him too, with the PCUSA.

The adventure continues. I am here because this is where the Lord wants me to be. The thought of making $60,000 to $80,000 or more a year is tempting but almost nobody does in this denomination, the one the Lord wants me to stay at. Same for everybody else in the presbytery. Almost all have no retirement benefits or health insurance unless they get it somewhere besides the church, like social security or a working spouse or another job. I guess it's easy to see why they aren't exactly beating down our doors to get in? I'm thrilled two men are considering our denomination.

Big Things

2009-08-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

All big things in this world are done by people who are naive and
have an idea that is obviously impossible.

-- Dr. Frank Richards (1875-1961) English Writer

I guess we are destined for big things. We are like a chihuahua next to a great dane and we are fine with it.

Hummingbird

2009-08-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

As I sat on my front porch early this morning reading and drinking my coffee, a tiny hummingbird paid me a visit. He was attracted by the red flowers on my porch. One of the flowerpots was hanging about 3 feet from my head. He went to it anyway and chirped with a loud squeaky sound before sipping the flowers.

Then the little bird moved around the side of the plant and was straight in front of me in mid air, about 2 to 3 feet away. He stayed there for several seconds, in mid air, looking at me, then flew off. The sound of the flutter of the tiny wings beating the air was intrigueing.

I wonder what the message was? Sometimes the Lord uses birds to minister and to give messages. As I thought about it, it occured to me that a hummingbird is beautiful and is always on the move. Their wings go very fast as they hurry from place to place. It's lovely. They are attracted to sugar and to the color red. We also know hummingbirds do not live very long. It's not the sugar or the color red, the sugar is what nourishes the constant activity. The lesson may be that those who are constantly on the move and never rest wear out much quicker and do not live as long. Humans are not made to do that but we try.

Jesus said, Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. The Lord commands a Sabbath rest. He also designated holidays and festivals to give the people rest. Constant motion is not part of His plan for humans.

The message for me is, maybe I need to reevaluate our life and see if we are going to wear out like a hummingbird, before our time at our current pace. Some of you reading this may need to reflect on the same question.

I'm not green, just frugal

2009-08-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

There's so much talk of going green and saving the environment, you'd think some things would be easy to find. That's not what I am discovering. Our utilities company is talking about how much electric, water and gas is going to go up in the next year or two.

Everybody's got problems and needs more money so we have to pay more, and in some cases it could be significant. It's really stupid. They tell people to use less utilities and have incentives. They say rates will go up if we do not cut back. Lo and behold, people cut back on their utilities useage. You think that would solve the issue, correct? No. We aren't using enough so rates have to go up. It doesn't seem to matter in reality although all their theories sound really good.

One thing is clear, regardless of what the chameleons say, the less I use as an individual, the less it may cost me. Unless they put a special tax on people who use less for some silly reason.

I think we are in trouble. Cap and Trade is coming and it will be expensive for everybody, another kind of fee tax.

Our city council diverted funds needed for the police and fire pensions so there is not enough to fund the pensions now. In spite of the fact that other groups are allowed decreases, this one is not. So the city wants more taxes to fund it. There is no question the firemen and police deserve to get it as much as anybody (especailly more so than the jerks with the golden parachutes) but, even if we raise the taxes, they won't necessarily get it. There is zero accountability concerning city hall for those who diverted the money in the past and there will be zero accountability in the future. There is no insurance that the money will go where it is supposed to go, just like before. It may simply become a big money grab for the city within a year or two after the tax is passed and they think people will forget. There is no insurance, no accountablity and no liability for anyone. It will be a soak the public and everybody loses kind of thing. The city council's word is no good. If it was, these people would not be in the mess they are in. They have nothing but failure to back it up. It doesn't matter what I think, we will pay anyway and it will not all go to them.

We have the schools crying because revenues are not up as high as predicted. They cry every year and have been since I was a little kid. Everything is terrrible, they don't have enough, it's so bad. Schools are like bottomless pits, there is no such thing as enough no matter what you do. They always promise but never deliver. They do some of what they say they will do and the fountain of tears dries up for a few months after they get what they want, then it starts again. They are like a spoiled female who always needs the newest dress and behaves like a drama queen until she gets it. They closed schools to build new ones because they really "needed" them so bad and now they have overspent and need more. Shock and disbelief. And, of course, they always neglect to do something essential to manipulate the public into saying "poor baby". (One of this town's planned areas of neglect resulted in the death of one child and the disability of another. I predicted it as soon as the manipulations started. If I knew, having been in education for years, they knew too, some would be innocent but some were not. Money over children. We are in the end times it appears.) It has been that way every town and city I have lived in, the cry for moeny not the deliberate risk of children. With the school system it is always somebody else's fault, so they did as predicted, they blamed it on everybody else. This time they said it was the city but sometimes it is those evil parents they like to blame. Hogwash! Eventually they will get their newest additional tax increase. One more expense for the rest of us whose income is also not the greatest.

The next tax will have something to do with universal health care that is being considered. Whatever our "fair share contribution" is will be coming. Even if it starts out cheap, it won't stay that way.

Those are some of the new taxes we will be treated to in the next few years. There will be more. The economy is down.

So back to my original statement, I'm not going green, I'm looking for ways to be frugal. I tried to buy a free standing clothesline to save electric by using the dryer less. We do not have the right trees. They are very hard to find. "Green" WalMart and KMart do not carry them. Hardware stores have a few. They are pretty expensive too. My local store was out but was getting more in soon. They hadn't exactly had a run on them. They order in about 3 at a time.

I heard on the radio that appliances use 70% of their total electric when they are turned off. It's those little led lights and keeping the appliance ready for instant on that uses it. I am going to buy surge protectors and put all appliances on them. That way I can turn them off when not in use totally. If I have anything that needs instant on, I'll not plug it into a surge protector bar. And i'm going to wait for surge protectors to go on sale to get them.

I'm buying those little solar lights that absorb sun during the day and light up the house at night for outdoor lighting, on sale of course.

I have put small gardens in my back yard to grow my own fresh food in small amounts. It is somewhat expensive at first so it really isn't saving any money this year, even though I waited for price reductions and used coupons. One of the things I used in the garden beds was special moisture retaining soil. I need to go and get more. That way, the plants do well with less watering. I am also adding vegetable scraps (composting) instead of tossing them out, for organic matter.

Whenever we replace something, we buy energy saving models.

Awnings are not pretty but, if utilities go up a lot, we will be looking at them. That and those roll down bamboo shades to shield the house in summer and block the wind in spots in the winter even. Bushes around the edge of the house provide protection for the foundation. Trees provide shade in summer. So can tall plants near the house. I will probably buy heavy curtains eventually, a few at a time, to block out the heat in summer and the cold in winter. Thermopane windows are cost prohibitive at this time and even with them, the sun shines in the windows and heats up the house.

Weather caulking is on sale this week so I should go get some to make sure the windows and other areas are sealed well.

More later.

The Lord

2009-07-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering the holiness of the Lord and what that means. God is Holy. What kind of reverence and respect do we need to be showing a Holy Lord?

How does that fit with the notion that the Lord is our good buddy who follows us around? Does that show a lack of understanding and respect for who God is? Are we insulting the Lord and being disrespectful, even without knowing it?

We say we read the Holy Bible. What about it makes it Holy? There are those who say it is just a good moral book with stories about how to live. How does that make it Holy? There is more to it than that. Holiness transcends the here and now of our limited existence. The words of God are the breath of God and they speak to the hearts and unseen souls of the reader. It is beyond explanation and cannot be measured. What is the length, depth, mass and weight of the soul of man?

It appears we are small, limited, shallow, misguided and not very intellegent overall. Who can comprehend God? How big is infinite? How long is eternity? It seems reasonable to admit there is no way we can understand the things of God or God himself. How small we are, how little we know.

If we say we know all about God, our God is too small.

Good Day

2009-07-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

I pulled a few big carrots from my garden this evening and we had them for supper along with new potatoes from Farmer's Market and a crock pot roast. We have a few cherry tomatoes ripe too. Delicious!

The temperature outdoors has been wonderful all day. It rained much of the day and looks like rain again this evening. I am thankful there is no drought. All the rain is good for yards and gardens and conserves water useage, which the city keeps talking about. We have plenty of water but there is fear for the distant future.

Controversy

2009-07-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

I heard a quote yesterday that might tick some people off but it started me thinking.
The first part is,
Men bond by doing activities together.
The second part is,
Women bond by complaining.

At first it sounds pretty bad, but there might be a bit of truth in it. Interesting.

The person who told me they heard this asked not to be identified.

Word Budget

2009-07-07T14:28:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I only have a certain number of words allotted to use a week. It's a little bit like a budget and only having a certain amount to spend. I get a lot of words to use but I run out after a while. When I use up the words I have available, I quit talking much. It's not hard. I have lots of family and friends in my life who love to talk and don't notice when I don't have much to say. They have a much bigger word budget than me. It works out very well.

Sometimes I just get tired of talking and of writing and prefer to let others do it all. Sometimes, silence is nice too.

Sales Tax

2009-07-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

The economy is down, a percentage of people are either losing their jobs when businesses close or getting less hours. Many are underemployed, which is employed, but at lower paying jobs that hopefully cover the bare necessities. The stock market is down so lots of people have lost lots of their retirement investments. Those who are close to retirement or who are retired may have been hit the hardest. Normally, that means lots of people are buying less. That means less sales tax revenue, mainly sales tax.

With less tax income, some federal, state and local programs and services must either get less money or be cut. The government's solution to this is to raise taxes and tax rates to get more money so programs can be funded as before. It's a vicious cycle. The more taxes are raised, including sales taxes and luxury type taxes (and "sin" taxes) the less people will buy because everything costs more. The people buying are not necessarily making more money and a percentage are still making less and less. It looks like it could be a vicious cycle.

There is an upside in one sense. When "sin" taxes go up, people buy less of those items too. Generally, "sin" taxes are taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. If people used less of both they would be a lot healthier. Our state uses "sin" taxes to pay for basic things like public schools, health and children's programs. It seems ridiculous to me that we need people to do unhealthy things in order for our children to get an education. Wouldn't it make more sense to tie education and other programs to something much more wholesome? It puts the government and schools in the business of promoting unhealthy practices in order to get funding. Gambling profits go under this nonsense too, but that's a whole different area. The more people smoke, drink and gamble, the better off the children are? Wow!

Our city keeps coming up with new ways to tax people these days. Restaurants now have to pay a "fee" (tax) for their mandatory inspections to stay in business, as of this week. The extra tax expense will be passed on to the consumer.

Special higher tax districts are springing up all over town. They use that tax to improve the immediate area. Those who are watching their pennies will simply choose to shop someplace else, especially for the higher priced items where taxes make a more significant difference. Little businesses vote for it in the hopes the high volume guys will bear the majority of the load of expense. Really, it is the customer who will pay the extra dollars for the same thing and customers are free to go wherever they like. An extra 1% is a penny on a dollar, $1 on a hundred and $100 on $10,000. $100 means something to many, especially if they are getting nothing extra for their extra expense. The high volume business person will either decrease in volume, lose customers to a point where they go out of business or have to relocate. Anybody who thinks the majority of people will gladly pay more if it amounts to more than a few pennies total is not living in reality. In a good economy, people do not pay as much attention to pennies, but they do in a difficult economy like ours.

Enough people will avoid CID's (city improvement districts with their higher sales taxes) that those hoping to bring in more revenue will be disappointed.

Restaurants are having to lower prices and do special promotions to bring people in because more people have less discretionary income. Sales are still down quite a bit overall, even with the slaes and promotions. The new tax on mandatory inspections, on top of the CID's in some areas, will raise consumer costs. If they raise their prices 25 or 50 cents or more, it will discourage those on the margins and sales will go down even further. We are still in a bad economy.

It doesn't matter to me if they keep raising taxes. I will vote against it but when they do it anyway, I just quit buying or buy less. So will most other people. Increasing the tax rates is not going to increase the income of the city, state or federal government over the long haul. Eventually the majority will develop a depression era mentality. Repair it, use it up, wear it out, make do, share with others or do without. To a degree we are seeing the beginnings of that.

I wonder what they are going to come up with next to tax extra? I heard there was some kind of energy bill that was passed last week that is going to cost everybody a lot of extra money every year. Dandy. The promoters say it is worth it. Everybody who wants a tax always says the extra expense is worth it. Maybe, but what about the total accumulation of taxes coming out of all but the poorest people's paychecks? At what percentage is it no longer "worth it"? When the total taxes hit 50% of everything we earn? (we are past that already if you include the hidden taxes such as licensing fees, phone fees and fees for any little things plus sales taxes, property taxes, etc) 60%? 75%? 90%? Looking at the aggregate tax rate, it seems a bit absurd to me.

The taxes on taxes are based on the premise that our behaviors will not change with the times. It is erroneous to believe because we spent freely before, in a good economy, that we will continue. The rate of unemployed is at 10% and those are just the ones looking actively. There are others who are not officially looking, experts say up to 15%. The percentage of sick, significantly mentally challenged and disabled people is at a similar rate, around 10%. Possibly a larger percentage is underemployed at low paying jobs that barely pay the bills or worse. I read that one person in 7 is incarcerated right now. That seems awfully high. That would add a bit over 14% to the number of citizens not working. A percentage are children, maybe 18%?, and a percentage are senior citizens who are no longer working, maybe 18%? There is even a percentage of illegal immigrants who pay no taxes at all, maybe 2%-4%?

That makes it look like only 15%-30% of the population is gainfully employed and lots of those work at minimum wage jobs. That can't be right. It seems like it should be more than double the top number, but maybe not.

Anyway, I think our government officials need to rethink some of what they do. It should be interesting to see how this all pans out.

Rejoice

2009-05-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is the day that the Lord has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it!

The weather is beautiful. The dog is cute. God has blessed us.

Penny Update

2009-04-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I posted about the penny quest 15 days ago, I have found $1.39 in pennies nickles and dimes. It really beats the few pennies interest I get a month! Either way, I will never be rich off it. That's okay. Rich comes at a price. I have enough and I am blessed. I have my family, my friends, the Lord and the church. My health is fine. And I have a good roof over my head (now that we replaced it). I love the simple things like birds, walks, coffee and tea, reading and studying and that sort of thing.

Names and Perceptions

2009-04-18T13:31:00.008-07:00

It is cute how easily some people get upset. We have a little bitty church, approximately 1/1,000 of the denomination. Sometimes I have commented that we would like to be the denominational headquarters and the center of the denomination. Now who would take that seriously? It sounds good to me because I live here and it would not be so far for me to travel. I like this city. There is less crime here than the city where the headquarters is now and prices are lower. The Assembly of God International Headquarters is already here and seems to do just fine and they send out many, many times more missionaries than our denomination ever thought of doing, so our airport is fine for travel anywhere. And, we are in the center of the US. In my mind, it is a good thought. Nobody else has to agree with me.

The name of our church is Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It has a "first" in front of it but nobody uses it. Since we are the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, it only makes sense that the denomination would center around us, right? Forget how small we are, how few financial resources we have (all of the money in all of the Presbyterial accounts magically vanished last year and our offerings are nothing to write home about) and how few of our denomination are in the state. We are less than a little hankie to a kingsize quilt or an ant next to a tree.

We plan to build a new church building soon and are adding a new name, in addition to Cumberland Presbyterian, like most other CP churches do. (White Oak Pond, New Hope, Orange, etc) That way, if there are several churches of our denomination in the area some day, (another dream) it would be possible to tell one from another by name.

I was at first surprised and then amused at a person who was worried that, if by adding more words to our name we would lose our Cumberland Presbyterian identity. Around here, very few people know that Cumberland Presbyterian is a denomination. They think it is the name of our church, named after either a road, a family years ago, something in the Bible they have never heard about or some other thing. Most people think we are just Presbyterian (PCUSA) with a quirky name, if they think about us at all. We are so small we do not make the radar of most people.

I guess the person, I can't remember who it was now, had a point (but they would not have been aware of it). If we are going to be the center of the denomination and the denominational headquarters, then we should remain THE Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Somehow, it isn't very likely that's going to happen but who knows? All things are possible with God. If it is His will, it will happen. Personally, it sounds like a lot of extra work to me. If it should ever turn out that God does this, that means He has work for me to do, and not something small. I will do whatever He wants but do I really want a lot of extra work?

In the meantime, we are THE Cumberland Presbyterian Church and life is interesting.

A Drama That Did Not Happen

2009-04-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little rabbit named Bunny who lived in a beautiful meadow with lots of friends and family. Bunny was happy.

Bunny sometimes got allergies from the pollen in the air or the food she ate. Dr Rabbit did tests and said they weren't so bad. Bunny would just have to live with it. He did not have tests for every problem but he had medicine. Some medicines worked and some did not. One medicine worked but it made Bunny very sleepy, the worse the allergy, the sleepier it made Bunny.

When Bunny got allergies, it would make her skin kind of itchy and things that normally did not hurt would hurt Bunny, like rabbits touching too hard. If they gave her a friendly thump, it sometimes left a bruise. Not all the time. Only with the allergy.

Bunny's allergies sometimes made her head hurt and made noises seems very loud and painful. Allergies made everything uncomfortable.

One day Bunny's rabbit friends wanted her to go with them to an activity with lots of other rabbits. Bunny said no, she did not want to go. Maybe another time. The rabbit friends did not understand allergies and how Bunny felt because it had never happened to them. So the rabbit friends kept asking why over and over.

She tried to tell them about allergies and being very sleepy fi she took the medicine. They wanted to know what it felt like. Bunny told her friends that Gabby rabbit's talking was loud and hurt her ears sometimes when she had allergies. Rabbits did not understand that it was not Gabby's fault. It was an allergy. So Tattletale rabbit ran and told Gabby rabbit that Bunny said she was too loud and didn't want to be around her. Of course this hurt Gabby and made her unhappy at her friend Bunny. Bunny was not mad at Gabby and knew the allergy had nothing to do with Gabby. On days there was no allergy, Bunny liked being around Gabby.

Tippy rabbit decided that Gabby was too loud too, and proceeded to tell others. Poor Gabby! Gabby was not too loud. Bunny had an allergy.

Bunny told the rabbits that it hurt when Bear hug rabbit thumped her playfully and hugged her when she had allergies. So Tattletale rabbit ran and told Bear rabbit that she was too rough and Bunny was mad at her. Then all the other little rabbits decided Bear rabbit was too rough too. Bear rabbit was not too rough. Bear rabbit was sad that everybody was so critical of her all of a sudden. Bunny had allergies and some things hurt when she had them that did not hurt normally. Other bunnies who gave big bunny hugs hurt too.

Hearty rabbit decided that Bunny must be sickly all the time and started treating her like she was an invalid. That was annoying because everything was fine when there were no allergies.

Skeptic rabbit decided that, since Bunny did not have allergies every day, she must be making it up. She got together with a few other rabbits to lecture Bunny on how she was just a hypochondriac, and a wimp and a liar. They didn't believe it at all. Rabbit hollow was not a happy place.

There is not always somebody at fault when things do not work right.

If Bunny had not told what hurt her, it would have saved the feelings of several rabbits. The only one any rabbits would have been upset with was Bunny for saying no.

Real life is much more complicated than a Bunny story (based on someone I am related to and known many years). We do not know what is going on for other persons. We need to be kind and assume the best, just as we hope others will assume the best about us.

Is that car that is swerving in front of us because of a drunk driver or a toddler who got loose and is trying to escape the driver, or a person who had a momentary lapse,as we all have, that was unintentional?

Kindness and grace, something we can all use and give.

Thinking

2009-04-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Those who have known me a long time wonder why I do not post as much as I used to about what is going on. Others just wonder why I post less. Life is still busy and getting busier all the time.

It's different now though. I know who is sick, who is in crisis, who has issues, who is mad and who is happy, who is broken hearted or struggling and all sorts of things, but to tell most of these things amounts to gossip. Each person has their own story to tell and it is not my place to tell it unless they want me to or say it is okay. Even then I hesitate. While some things are fine to tell one on one, they are not appropriate as front page news. Much of my life right now centers on people. And it is quite an adventure! Things have happened that I never expected to happen.

When I am writing about people blog readers do not know, it is just a story about an anonymous person. It's different if many know them. It can become gossip. There are those who feel it is their job to question others. There are those who judge and act judgmentally. There are those who feel their job is to confront. There are those who will ridicule. There are those who will take on a condescending attitude. There are the phonies with all their creepiness. There are the saddists who will try to make it worse. There are those who take advantage of others. There are those who say hateful things. There are those who get their jollies out of rubbing salt in other people's wounds. There are people who like to blame. There are people who use things as an excuse to exclude others or to look down on them. They humiliate and upset others without much empathy or conscience. (This is all sin but those who do it often do not recognize it. They see the splinter in the eye of the others and not the log in their own.)

I am not a private person but I understand those who are. After a few attacks, I have become a little more private too. (I'm not going to tell you who attacked. That's gossip and one might have been you??)

Every so often someone has said to me that they have said something to a pastor only to hear it come back in a negative way hours, weeks or months later and it is upsetting to them. It becomes a breach of trust in their mind. I want to avoid that. If I wrote what was going on in my daily life, much of it would sound like a soap box series or a gossip columnist. Everybody has issues but most of the time it should stay between them and God and the others involved.

Many people have things happening in their lives that are not exactly secret but they do not want announced either. We need to respect those wishes.

And now, it is a beautiful day. Time to attend to tasks and enjoy the sunshine.

Really?

2009-04-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

James 2:18-19 This scripture is bad news for some who claim to be believers. I think some have been deceived. What's the fruit?

Penny Update

2009-04-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have now collected 50 plus pennies and rolled them to deposit in my bank account to help out the pathetic interest. I found another penny today. Eccentric is amusing.

Respect

2009-04-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today I had a conversation with a young teen while waiting in a business. It was interesting to see things from her point of view. One of the things she told me about was being angry at a doctor because he would not talk to her or answer her questions as he was examining her. He would only talk to her mother. He treated her as if she were not there. It upset her a lot.

I can understand that. Nobody, at any age, wants to be treated like a non person. I told her about a friend of mine who is in a wheelchair. When she and I would go out to eat, the waitresses would talk to me but not to her. When the waitress would ask me a question about my friend, such as what she wanted to eat, I would have to tell her to ask my friend.

The young girl was surprised to hear that this was a common experience for the elderly too. When an elderly person and a younger person are together, almost everybody talks to the younger person about the older person as if they were not there. It's pretty rude, but really common. I guess that's why little kids and the elderly often get along so well. They understand one another. People talk about them and over them but not to them.

The young teen got mad and fired her doctor (her mom let her). She has a new doctor now who talks to her, listens to her and answers her questions and she likes that just fine.

Penny Update

2009-04-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Personal issues have led to a short delay in arriving at a retreat. It is beginning to get late so I will wait until tomorrow to drive there now.

While taking care of business today I found one more penny. Yesterday I found 1 penny and the day before I found 1 penny. Three cents in three days, that's half a month's interest on my tiny savings account. Maybe more than half a month if the interest rate goes down even more. Eventually I might have to invest in something like a cheap bicycle or a good pair of shoes when this pair wears out. At least gas prices went down for a while. The price of everything else is going up.

Parking Lot Pennies

2009-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today I spent more time than normal waiting in parking lots for cars with issues. Actually, it is not normal to spend any time in parking lots waiting on car issues but today I probably spent at least an hour total on three different lots. So I got some exercise while I waited and walked around the parking lot looking for pennies. I came up with 11 so far today. That is almost two months interest in the pathetic savings account! Parking lot pennies sometimes look a big rough.

Yesterday I found one chair I missed when diving for pennies. I came up with one more puncture wound from the upholstery tacks and two dimes!

I'm intrigued with the concept of becoming eccentric. I think my dog is working on it too. Just a few minutes ago I fed her one of her favorite snacks, ice cubes.

There is a new way to grow tomatoes I am told and I am going to try it out. You grow them upside down in a special container that hangs on a hook outside. Looks interesting.

When I bought the upside down tomato planter, I also bought some seeds for my little veggie bed. I bought things like brussels sprouts, beets, turnips, squash, cucumbers and even green beans. I don't like green beans much, but they grow well and, if I am going to be eccentric, it's okay to plant things I do not like and give them to someone who does. Or I could just grow them, let them go to seed, save the seed, and plant them again next year. That's more eccentric than just giving them away.

Penny Diving in the Furniture

2009-03-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

I checked under the cushions and fabric on the couches and chairs and found no money. Ihere was almost nothing under there. I did get some puncture wounds from the upholstery tacks. Sharp buggers.

Onward to the next adventure. For me, frugality is a form of amusement.

Monday Banking Update

2009-03-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I found 32 cents to add to my bank account. Today my son's car broke down. While we waited for the tow truck in the apartment parking lot, I walked around and looked for pennies to help out my pathetic bank account. I found 8 pennies walking around. Later, I found 4 more at various places parking lots. That brings the total to 50 cents in just over a week. That's 8 months interest on my little savings account (at 6 whole pennies interest a month). By next week I may have found enough pennies to equal a whole year's worth of interest.

It is interesting being a tad eccentric. While wandering around the apartment complex looking at the ground, people asked what I was looking for and so I told them about the broken car and the pathetic savings account interest. Most people who hear what I am doing don't seem to think it is odd at all.

I wonder if pennies found on the ground are subject to income tax? Our world is getting pretty wierd to even think that question.

I think I'll go out for a while on another wild penny hunt.