I’m posting part of an email letter from my friend John Lyon, President of World Hope International. It reminds us all to keep in mind those in our world who have so little this Christmas season. I have taught for years that every American Christian should have a regular donor relationship with a charity that helps people in the third world. Our church here at Copper Hill United Methodist sends some gifts through UMCOR. My wife and I had already sent our annual Christmas gift to World Hope as a part of our Christmas gift giving. I have traveled just a little in third world countries — but enough to understand first-hand how we in our comfy North American culture take totally for granted what we enjoy every day, starting with simple amenities like drinkable running water in our houses.
Here’s the quote from John’s letter.
“This Christmas was my 8-month old son’s first. It was a joy watching his eyes light up with the tree, his thrill at opening presents, and his curious mind taking in all the action. But as I celebrated our Savior’s birth with my son, my wife and our families, I couldn’t help but reflect on how different our Christmas looked than many others. We had a roof over our head, a warm house to sleep in and food flowing from the kitchen (with leftovers for weeks!) We had clean water to drink, wash our dishes and take showers with. Had my son been sick, we could have taken him to our neighborhood doctor’s office without a second thought. We exchanged gifts – a privilege foreign to many.
As we celebrated, my mind kept returning to a pastor’s home I visited on my last trip to Sierra Leone. The floors were dirt, there was no electricity, and children took daily trips to the nearby stream for water. Their Christmas, I’m sure, looked much different than ours. It’s not often we stop to recognize how blessed we truly are. Not just because we have a Christmas tree – but because we have electricity. Not just because we have a Christmas dinner – but because we have food at all.”
Here is a link through which you can make a Christmas contribution to help others around the world through World Hope.
It happened in the middle of the children’s program at church — the moment that crystalized the essence of the Christmas sermons I have been preparing. Little Parker, who is barely tall enough to see over the edge of the altar table, stopped in front of the table and peered into the middle of the white ceramic manger set. There was wonder written all over his face in that instant. I was blessed in that moment with an inspiring insight. Even if I don’t get any more this season, this one will make this Christmas memorable. It distilled what I have been trying to say in my sermon series too. I, and probably many of my readers like me, need to recover that sense of wonder at what God has done at Christmas. Just as Parker in a child’s way was filling with awe at the beauty of the manger scene the children had just put in place as a part of the children’s program; so I need to think about the Christmas story and reflect on the life of Jesus enough to be filled with wonder once again at who Jesus is, how he humbled himself to be born in Bethlehem, what a wonderful life he lived, and how he died and rose again for me. I need a refill of awe and wonder. Then there will not be a danger that I am just going through the motions of Christmas; I will be truly able to worship at the manger this year.
Thank you to Nancy Collins for capturing the moment with her camera too.
Houghton College has been recognized in many ways in the past for its combination of excellent academics and affordability. Recently it has achieved an additional commendation. According to the College’s news site, “Houghton College has ranked number 76 on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the country’s best values in Liberal Arts colleges. Kiplinger’s annual list ranks 100 private universities and 100 liberal arts colleges.” Way to go Houghton!
New York Post touts Houghton’s loan repayment assistance plan
Houghton was also recognized by the New York Post for doing something about the cost of a college education nowadays. The college is offering to help students repay their loans if they don’t land a job after college that pays at least $38,000 per year. The Post says, “How refreshing to see a school willing to bet on its students’ success by throwing its own purse onto the pile.” Three more cheers for Houghton!
Did I mention that I love old churches? If you have driven by the corner of routes 219 and 179 you have probably seen the old brick sanctuary of Washington Hill UMC on the corner. The sanctuary is a gem of early colonial Methodist church architecture. It has never been “modernized” with things like electric lights, bathrooms, sound amplification, or hidden heating systems. The building dates from 1834 and has a wrap-around balcony on three sides, all the better to seat more people within easy earshot of the preacher. Heat is from a great ancient wood stove in the rear center with a stove pipe running the length of the sanctuary to extract more heat. Lighting is by oil lamps along the sides. Music was originally by pump organ, which still is there. The church has two rear doors and the pews have a divider in the center. It makes me wonder if it was built for the very early colonial church seating arrangement of men on one side and women on the other.
Annual Thanksgiving Eve service
It is tradition in this area to hold a Thanksgiving Eve service there. My wife and I were privileged to attend this year. Luminaries had been placed in the lawn and the stove had been lit ahead to make it warm inside even though snow was falling outside as the elevation is higher there than here in West Granby. The antique oil lamps cast a warm glow over everything, but the lighting was dim enough that one needed a flashlight to read fine print easily away from a lamp. The service is sponsored by the North Canton UMC church which is linked with this parish and considers it its mother church. The pre-service tradition is a time of hymn-singing. The ground floor was full of people gathered to give thanks to God in this unique setting and there were some people in the balconies as well. Pastor Sandra Wanamaker led the service. Tonight a concession has been made to convenience and the organist plays a pump organ patch from a modern keyboard. I was invited to share the platform and participate in leading the service which I did, reading Scriptures and receiving the offering for an area food pantry. One other visible piece of time warp were the little LED flashlights in evidence as folks read from their hymnbooks.
Thinking back
I could not help but think about the nearly two centuries of people who have given thanks to God in this spot. As I looked out into the dimly lit faces, I thought of preachers in by-gone eras in our country and others who preached by lantern lights. Yet the message of God’s love displayed in Christ has not changed. The Good News of salvation by faith in Jesus has not changed. And certainly, the need of humankind to give thanks for the great gifts of the heavenly Father is, if anything, even greater today, when we enjoy so many blessings of extended life, material wealth, and technology that our forefathers never dreamed of. As the Bible says,
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Ps 100:4-5 NIV
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful first for the 7 years of good service that I have had from my 2005 Buick LeSabre. If memory serves, I purchased it late in the year in 2006 when it was a year old and had thirty-some thousand miles on it. Now it has 146,000 on it. I am thankful too for the safety we have enjoyed over all those miles. I have put very little money in it either beyond routine maintenance. It still purrs and eats up road well. It had been a rental car. But now it needs some work and its value has fallen far below the value of the work that needs to be done.
Late twentieth century car shopping
So, I have been car shopping. What a difference between car shopping today and car shopping even just fifteen years ago. Before, I would have first checked newspaper ads, especially those big auto sections in the weekly Sunday papers. Then I would have driven through the lots of dealers that I knew to see what I could find that I liked. Third, I would have called a couple trusted dealers I knew to see what they had and suggest models I had been thinking about. To check on values, I would have visited the bank and asked at the counter to see a copy of their little Kelley Blue book so I could look up the value of my trade-in and of the car I was considering. Interest rates might have been six or seven percent.
Internet car shopping is so different
But this time around, having recently moved, I did not even know where the dealers were. I just started searching on the internet. I just picked a price range and set a couple search engines going. Soon I was looking at details on cars and trucks for sale in that price range within 75 miles of my house. In the process, I learned where some of the major car and truck dealers are too. I emailed for more info right from my chair or desk. Once, I was called back within minutes. Other times I was contacted by email. I could then schedule a time to test drive the vehicle if I wanted to. What a difference over how I would have done it just a decade ago. And what is more, I’m so used to the new ways already that it just seemed like the intuitive way to do it. That’s the really scary part. Back in May when I found a new car for my wife, I had found the car on the internet also. I reflected that my feeling of naturalness about this new internet way of car shopping was an even greater measure of how truly our culture has thoroughly changed in how it does business.
I’m thankful to be getting an Equinox very soon
Now on to the news. I am also thankful to have found a car that I believe will serve us well in the future. We have chosen a 2012 Equinox LTZ AWD which I found on the internet. It is also a vehicle coming out of the rental fleets with thirty-some thousand miles. The LTZ trim will be especially helpful to me as it supplies a higher grade front seat that is six-way adjustable, a helpful feature for my chronic lower back issues. The crossover style, with its fold down rear seats will also give me room to put stuff into the car that I need to carry for projects. (I told the salesman that I can’t remember all the times I’ve had eight foot lumber inside my Buick.) I test drove the Equinox twice, once by myself and once with JoAnne along. It impressed. It is white, one of my favorite car colors. I hope to pick it up next week.
JoAnne Jones with her Grandma and parents at her Houghton graduation
Houghton is special
JoAnne and I returned yesterday from the fall trustee board meeting at Houghton College. I have had the wonderful privilege of serving the Central New York District of the Wesleyan Church as district representative on that board for the last six years. Even though the decisions to be made have occasionally been difficult, I have relished this opportunity and served with great joy. The reason I am no longer serving is that when I semi-retired, I moved out of the district from which I was a representative. I thank District Superintendent, Wayne Wager, and the DBA for the opportunity to serve.
As I was driving home yesterday, I was reflecting on the reasons why I have so much enjoyed serving in this capacity. It was fulfilling, stimulating and exciting. I will miss it greatly. But why is Houghton so special?
Houghton has a transformative vision
Houghton has a vision, not just for education, but for the maturation and transformation of the lives of students. This is something I strongly believe in. So much of American higher education has abdicated its responsibility for character formation and settled only for increasing knowledge and technical prowess. That is a badly flawed concept. The result of it has been an atmosphere on many secular campuses that actually contributes to moral turpitude. In contrast, the evidence of Houghton alumni shows that Houghton grads have a highly developed character for service, leadership and faith. You can check out the mission statement at http://www.houghton.edu/about-us/.
Houghton practices excellence
Houghton is a place of excellence. From musical performances to scholarly presentations, from board business procedures to landscaping the already beautiful campus, the Houghton way is excellence. This is why Houghton is in the top tier of liberal arts colleges in the nation and is the highest ranked Christian college in the Northeast. http://www.houghton.edu/about-us/national-recognition/. Because of this, Houghton is well recognized by graduate schools. I can be proud to be associated with Houghton.
Houghton is a place to meet leaders
It has been a stimulating opportunity personally to serve among so many great leaders. In the course of my six years, I have come to know denominational leaders, college leaders, businessmen, prominent lawyers and doctors, persons of wealth and expertise in various fields. Our college president, Dr. Shirley Mullen, was recently recognized on the cover of Christianity Today. http://www.houghton.edu/news-media/recent-news/houghton-president-shirley-mullen-named-one-of-christianity-todays-top-50-women-you-should-know/162/. This has been growth-producing for me and a very helpful networking experience as well. I have also gotten to know Harriet Olsen, the president of United Methodist Women, with whom I have had the distinct privilege of working on the Academic committee for these six years. But this idea that the company we keep either strengthens us or drags us down, is a principle of life too. When we seek out company or have opportunity to interact with people of greater experience, wisdom, expertise or character maturity than ourselves, it will raise us up. I have experienced that in this season of service at Houghton.
We highly recommend Houghton
And, by the way, if you know a good student looking for a great college, do them a life-time favor and recommend they check out Houghton. http://www.houghton.edu/
One of the facts about our new parsonage home is that there were lots of small or not so small projects to be done. The house had been continuously occupied but … Fortunately, I enjoy DIY (do it yourself) projects and so I have been tackling them. That’s the main reason why I haven’t been writing much on my blog lately. I probably shouldn’t take time to write today, but I decided to anyway.
Brush had to be cleared first
One of the projects involved the drainage at the east end of the house. When we arrived, this end was completely enshrouded with brush so tall that it cascaded onto the roof of the single story rear addition to our cape house. The Northeast corner had sumac, ash, raspberry, forsythia and poison ivy mixed together to a height of sixteen or twenty feet (see picture one). The Southeast corner was simply a thicket of forsythia. You can see in picture one which shows the area of north east corner that the house is barely visible. Under all this is a rock wall partway up the wall of the rear addition. It appears to be without mortar. The top of this wall is visible in picture two. Inside the house, there was a small bit of mold on the inside bottom of the east wall that I was trying to eliminate.
The first step was to remove the brush. Using a saw, mattock and electric hedge trimmers borrowed from my son-in-law, I went after it. I have to pace myself on such physical projects but after several partial days of hard work over a period of a couple weeks, the path that you see in picture two emerged, along with a huge brush pile in my north lawn. (This was my second north lawn brush pile actually as the first one had been created when I cleared brush from the north wall and improved drainage there.) These projects are probably partly the cause of a good increase in my physical conditioning too.
Improving the drainage
Once the path was open, I could see that some of the water running down the slope above our house on the East side was going into the rock wall instead of around it. So I began to dig the trench that you see partially completed in picture two. I also added rock to the wall to help keep the dirt and water away from the house. While picture two looks south and shows the trench partially done, picture three shows the finished new trench and is taken looking north.
Every little bit helps
As with many little DIY projects the effect is cumulative. When we arrived, during hard rains, water cascaded into the basement from two sides and dribbled in other places. The roofers eliminated the first basement waterfalls by adding a new eave trough and new downspouts by the dining room windows on the south. I corrected the second worst one by rerouting the water on the north side. Now after this third drainage project I went into the basement one day and was very gratified with the difference we had achieved. It was so much dryer than it had been all summer! One small project at a time makes a big difference.
I have prayed publicly for two weeks that our government leaders would have the wisdom to solve the current political impasse and get our government functioning again. Tonight I read an excellent article from United Methodist Women that tells about how vulnerable poor people are in the current situation. It gives more moral impetus to the need for our political leaders to get their act together.
One of the first dates I asked JoAnne to go on was to the Steuben County Fair. We remember eating spaghetti at an Italian stand where I learned how to twirl spaghetti on my fork against a spoon rather than cut it up. After that, one of our annual dates was a trip to the New York State Fair. While we lived in Syracuse, we kept this tradition going by visiting the fair annually. We love ogling all the exhibits. JoAnne seeks out the needlework shows since that is one of her hobbies. I love the farm animal and farm equipment exhibits because of my farm upbringing. Both of us enjoy historical and travel exhibits and some vendors exhibits, though there are always more of these latter type than anyone can handle. We admit, we missed our traditional trip to the NYS Fair this year. But when we heard about the Big E, an exposition for all six New England states, we jumped at the chance to go. Maybe this would be much like the Fair.
The Big E
JoAnne and I arrived through gate 10 in the late morning on Friday, Sept. 27. It was about the only day we were free to go. But the weather was perfect and it was the day the big horses were showing –perfect for me. We start with the nearest farm building which today houses an eclectic collection of alpacas, goats, and sheep. We ask a question or two of an alpaca keeper and go through the wool exhibit too. Outside is the butter sculpture. Now there is a memory—
See you at the pole is a national day of prayer for students. I was happy to see it made at least one internet news page. Our nation needs courageous young people who believe in prayer and in the freedom to pray in public. May God increase their numbers.
