Bits and Pieces

• A huge thank you to George Kissick and those who assisted him for the wonderful Community Fun Day, the historical artifact display and the DVD video presentation. George even helped wash the windows on the first floor in preparation for the event. Clotine Kissick made the day with her popcorn popper, nachos, cotton candy and walking tacos. Clotine put in hours of planning and graced us as well with international students who came to help serve. I had a conversation with a young woman from Macao, China. As she said, it was a "small community" of 500,000.

 

• Martha "Bea" McCann died Saturday, October 13th. She was a delightfully cheerful person who had a wonderful sense of humor. At her funeral her granddaughter told the story/joke titled "Hissing in Mrs. Pott's  Pit" which is a delightful tongue twister that Bea would only tell occasionally. Bea was a part of the sewing  group and made quilts for children in the hospital. Bea was four days shy of her 98th birthday.

 

• At the Fun Day Celebrating our 185th anniversary, we bounced on the inflatable, played games, offered carriage rides (very popular), ate together and had music all afternoon in the sanctuary. With everything else going on, not many made it to listen to five wonderful singers in the sanctuary. The twenty minutes I was there, my soul was moved by the music. What a blessing to have such vocalists in our congregation.

 

• Election day will be here soon. Let's be civil in our discussions with each other. Please remember that both candidates for president are good men. They are remarkably free from any major scandal in their personal and professional lives or so it seems from where I sit. They are both religious, whether you agree with their brand of religion or not. Let's be respectful of each other's opinions and political leanings. The country is not going to collapse, nor are we going to lose our freedoms if one is elected over the other. Remember we have a congress and senate which weighs in on issues too and no president can make things happen without our representative government having a voice as well. Let's try to forget, for a while, deciding on things based on whether they bear the label "conservative" or "liberal." Let's try for a while to decide on issues by the standard of whether they are helpful to most people or are the right thing to do. To be sure there is most often a blending of the issues from both candidates which would be the best course to take.

Whatever you do, vote in this election cycle. Not voting is to deny the validity of the sacrifice our soldiers make on the battle field and to declare that you don't care about our nation. Failing to vote is the ultimate lack of a patriotic spirit. Pray for the candidates.

 

Moving to the deeper places,

Jeff