by Crawford UMC | Jul 31, 2020 | Conversations
~Conversation with Joyce Cummings~
When Leslie asked a month ago if I would be willing to write a reflection for the newsletter, I was happy to say yes. She told me the lectionary for the day would be about prayer so I could write about that or if I was uncomfortable writing about prayer I could write anything I wanted. Well, I thought writing about prayer would be a slam dunk. Of course I could write about prayer. Even though I start and end every day with some prayer, I have not prayed as much in the last five years as I have in the last five months so it would be very easy to put a few paragraphs together. I was VERY WRONG.
The more I worked on pulling together several coherent paragraphs, the more my brain kept skipping around. I could not concentrate and one day I said to myself, “your brain is scattershot.” I didn’t even know if that was a real word, but it kept coming back to me. Finally, I asked Bill if scattershot was a word and explained my dilemma to him. He said he thought it was a word, he understood what I was thinking, and encouraged me to just go with it and write about my scattershot prayerful thinking.
By stark coincidence, later that day, I saw the word scattershot printed in two very different places. First, the New York Times in an article about the government’s scattershot approach to the pandemic. Later in the book VARINA, an historical novel about Jefferson Davis’s wife. The author, Charles Frazier, described “brilliant scattershot letters, often on scraps of mismatched paper” Seeing that word twice within in a few hours of my conversation with Bill validated my use of the word. My thoughts and words are not brilliant but they are a scattered mismatched approach to prayer.
Here are a few of my scattershot prayer thoughts and some favorite prayers:
Prayer is a conversation with God. One definition of the word conversation is “a talk between two or more people in which news and ideas are exchanged.” The old adage “we have two ears and one mouth” makes me remember being told “you can never learn anything while talking.” So when praying I talk and God listens and then I should allow God to talk while I listen.
Without us God won’t. Without God we can’t. – From a sermon by a former pastor. How can we be with God without prayer?
Many years ago, I heard Billy Graham say we should pray four hours a day. I thought he was crazy and it was obvious he did not have four young children clamoring for attention most of the day and sometimes much of the night. But then I read some prayers by Marjorie Holmes. One entitled “Praying While Peeling Potatoes” gave me a whole new perspective about how, when and where we can pray.
Sometimes I tell friends that every time I think of them it is offered as a prayer.
Where did we get the idea that God only answers prayers if they are answered with yes? I believe God ALWAYS answers our prayers. When asking for something there are many possible responses. Yes, maybe, I’ll think about it, later, and no are all answers we get from people. Why do we think God has not answered our prayer if we don’t get exactly what we asked for? Although the tune is catchy, I dislike the lyrics to a country music song entitled I Want to Thank God for Unanswered Prayer. God answered the prayer and the answer was “no.” And Bette Midler’s From a Distance has always bothered me too. I don’t think God is watching us from a distance. I think God is walking with us and watching closely. If that is not so then I think it must be because we pushed God away.
My favorite place for joyful prayer is at the piano playing hymns. Early in the pandemic I made a list of things to do at least three times a week and starting to play piano again was on the list. It has been joyful to experience improvement in my playing as I sing in full voice my favorite hymns. I concentrate on hymns of praise, worship, celebration and thanksgiving.
My new favorite prayer is a Buddhist prayer from the adult study book, Grateful. The Buddha offered these words to sum up the day: “ Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die: so, let us all be thankful.”
My old favorite prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
And a parting scattershot thought from St. Francis of Assisi: “First do what’s necessary. Then do what’s possible and suddenly you’ll be doing the impossible.” I think prayer is a necessary component of this directive.
by Crawford UMC | Jul 24, 2020 | Conversations
~ A Conversation with Brian Rogers ~
When I was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn, it was easy to accept everyone. In the simple mind of a child, you either liked someone or you didn’t…no matter what their ethnicity. They were your friends…or not…not your “black friend” or your “Jewish friend”. And my mom and dad set the example. Then we moved to the suburbs and I went to schools in neighborhoods that were sheltered from reality…sort of like Winchester…and to a Catholic all-male high school and all-male college (that explains a lot!)…not much diversity there. We did our share of praying…talking “to” Jesus.
In 1967, I was at Columbia University in the Morningside section of Manhattan. In April, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous anti-Viet Nam speech at the nearby Riverside Church. In 1967, the overwhelming “non-student” majority of the country still supported the war and King was taking an unpopular stance. He was talking to everyone at the church and to the government…and to my friends and to me and, for the first time, I was talking “with” Jesus…actually listening to Him talking to me instead of me doing all the talking. Two weeks later we were protesting the war in NY City and 6 months later in Washington…and, still at it two years later in Boston and Washington. Jesus, through King, finally got into my head and my heart and told me to get off my butt and act. It only happened because listening replaced talking. Jesus became my prayer partner instead of some invisible being who is there to grant my every wish.
God speaks to us in many ways… through other people like MLK and those close to us…through something you hear or something you read…through music…and, my favorite, through nature…God’s creation. It is still just as difficult as it always was to listen. Years ago I read “The Joy of Listening to God” and have to pull it out of mothballs often to reconnect with my prayer partner. Quiet is essential. I can’t hear unless I am listening and I can’t listen unless I am silent. And, I find that God gave us the wonders of nature just so we can find that quiet, that silence. If you have a spare two minutes, try this video…or better yet…go outside and take in the wonders of nature God has given us.
Psalm 145:5 : “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. “
by Crawford UMC | Jul 17, 2020 | Conversations
~ A Conversation with Pisha Chen ~
Having come through the “safer-at-home” directives this spring and coming to the summer, it gives many of us an opportunity of solitude and introspection.
Having time on my hands, I pray, meditate and contemplate, and interestingly, it often leads me to memories. During the process, I also learn to appreciate what Somerset Maugham describes, “What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one’s faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one’s memories.”
I think about my father. As a young man who lost his country and home to Chinese Communists, my father came to Taiwan by himself. In retrospect, I am amazed and intrigued by his gracious attitude, persistent and enduring, even after wars, loss, poverty and separation.
I came to States when I was 24. I was blessed to come with James and keep in touch with my family in Taiwan. With letters and phone calls, I was able to consult my father and sometimes, have him reinstate my confidence when I needed it the most.
After my father passed in 2009, I continue to connect with him through memories and imagination. Whenever I need to make an important decision, I pray and then I imagine what my father would do in such a situation.
Therefore, I believe that if we remain faithful, no matter what the world might throw at us, no matter what our own brokenness might uncover, no matter how far we may feel from our love ones and from God, as the body of Christ, nothing Shall Separate Us!
by Crawford UMC | Jul 17, 2020 | Conversations
~ A Conversation with Sue Powers ~
This has been a very stressful year for many of us. We moved into a new condo in February. Three days later there was a fire and we lost everything. We had nowhere to live and no clothes, etc. Friends and family came to our aid and asked how we were coping so well. I realized that no one was hurt and we could replace most of the items. Some of the items had come from my father’s home – family pictures and history. These items were hard to lose. We had much to be thankful for. I also had faith that God would help us find a way to move forward. We were able to purchase the last condo available in the area. Four weeks after the fire, Covid 19 hit. I am a nurse and work closely with staff that cared for patients with Covid 19. Many were deployed to work in areas they had not worked in before – ICU and Emergency room. They had to care for patients at the end of their life who were not able to have family with them. A nurse who is older said she should not have been there because of her age but she is a nurse and was called to help others in need. When I listened to caregivers talk I heard how isolated the staff were. Many could not go home as they did not want to infect their family. They stayed in hotels. They were also able to be in their yards and enjoy their peaceful surroundings during the spring months. Nature and faith in God are wonderful ways to help healing. “God will meet all of your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19
Most days I talk a walk. I have a route that takes me around a beautiful pond. I hear the birds singing, the wind rustling the leaves in the trees and whispering in the pine trees. I see the frogs, an eagle, and families of ducks and swans. These are all very peaceful signs that God is sending us. As my walk ends I come across a steam of water peacefully running down over rocks and plants. I see a Blue Heron peacefully standing as the water comes down by him over the rocks. Let us believe in the grace and power of God. Let us have faith in Gods power to heal us and be with us.
by Crawford UMC | Jul 10, 2020 | Conversations
~ A Conversation with Laura Myers ~
I grew up in a loving family, the oldest of eight children. I had five brothers and two sisters. At times, we were loud, rowdy and quarrelsome. In those moments, my father, tired from a long day at work, would encourage us to settle the arguments. He would listen to the complaints and consider both sides of the issues, but eventually, if unsuccessful, with a weary sigh he would declare,
“Just BE.”
Every time I read the Bible verse from Psalm 46:10a, I chuckle, wondering if my father had been entreating us to stop, quiet ourselves and just listen. It has become one of my most favorite verses and I have often used this verse to meditate, simply resting in the presence of God, letting go of trying to figure anything out and listening in the silence to God’s bidding for my life.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Can I trust that God will speak to me if I just be? Can I be receptive and open to what God may reveal? In Lectio Divina, a prayerful reading and reflection of scripture, we read and listen with our hearts, meditate, pray and then let go, trusting that God will hold us in the palm of his hand. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. (Proverbs 3:5-6, from The Message). Let us trust in the cleansing and renewing power of God’s amazing grace for Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church.
by Crawford UMC | Jul 2, 2020 | Conversations
~ A Conversation with Pam Reeve ~
My Father’s Child on the Fourth of July
I was an Army brat. Grew up on military bases, went to post schools much of my life. I adored my dad; my mom always said I was his “first born son” (I took that as a compliment at the time, might react a little differently today). Dad was a quiet and unassuming man, a fair example of the “Greatest Generation”. High school educated, he was one of the smartest people I have ever known. He was a POW in World War II and also served in Korea, before continuing to serve stateside for another 20 years. Most of my deeply held beliefs
I probably got from him. As a frail and flawed human, I am still working on them:
- Forgiveness: Dad spent seven months in internment in Germany, with the bullet in his body he ultimately took to his grave. He was interrogated, received meager nourishment and got no medical care. Yet he told me years later that he held no ill-will toward his captors. He said resentment is a cancer that can eat away at your heart; that forgiveness is the best medicine, (even if it is a little bitter going down!) Colossians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
- Open-mindedness: Dad always said there are at least three sides to any story: your side, my side and the right side. He was always willing to explore the possibilities of a different interpretation of events that happened or comments people made. As introverted as he was in many ways, I think his influence was one of the reasons I got into debate. To this day I enjoy looking at things from all angles, exploring the “what ifs” (sometimes to the distress of my loved ones and colleagues!) John Wesley: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.”
- Unconditional love: Dad always assumed good will on my part, even during those times I could rightfully be accused of something less. Our biggest argument and the only time I think I really hurt him, was about the Viet Nam war. He had always encouraged me to be independent, and when that independence reared its head in positive or not so positive ways, his love was steadfast. I never doubted it. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
- Principles: Dad really believed in the ideals of the US, even as he was clear-eyed about the work to be done to realize them. He believed in equality of opportunity, dignity, justice and community. He was a strong (strong!) believer in moving forward. He would broach no disrespect to others of different color or economic status, nor a wallowing in the past or previous failings. He believed a loving community could overcome all odds. His gifts of hopefulness, hospitality and generosity were shared with all his whole life, including long into his “retirement”. Romans 2:11 “For God does not show favoritism.” Jeremiah 29:22 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Hebrews 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
So–during this difficult week, in a difficult month, in a difficult year, as we approach a celebration of the birth of our country, I am turning my thoughts to Lt. Col. I. C. Andersen: Thank you, Dad.
