by Stacey Hilliard | Feb 13, 2023 | Conversations
Written and submitted by Bernadette Higgins
Who says you can’t learn anything from watching soap operas? Recently, I binged watched the HBO series “The Gilded Age” and I learned of a man named Lewis Latimer. So I immediately went on Wikipedia and this is what I found out.
Born in the seaside city of Chelsea, Massachusetts, Mr. Latimer was born in 1848 to former slaves who had escaped enslavement into Massachusetts. When Lewis was 10 years of age, due to the Dred Scott decision, his father needed to leave his family because he could not prove he was legally free from enslavement. The Latimer family became fractured.
Lewis joined the U.S. Navy in 1864 at the age of 16. After he was honorably discharged, he worked as an office boy in a patent law firm and learned how to use a set square, ruler, and other drafting tools. He did well at the firm becoming a draftsman in 1872. From there he went on to co-patent an improved toilet system for railroad cars, draft the drawings that enabled Alexander Graham Bell to get a patent for Bell’s telephone, develop a forerunner to the air conditioner, and pursue a patent on a safety elevator that prevented riders from falling out and into the shaft.
What got Mr. Latimer a plug on The Gilded Age was his work on perfecting integral parts of the electric light bulb. Nine days after his 33rd birthday he and another man received a patent for a method of attaching carbon filaments to conducting wires within an electric lamp. A few months later, another patent followed, this one for a modification to the process for making carbon filaments which reduced breakage during the production process. (Don’t I sound wicked smart? Kudos to Wikipedia.)
In 1884, the Edison Electric Light Company in NYC hired Latimer as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights. While at Edison, he wrote the first book on electric lighting, “Incandescent Electric Lighting,” and supervised the installation of public lights in several major cities, including New York and London. He ended his career as a patent consultant to law firms.
Along with a stellar and remarkable career, he was a true Renaissance Man. He married Mary Wilson Lewis Latimer in 1873 and they had two daughters. As a patriot and a veteran of the Civil War, he was a proud member of the Grand Army of the Republic and served as a secretary and adjutant. He wrote a book of poems and various pieces for African American journals, as well as “Incandescent Electric Lighting.” He played the violin and flute, painted portraits, and wrote plays. Mr. Latimer was a founding member of the Flushing New York Unitarian Church. He was active in Civil Rights writing about equality, security, and opportunity, as well as teaching English and drafting courses to immigrants in New York.
I was struck by the grace with which a boy from such challenging, sad, and tragic circumstances grew to be a man of such accomplishment, fortitude, and wisdom. I am glad to know him and thank him for the light by which I write this biography.
by Stacey Hilliard | Oct 31, 2022 | Conversations
My loathing of leaf blowers is no secret. I have complained loudly and bitterly about the noise, the fumes, and their near-constant use in the neighborhood around the parsonage. They are terrible for the environment on multiple levels and harmful to those who use them. This article puts it all together nicely.
There are some in Winchester working to enact changes to the town’s bylaws to make some changes. It’s not enough, in my view, but I’m in the camp of “something is better than nothing” and have signed the proposed bylaw to come before the Town Meeting this fall. I invite interested Winchester residents to sign on to help protect the house God built for us by enacting these measures. It will help the mental state of your pastor at the same time!
– Pastor Anne Robertson
by Stacey Hilliard | Jun 24, 2022 | Conversations
Early last month a draft decision by the Supreme Court of the United States was leaked, indicating that the nation’s highest court would overturn the constitutional right to abortion and leave the decision to the states. This morning, that decision was announced and became law, overturning 50 years of precedent.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that three other court decisions should also be struck down on the same grounds: Griswold (the right to contraception), Lawrence (de-criminalizing sex between LGBTQ persons), and Obergefell (marriage equality).
If you are in deep distress today, you are not alone.
Because many celebrating this decision today are doing so with reference to their Christian beliefs, you might wonder where Crawford stands on this issue. At the Annual Conference of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church two weeks ago, we adopted a resolution on this matter, which is in line with the stance of the United Methodist Church as a denomination. It concludes:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the New England Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church affirms this statement and upholds a person’s right to an abortion after informed consideration with their family, medical practitioners, pastor, and other pertinent counsel. State and federal laws and regulations prohibiting abortion violate a person’s right to the full range of reproductive health care, and, potentially, life.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that New England United Methodists pledge solidarity with those who seek reproductive health care, including abortion, by taking active measures, including accompanying people to medical appointments when necessary.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New England United Methodists and their churches will support a person’s right to reproductive health care, including abortion, through personal prayer, letter writing campaigns to their legislators and, when necessary, peaceful protest.
You can read the full text of the resolution, which includes the full statement of the UMC,
here.
The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority, including my vote and the vote of Crawford’s Lay Delegate to Annual Conference, Colin Simson.
Unlike some denominations and churches, your church membership or right to pastoral care and support is not dependent on your agreement with the church’s or pastor’s stand on social issues. But I wanted to make it clear that the stand of the UMC, the New England Conference, and the leadership of Crawford is in alignment with the above resolution.
As we process today’s decision and figure out a way forward, I encourage all of you to support one another, to join in the actions affirmed in the resolution, to listen to the lived experiences of others, to reach out for support, and to pray.
In faith,
Anne
by Stacey Hilliard | Mar 23, 2022 | Conversations
This Sunday is UMCOR Sunday. You’ll find more information in the pews at church, and a special offering envelope in your bulletin. Gifts to the UMCOR Sunday offering cover the administrative cost of the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s ministry. When we support UMCOR’s cost of doing business, we help UMCOR keep the promise that 100% of gifts to a specific project will fund that project.”
Read more about UMCOR and the projects they’re funding now here. And because it’s top of mind for many of us, you can read specifically about how they’re addressing the crisis in Ukraine, here.
by Stacey Hilliard | Feb 4, 2022 | Conversations
“Isn’t it strange that sometimes it’s easier to be busy than to be still and breathe? (Or is that just me…?)”
Joseph Woo, “Breathing In God”
During coffee hour following a recent worship service that featured a 30-minute musical mediation lead by Santiago Barragan Noguera, we discussed meditation in general, and the impact of intentional breathing on our minds, spirits, and bodies. Here are some resources that attendees shared that day and in the days that followed.
- Morning Moment, a conscious breathing exercise, available any time you need it, led by Christina Sooji, executive coach to feminine leaders
- 20 days of “live” meditation with Jay Shetty, bestselling author, podcast host, former monk, and purpose coach
- Free online breathe class, Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. ET, offered by Soul Dimension, an online resource for spiritual and physical health through yoga and breath work
- Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, a book by James Nestor
by Stacey Hilliard | Dec 6, 2021 | Conversations
This is an excerpt from the Blessing of the Greens service conducted by Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on Sunday, December 5, 2021. You can read more of the history she shared about the origins of our Christmas decorations, here.
The most popular flower of the Advent-Christmas season is the bright red poinsettia. First introduced to the United States in 1828 by Dr. Joel Robert Poinsett–our first foreign minister to Mexico–this brilliant tropical plant is called by the people of Mexico and Central America, the Flower of the Holy Night.
A charming Mexican legend explains its origin. Having finished running his daily errands, an orphan boy named Pedro sadly counted his centavos. There were hardly enough of them to buy his evening meal. “Come with us to the cathedral,” urged his friends. “No,” answered Pedro, “I have no money to buy a gift.”
“Take this,” suggested one of his practical friends, pointing to a weed by the side of the road. Hesitantly Pedro picked the stringy weed, climbed the steep hill to the church, and slowly made his way to the altar with its Mexican manger scene. Kneeling, he reverently laid his gift in front of the figure of the Christ Child. He soon became aware of the murmuring crowd. In wide-eyed amazement, he saw a dazzling and beautiful scarlet flower where only dried leaves had existed a moment before. His humble offering had been miraculously transformed.
The poinsettia has also been used to symbolize the more tragic side of Jesus’ coming. It reminds us of the blood of the male infants killed by Roman soldiers as King Herod sought to find the child that would threaten his throne. It also symbolizes the blood that Jesus would shed on the Cross.
