Sponsored by

Yesterday in my Composition and Literature class at Bucks County College we discussed a poem by Emily Dickinson entitled "I'm Nobody! Who are You?" Here it is.

Considered one of America's greatest poets, Emily might have been having a little fun with this one, since several of her works reveal a sophisticated sense of humor. In truth, I hope she was not being serious, because if she was her poem reveals a Christian sensibility that is more than slightly askew (since many of Dickinson's poems contain fundamental Christian theology, her faith is assumed).

"I'm Nobody" is a classic example of competitive righteousness in which the speaker declares a greater degree of humility than the "Somebodys." She views herself as so different from everybody else that if her true nature were disclosed she'd be rejected by society ("they'd banish us you know"). Although she may not have intended this message, clearly the poet is holding herself up as better than the "frogs" and the "admiring bog." They are, after all, "dreary."

Whenever I encounter writing or behavior of this kind, I'm reminded of Dana Carvey's classic character on a bygone era of Saturday Night Live. I'm speaking of my frequent sermon illustration "Church Lady," the amusing but all too believable character who is eager to identify the work of Satan in the lives of others and will never pass up the opportunity to declare how her sheet cake for the pot luck dinner "is just a little bit bigger than yours."

It is so easy for a Christian to point the finger and say "I'm not like them," whether they be self-absorbed blowhards or blatant carnal sinners. It is just as easy to forget that our Lord Jesus - who dined with arrogant Pharisees, tax collectors and prostitutes - loved them, too. He saw their potential for repentance and salvation, and never gave up taking the Word of God to them.

It is reported that Emily made one visit to Washington, DC with her Father, was so unimpressed with what she saw that when she returned to her home in Massachusetts she rarely if ever ventured beyond the fence that surrounded her yard. We are all richer for it, because she showed how much inspiration a poetic heart can derive from limited, familiar surroundings. Hopefully, she developed a greater sense of charity toward her fallible fellow humans, because that is the foundation of the faith she claimed.

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things . . . Love never ends." It might be hard to like those people, but it gets a lot easier when we remember we are those people.

Of course, every Sunday is special, but May seems to offer an added dose of extra-special worship services.

May 4^th is the last Sunday in the season of Easter. We usually share the sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month, but we'll put that off until the second Sunday, which is both Pentecost, the second most important day on the Christian calendar, and Mother's Day. On that day we'll also be treated to a liturgical dance by nine of our young ladies.

On May 18^th we'll celebrate the sacrament of infant baptism for Samuel and Madeline Eason, twin son and daughter of Jennifer and Joseph, who recently transferred their membership to our church. Immediately after a (very) brief homily from the pastor we'll proceed to another celebration in the life of our church, when we recognize eight young people who completed their two-year catechetical instruction, thus qualifying them for membership in ours or any other Christian church. Some will join us that day, and others will vow to continue their spiritual journey until they are ready to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

May 25^th, Memorial Day weekend, will include an observance of our fallen heroes and all those who served in the military. Our service will include another celebration as we baptize the latest addition to the Haaijer clan, the first boy born to the family named William.

The Nominating Committee has submitted the following nominations for Consistory:

An election will take place at a congregational meeting on May 18^th immediately following the service in the sanctuary.

In the quiet of the night, God called to Samuel. How do we hear God call us when there is noise, busyness, and a to-do list running through our minds? We can use the same strategy that Mrs. Perkins used in Sunday school. She borrowed the words of David from Psalm 46: “Be still and know that I am God.” The students repeated that sentence leaving off one word at the end until there was only one word left. Everyone was quiet then in heart, body, and mind and ready to talk to God.

After praying, Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. DeLaCruz told the story of Samuel and God and how Samuel served God by listening and then sharing what God told him. The children learned that “listening and sharing” is God’s plan for today, too. They learned about this through listening to music and creating “message butterflies”. Ask your child how he/she learned to hear God through music or see the hidden message in the butterfly.

Sunday School Service Project - Several weeks ago the teachers decided to “save” the children’s Sunday school offering and contribute it to a worthy cause at the end of the year. In last month’s Beacon, that “worthy cause” came to us through the Missions article. For $50.00 we can put together an emergency clean-up bucket for victims of flooding and tornadoes. And we already have $24.00! A bucket and initial supplies were purchased at Home Depot and ShopRite. Each week more supplies will be added as the offering allows. By the end of Sunday school (June 1^st), the bucket will be full and ready to send to Church World Service to be distributed to someone in need. How thankful we are that we live in a relatively disaster-free area. Please revisit the Missions/One Great Hour of Sharing article in the April newsletter and/or visit the website, www.churchworldservice.org to learn more about this service project.

Children and Worship – For the remainder of the year, the Children and Worship leaders will lead the Sunday school lessons with the regular teachers as their helpers. There are too few Sundays remaining to invest in curriculum that fully will not be used. Many thanks to the C&W leaders for helping in this way.

PLEASE NOTE: On May 11^th, Pentecost Sunday (also Mother’s Day), the Sunday school children will stay in worship for the whole service. A number of the girls will be taking part in worshiping God through music and liturgical dance. Also, on June 1^st, the Church Picnic will close out our Sunday school year. Please come and give a special thank you to the many people who have worked with our children this year.

Sunday school teachers and superintendent needed! Several members of our Sunday school staff have decided to relinquish their responsibilities this coming fall after many faithful years of service. Would you be willing to teach or at least assist in a classroom once a week? We definitely need you!

How about some of you men? For years our entire SS staff has consisted of women (I remember most of my SS teachers growing up were men). The actual classroom teaching time usually lasts between 30-40 minutes, and you'll have a helper. We use a prepared curriculum, and we supply any materials that may be suggested for crafts. Depending on your uptake, you should probably factor in 1-2 hours preparation time for your lesson.

Our Sunday school is growing again. Many of our experienced teachers are staying with us next year, so you'll have plenty of support. Most importantly, you'll be working on the front lines to advance the kingdom of God. Please see Barb Pavlicek, Pastor Rich or any of our current Sunday school teachers to find out more.

Thank you to Troop 46 for all their hard work at the work day on April 26^th. They did a great job.

· Dave Dorey for the cabinet for the theater equipment – it still needs to be painted

· Whoever planted the pansies in front of the church – they look so nice and are much appreciated

Do you have time to spare – we need a few hours to scrape and paint the windows in Cook Hall – we have the tools, we need your hands – call Nancy in the church office (609-466-3108).

“You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything….” Nehemiah 9:6

            Pick up an indoor plant. When you are buying plants for your garden, pick up some for inside the house. Plants can boost oxygen levels in your home. Some low maintenance choices are philodendrons, green spider plants, dracaenas, palms, ferns, English ivy, peace lilies, mums and daisies.
            Unplug unused appliances. Help reduce the energy costs in your home by unplugging unused appliances. Even when they are not used, appliances can use up to 40% of their operating energy. When you will be away for a while, plug everything into a power strip and simply switch it off.
            Change filters. Change your furnace and air conditioning filters to help your heating and cooling system operate more efficiently. Every three months is a good rule of thumb
            Reduce air pollution and save on gas. To save money on gas and be more eco-friendly, check the air in your tires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates one-in-four cars and one-in-three light trucks and SUVs has one or more tires under-inflated by 8 pounds per square inch or more. The Carnegie Mellon University Sustainable Earth Club studied 81 random vehicles in a parking lot and found that 80 of the 81 had under-inflated tires. The average rate of under-inflation was 20%.
            About 1.2 billion gallons of fuel are wasted annually due to under-inflated tires, the NHTSA estimated in 2005.
            You can also increase gas mileage up to 10% just by changing your air filter at least every six months, according to the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov site.

I was giving my lecture a couple of weeks ago, on the presence of God. It was about mid-way through the lecture in my Intro to Systematic Theology class that the doors and windows of the classroom were shaken by a distant explosion. It is not a common sound in Osijek, but it used to be, and really not so long ago.

The two blasts had the effect of stiffening some of my students. Others closed their eyes, and still others acted as if nothing had happened. One wonders how many memories from childhood come back as the task of the detonation of discovered landmines goes on in this region.

For my part, after stopping the lecture to open the door to see if anything was going on in the hall (what was I thinking?), I reflected for a brief moment on my topic and the explosion. The presence of God. It brings questions such as where is God, and more specifically where was God when war broke Yugoslavia into pieces?

We were discussing the thesis of Swiss theologian Ingolf Dalferth that God is present in the present to all presences (people). Yet God allows for human freedom, that is, as Dalferth says: “God is the poet of the possible, not the author of the actual.” This means in short that God places possibilities before us and that in the arena of creation humanity authors its reality. God is aware of the possibilities and is not caught by surprise by our choices. It is a thought that has rather sobering realizations.

God is present yes, but we are responsible for the possibilities that we choose, and the realities that become the places within which we must dwell. More than this, our choices are not made in isolation but have communal implications.

From the lecture on the presence of God, we took a brief break before going into chapel. It was communion chapel. The bread and wine were at the front of the sanctuary. I was looking at this scene with the students who had just left the class on the presence of God. Then it happened again: a few more explosions rattling the windows as we worshipped and prepared for communion. The long chain of choices amid the possibilities set out by a good and gracious God were set in contrast. The possibility of communing with God, and the possibility of breaking communion with each other were both powerfully present, the sign and sound of their realities both present.

But above this was the reality that in signs of communion, God was present to each presence in that present moment. That presence is really the possibility for humanity among all the possibilities before us, if our human reality is not to be grounded in possibilities that end with impossible circumstances.

Landmines are loud, but they are not the only signs that humanity in the presence of God freely chooses possibilities that lead away from God and thereby ourselves. It is Dalferth’s contention that God wishes for humanity to freely choose to love God, but in order for this to occur we must freely choose to love each other as well. If in the end we cannot love that which is like us, (humanity) how can we love that which is wholly different from us (God)?

In the signs and symbols of communion we see a God wholly other becoming radically present in order to love us. On this particular day in a chapel at a seminary in Osijek, Croatia, it again became obvious that love of God and love of neighbor are quite inseparable.

Eric and Nancy Titus are RCA missionaries in Osijek, Croatia, where they work at the Evangelical Theological Seminary and with the Reformed Christian Church in Croatia. They have three children: Samuel, Valerie and Penny.

We thank you for all your prayers, especially for Valerie and her migraines. She is feeling much better after some sinus therapy and reduction in some stressors. Her headaches are both fewer in number and less intense.

Please also pray for us as we try to work out many details for our summer as we balance Eric’s need to study German with our family’s need to be together.

Please send checks, payable to BRC, to the Church Office, please RSVP by May 11^th – just cut out and bring your tickets with you – tickets will also be sold at the door.

We appreciate your support - funds raised will go to help cover the costs to paint our historic sanctuary.

The Beacon is a publication of the

Blawenburg Reformed Church

424 Route 518; P.O. Box 266

Blawenburg, NJ 08504

e-mail address: brc2001@msn.com

Website: blawenburgchurch.org

Phone: (609) 466-3108, Fax: (609) 466-8237

Rev. Richard Van Doren, Minister

The Blawenburg Beacon

May 2008 Issue