Wednesday Words for July 18, 2012
From Pastor Carrie Smith
Thought for the Day: On the occasion of Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday
“I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling.
I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work.
And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.”
-Woody Guthrie, folksinger, July 14, 1912-October 3, 1967
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In our prayers: We continue to pray for the Priesz family who are grieving the loss of Connor; for Linda Hewins, who broke her arm last week; for our Vacation Bible School campers and volunteers; and for all those who are travelling this summer.
Tonight at Bethany: It’s ice cream social time! Even if you didn’t purchase a ticket, it’s not too late. Just come at 6:30 and buy a ticket at the door. See you there, rain, shine, or blazing hot—we will be there!
Sunday at Bethany: Pastor Erik will be preaching, as I will be in Wisconsin co-hosting a retreat for the Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene at the Holy Wisdom Monastery. I wish some of you could have joined me, but I’ll bring back a report, and I hope to get a few of you with me on the next retreat!
Social Action needs new volunteers: If you are interested in helping to coordinate our efforts to feed the hungry, help the poor, send quilts to Africa, support PADS, and plant the community garden (among other things!), please think about joining the Social Action committee. You can simply show up on Tuesday, August 7th at 7:15 pm in Luther Hall to try it out. No commitment—just come to find out more! Youth members are welcome!
Garden Update from Pam Bock: Even with the drought our garden is looking FANTASTIC. Thank you to Darrel Gavle for going out to water and weed on the 4th of July (and other days too!) I know there have been others out there weeding too. I think this is the most weed free garden we have ever had - it looks marvelous. We have also been harvesting and delivering to the Food Pantry. We have already delivered over 200 pounds of produce. (If you are a deliver person, please be sure and let me know the # of pounds delivered so that I can keep track). Some our friends the deer and rabbits have been nibbling on our plants - I am sure they appreciate the green, rather than brown to eat! I have not scheduled any work days as we seem to be maintenance and harvesting mode. To date we have two groups of harvesters for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Additional harvesting is done on the weekend as needed. But, I will be making some phone calls to ask people to go out and water as that is a big concern with the drought. If you are working in the garden PLEASE record your hours in the book that in the container with the green lid. This helps us to see what has been done and helps us determine volunteer hours. As always, please let me know if you have any questions. In Christ, Pam Bock
A little more Woody Guthrie for your listening pleasure: One of his best folk songs! Jesus Christ
What is it like to grow up as an Arab Christian? Come to Luther Hall on Tuesday, July 24th at 7 pm to meet 6 young Palestinian Christians. They are bringing olive wood carvings, Christmas decorations, and Palestinian olive oil for purchase as well. Desserts will be provided. See you there! Here are a few short bios of the teens who will be visiting:
EMAD: Hi. My name is Emad Nabil Younan. I am 15 years old, and I live in Amman, Jordan. My father is an engineer who runs his own contracting business. My mother is a Human Rights supervisor for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). I am the youngest in my family. I study at the Latin Patriarchate School, and will begin the 11th Grade this fall. I love my school, especially math class. I have many hobbies, including listening to music, swimming, playing football, and cooking. I also love to watch football matches. I play bass guitar, too, but I’m not very good so far. I’m a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Amman, Jordan—one of the six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). I love my church, and go to worship every Sunday evening. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to meeting you soon.
GEORGE: Hi! My name is George Tannous, and I am 15 years old. My family lives in Ramallah, a city just north of Jerusalem in the West Bank. My dad owns a company in which he works as an Engineer in Ramallah. My mother is a teacher at St. Joseph’s Girls School in Ramallah. I have three older sisters, and one younger sister; I’m the only boy! My eldest sister just graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. My second-to-eldest sister is studying film at Cyprus University. My third sister is closest to me in age, and is just finishing Tawjihi (her final year of high school). And my youngest sister is in elementary school. As for me, this fall I will enter the 10th Grade at the Ramallah Friends School, which offers English-immersion education. That means I have been studying all of my subjects—except Arabic language studies—in English since kindergarten. I enjoy playing both basketball and soccer, but basketball is really my passion. When I graduate from my International Baccalaureate Program in three years I hope to go on to study Engineering in university, like my father. I am a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah—one of the six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). In fact, members of my family were founding members of the congregation in 1954. You can often find me helping the Sunday School leaders with lessons during church and playing basketball with my friends after church. I am also a member of the Sahiroon Youth Leadership Program of the ELCJHL. I look forward to meeting you all when I come to the USA in July! George
MARYAN: Hey! My name is Maryan Ateek. I am 16 years old. I live in Bethlehem. My father is a mathematics teacher at my school, Dar al-Kalima, and my mother is speech and language pathologist at the Ephpheta Paul VI School in Bethlehem. My father is one of my favorite teachers. I have two sisters and one brother. My eldest sister attends university in Jordan. My two younger siblings attend Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School. This fall I will begin my Tawjihi year at Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School in Bethlehem—one of the four k-12 schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Tawjihi is the final year in our school system, and it’s very difficult. But what is even more difficult to think about is that after next year I will have to leave my school. I’ve been enrolled at Dar al-Kalima since I was three years old! I appreciate my teachers so much; they have played such a big role in my life. I love my school and I love the people in it. Although I didn’t grow up Lutheran, the ELCJHL has played a large role in my life, beginning with my time at Dar al-Kalima, and continuing through the Sahiroon Youth Leadership Program, in which I was invited to participate. Through Sahiroon I have developed my leadership skills and been given the opportunity to meet other youth like me from around Palestine. My hobbies include reading, writing, playing table tennis, and watching television shows like Dr. OZ and The Doctors. In fact, I enjoy watching medical shows so much, I am thinking about studying medicine at university. I love meeting new people and learning about other cultures. After I finish Tawjihi I hope to be able to travel, especially to India and Japan. Inshallah (God willing) I will be able to do these things. Loyalty, honesty, and trust are very important to me.
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This Week’s Texts: 8th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 23:1-6
23Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. 5The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Ephesians 2:11-22
11So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
53When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Peace,
+ Pastor Carrie Smith
