Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-04-27
Monday April 27th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Are you tired of sheltering at home, wearing masks, watching the news with trepidation? Me, too. So, let’s have some dessert together. Wednesday. We’ll meet at YOUR place at 7…
Just open your computer and join us for a Zoom gathering on Wednesday April 29th at 7:00 p.m. We’ll meet online to catch up, chat, visit, show off our flower gardens. Bring some dessert “to share.” We’ll practice having an online conversation with each other. Think of it as the Sunday morning coffee break after morning worship. Technology makes these gatherings over distance possible—but it might not be easy. We’ll have to figure out how to talk without talking over one another. We’ll get the hang of it. So, help us experiment. Nothing beats face to face gatherings, but in the absence of that we’re trying this. “See” you there. For the link, email info@firstpres.church.
We’ll be trying to have a gathering every Wednesday for a while to see how it goes. Let’s BE the church apart but together.
A poem from Tom Ulen. (Send me your favorite spring poems.)
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth
1807
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
News:
Tithes and Pledges . . . Thank you for keeping your pledges up to date. If you know of anyone experiencing food insecurity, please let me know. Because of your generosity, I have grocery gifts cards. Thank you. Thanks be to God.
Graveyard Walks: I’ve seen some of your family names on the silent stones of Mount Hope/Roselawn cemeteries. I walk there regularly because it’s quiet and green.
Humor: I don’t know if this is humor or news. It comes from Dave Whitford, and he can be a very serious man. He also likes to joke. You decide. Here’s an email he shared with me over the weekend:
After a bountiful harvest of acorns in a fall that was followed by an unusually mild winder, a midwestern community began to suffer a plague of squirrels. There was a proverbial multitude of these clever furry creatures. They began to find their way into the community’s churches.
The Presbyterians called a meeting of the Session to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they formed a Squirrel Infestation Committee. After several months of deliberation, the Squirrel Committee issued a report. In due course they had congregational vote and issued a proclamation that stated that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and the church should not interfere with God’s divine will.
Over at the Baptist church the squirrels had taken a keen interest in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistery. Their hope was that the squirrels would drown themselves. The squirrels really liked the slide and unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim. The following week twice as many squirrels showed up.
The Lutheran church’s Elders decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist church. Two weeks later the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water-slide.
The Episcopalians tried a much more tempting alternative to rid themselves of their squirrels. They set out pans of whiskey and wine around their church in an effort to kill the squirrels with alcohol poisoning. They quickly learned how much damage a band of drunk squirrels can do.
The Catholic church came up with an even more creative strategy! They baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church. Now the squirrels only show themselves at Christmas and Easter.
Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue. It is possibly due to the fact that the Rabbi was able to capture the first squirrel to enter the synagogue. In a matter of minutes the Rabbi circumcised and released him in a nearby park. They haven’t seen a squirrel since.
Selah*
Good Word:
John 10:11-18
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Let us pray:
This gutsy and beautiful hymn by David Haas dares to be a lullaby from God to us. Joe Grant will sing it with us this coming Sunday for worship.
I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still, and know I am near
I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night,
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine
I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free
And all will know My name
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine
I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name, embracing all your pain
Stand up, now, walk, and live
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine
Much love to you all.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
Are you curious about that little word Dave ended his message with? “Selah” appears in the Psalms and Habakkuk some 74 times—but nobody really knows what this ancient Hebrew word means. Look here for an interesting article: https://en.wikipedia.
