Thursday August 20^th, 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Overheard:

            For the first time
you’ll be aware of gravity
like a thorn in your heel,
and your shoulder blades will ache
            for want of wings.
 
(Nina Cassian/translated from the Romanian by Brenda Walker and Andrea Deletant.)
 
* * * 
 
“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but above all thou shalt not be a bystander.”  Found at the Holocaust Museum.
 
* * *
 
A poem
“Memoir” by 
Vijay  Seshadri
 
Orwell says somewhere that no one ever writes the real story of their life.
The real story of a life is the story of its humiliations.
If I wrote that story now—
radioactive to the end of time—
people, I swear, your eyes would fall out, you couldn’t peel
the gloves fast enough
from your hands scorched by the firestorms of that shame.
Your poor hands. Your poor eyes
to see me weeping in my room
or boring the tall blonde to death.
Once I accused the innocent.
Once I bowed and prayed to the guilty.
I still wince at what I once said to the devastated widow.
And one October afternoon, under a locust tree
whose blackened pods were falling and making
illuminating patterns on the pathway,
I was seized by joy,
and someone saw me there,
and that was the worst of all,
lacerating and unforgettable.
 
* * *
News:
 
Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in Beirut. This letter from the President of the Near East School of Theology:
 
Dear Friends all over the world,
 
This is just a brief preliminary message about NEST. More will follow.
 
We thank God that no one was injured at NEST as a result of the huge explosion that devastated most of Beirut last night at around 6pm. There were not many people in the building, but those who were escaped unharmed. The damage to the building is extensive. All 8 eight floors above ground and two basements were hit. Glass windows, glass doors, glass panels inside the building, as well as many internal wooden doors were shattered.  Never has NEST been hit so badly as yesterday, not even during the worst days of the 15-year war in Lebanon. Of course, we are not the only ones. The devastation in the rest of Beirut is vast.
 
Our wonderful team of employees and workers are cleaning the glass today, but we have no illusions about being able to replace the glass and the doors soon. There is great demand on glass panels and repairmen in the city. We will be trying to cover the shattered windows and doors with nylon for the time being. 
 
The cost of repairing the damage will be enormous. We do not have an estimate yet, but it will be in the thousands of dollars. 
 
We appeal for your help.
 
Thank you for all your inquiries and messages of support. I may not be able to answer people individually right now, but I will do my best.
 
God bless you and keep you safe.
 
George Sabra
President
Professor of Systematic Theology
Near East School of Theology
P.O. Box 13-5780 Chouran
Beirut 1102 2070, Lebanon
 
Tel: ++961  (0)1 349901
Fax: ++961 (0)1 347129
Email: president@theonest.edu.lb
www.theonest.edu.lb
 
 
Good Word:
 
Philippians 4              
8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
 
Let us pray:
 
Use me today,
Holy God.
 
May something
come through me 
from you
for many.
 
AMEN.
 
Much, much love to you all.
  
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church