Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-21
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
I find myself longing for a return to “normal,” to the “good old days” of last January, say, or the routine patterns of last year. I certainly long to worship with you in the sanctuary safely, with song, and unmasked laughter, and the noises of children scribbling noisily on paper. I look forward to handshakes and hugs. (I also look forward to meals in restaurants, unrestricted travel, live music, visiting in the hospital, and much more.)
The problem with the good old days is that they weren’t good for everybody. And the hope of the future is that we can craft a future that is more equitable for all. Sonya Renee Taylor has the following provocative thought for us today, the upshot being, let’s work towards and have hope in God’s new heaven and new earth. And let’s not wait for after Corona; let’s start working towards it now.
“We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-Corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” Sonya Renee Taylor
* * *
The Session has called a meeting of the Congregation on Sunday October 25 at 10:15 a.m. via ZOOM for the purpose of hearing and acting upon a report from the Congregational Nominating Committee. If the way be clear, we will elect a slate of church members to the office of Elder and Deacon. Please plan on attending that important ZOOM meeting. The link is: FirstPres.church/meeting
News
Join us tonight for our mid-week Gathering at 7 pm…
Join Zoom Meeting
Beth Hutchens shares this letter from a Black mother to her daughter from Town and Country magazine. Here’s a quote: “At long last, we as citizens seem prepared to face our history squarely, in all its horror and glory. The peaceful protests are themselves an act of patriotism, a proclamation of faith in a better future. You don’t demand more from your country if you don’t love it and believe deeply in the possibility of its redemption. Though this season of tribulation has stripped you and your peers of your innocence, it also brings you true reason to hope.”
Here’s the link:
https://www.townandcountrymag.
* * *
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):
Due to the quarantine, I’ll only be telling inside jokes.
* * *
From Skip Pickering: Logic from an uncluttered Mind
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, ‘Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?’
Her mother replied, ‘Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.’
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, ‘Mummy, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?’
Good Word:
Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me . . .
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
LET US PRAY:
A Father’s Prayer
They are sleeping,
curled up in their beds.
They are dreaming,
music in their heads.
Lake Superior is frozen.
An icy cold front has wrapped its grip around the house.
The corn is gone, the fields are barren.
It’s been five days since the weather let them out.
Now, they are sleeping,
nestled in the night.
Look like angels,
faces filled with light.
They wouldn’t know about the primaries.
Don’t pay attention to the news.
Eden’s body count is rising.
They have such innocence to lose.
When they wake up,
when morning gilds the skies,
help them make up
a world less full of lies.
And as they sleep, Lord,
make me a worthy dad.
Help me show them
your love can right what’s bad.
Now, they are sleeping . . .
(January 26-27, 2004, After the Iowa Primaries
by Matt Matthews for Joseph, Benjamin,
and John Mark, when they were very little)
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
