new church life: march/april 2016
there is to be found a desire not only for praise but for praiseworthiness, for
fair dealings as well as for good deals, for honor as well as for advantage. These
desires become evident when we think disinterestedly about ourselves or
others.
“Mankind’s moral sense is not a strong beacon light, radiating outward to
illuminate in sharp outline all that it touches. It is, rather, a small candle flame,
casting vague and multiple shadows, flickering and sputtering in the strong
winds of power and passion, greed and ideology. But brought close to the heart
and cupped in one’s hands, it dispels the darkness and warms the soul.”
This is a noble sentiment and we need more of it in this increasingly vapid
culture. But when the Lord came as “a new light” into the world, this was no
small candle. It is indeed a beacon for all that is true and good – in this world
and the next. And we are to “let that light shine” in our lives – one small candle
against the gathering darkness, perhaps, but part of that true beacon with
which we have been entrusted by the Lord.
(BMH)
this was a good man
We do not regularly publish memorial addresses for the many good men and
women in the Church, but recently have made exceptions.
One was for Dr. Sherri R. Cooper in the January-February issue this year.
Sherri was one of the many bright lights of the Bryn Athyn College faculty,
whose new-found New Church faith enriched her stud y and teaching of
science. She succumbed in November to a long, brave battle against cancer.
Her life was – and is – an inspiration.
So is the life of B. Reade Genzlinger, whose memorial address is included
in this issue. Like Sherri, he was in the midst of life, career and family when he
left us all too soon.
Since he learned to fly as a teenager, Reade was as at home in the air as on
the ground, favoring small, fixed-wing planes – often restorations of vintage
models. It was on a short recreational flight
in his beloved second home of Wyoming that
Reade died in a crash early in January. It was a
sudden, tragic and devastating end to such a
bright and always-in-control life, but with his
last moments in a cockpit you could almost say
that he died at home. Everyone knew that he
was doing what he loved.
Reade was the epitome of the “good and
faithful servant.” He was always serving – the
Lynn and Reade Genzlinger
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