In This Issue
I
n a Christmas sermon about the Lord’s birth in Bethlehem – We Found Him in the
Fields of the Forest – the Rev. Jeremy F. Simons says that the spiritual forest of our
lives represents where the Lord is to be found. “Everyone wanders in the woods at
times,” he says. “In this Christmas season, though, it isn’t so hard to see that the path
is lit with friendship and love, and that if we look with a full heart we will find Him in
Bethlehem.” (Page 564)
In Grace and Gratitude the Rev. Dr. Andrew M. T. Dibb focuses on the implications
for grace and gratitude in the Christmas story, but they also apply to the Thanksgiving
season in North America and the current Living Gratefully Journey Program. “Most
simply put,” he says, “gratitude is the reception of grace and the recognition that it is a
gift to us that makes it possible for us to be saved and enter heaven.” (Page 570)
In his Charter Day Cathedral address – Take Flight – the Rev. David C. Roth made
an analogy of airline flight with education. Passengers routinely ignore the safety
instructions of flight attendants – unless they are preceeded with, “We have to prepare
you for a crash landing.” The Writings say that “All education is an opening of the
way,” and we are all being led somewhere. We need to pay attention to the instructions
provided if we are to find success on our journey. (Page 579)
In the Charter Day banquet program Bryn Athyn College offered a highly
engaging dialogue: Innovation in Lea rning About Democracy at the College Level and the
Importance of New Church Content. Banquet emcee the Rev. Dr. Thane Glenn, chaplain
and professor at the College, described a semester-long course, “Reacting to the Past”
– a role-playing examination of ancient Greece and the United States Constitutional
Convention of 1787. Read a summary of the presentation, featuring Dr. D. Gregory
Rose and Dr. Wendy Closterman. (Page 585)
The Rev. Dr. Ray Silverman found that some of the students in the College new to
the Church were not saying the Lord’s Prayer in chapel and wondered why. It was over
confusion about our phrasing – “as in heaven, so upon the earth” – which differs from
the wording used by many other faiths. That prompted a search of all the variations
used in the prayer – and why we say the words we do in the General Church. (Page 588)
In Introducing Our Ministers, the Rev. Solomon J. Keal says he once considered
himself too introverted to be an effective minister, and sought other life experiences –
including producing his own popular piano CDs – before he felt ready for the call. Now
he is a very successful and popular minister and teacher, known for the way his gentle,
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