Notes From My Knapsack – April 2004 “The Church Window”
One of the advantages of having a weekly column in a local paper (there are a few disadvantages, believe it or not) is that I can write stuff there are then expand on it here for the church audience. . .or sometimes vice versa.
There are two books I’ve been asked about quite a bit by church folk. One, “The DaVinci Code,” I’m going to address more generally in my “Hebron Crossroads” column, and spoke about at the Newark Lenten dinner last week. The other is actually the twelfth and final installment in the “Left Behind” series by LaHaye and Jenkins, out this week entitled “Glorious Appearing.”
Both bestsellers challenge the reader to ask “what do I believe about this?” In the case of Dan Brown’s “DaVinci” thriller, he cheats a bit by putting a preface on his book under the header “Fact,” while his details of history and events are filled with basic errors and untruths. If you like murder mysteries with albino assasins in a European setting, and know not to learn theology, let alone history, from a mass market paperback, enjoy the read. But Jesus didn’t marry Mary Magdalene, and no one with a lick of historical sense has ever claimed they did, liberal or conservative.
“Glorious Appearing” presents a different sort of challenge. Do we, as Disciples of Christ, believe that God is the Lord of History, with both creation and conclusion included in the eternal plan? Do we believe that the man, known as Jesus of Nazareth, will return at the close of Time itself and reveal in his person God’s glory and our everlasting salvation? Yes to both, and an Amen!
But the whole “rapture theology” which so many think is standard Christian belief is actually a fairly recent development, starting with a fellow named Darby in England in the 1800’s. This “premillenial apocalypticism” says that the correct interpretation of the Bible, using bits of many books in both Testaments, is that Christ will appear briefly, take into the air (“rapture”) all true believers into heaven, and step back with them for seven years of trial (the “tribulation”), and then after certain events have played out on earth, return to end history, Satan’s time of power, and usher in “the millennium” of Christ’s reign on earth as it is in heaven.
Well, that’s one way of looking at it. Another way is that of Alexander Campbell, our religious forebearer who called his Restoration movement journal “The Millenial Harbinger.” He held to the interpretation that, after Christ’s followers had truly followed his teachings for a millennium – a thousand years – Jesus himself would return to say “Well done, thou good and faithful servants” and wrap up the heavens as a scroll, ending history then. For those who claimed, even in the mid-1800’s, to have a date for this event, Campbell would impatiently cite “no one knows the day or the hour” and go about the business of making of Christ’s millennium a modern reality.
Which is right? Well, either points to at least one reminder both have in common. Whether by “Apocalypse” or auto accident, if you don’t know when your “history” ends, you’d best be prepared TODAY. Beyond that, I think we need to keep Revs. Darby and LaHaye in perspective. They have their interpretations, Campbell had his, and we each need to prepare our own hearts to open freely to God’s call here and now. Anything beyond that fits under the Restoration plea: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity!
In Grace and Peace, Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Palm Sunday & Celebration of Completing
“The Purpose Driven Life” with a Pancake Brunch
after worship Apr. 4
Donations only; all go to Campership fund
Camp fees are $210 for grades 6-8 June 13 & grades 9-12 July 4 at Camp Christian,
$255 for grades 3-5 at Templed Hills July 11.
* * * * * * *
Maundy Thursday Dinner & Service, Apr. 8
6:30 Potluck downstairs and program,
7:30 Worship upstairs in sanctuary,
including communion
followed by Prayer Vigil
* * * * * * *
Good Friday Memorial Service
(no communion)
7:30 pm, Apr. 9
concludes the Prayer Vigil
* * * * * * *
Children’s Easter Party
Egg Hunt, activities, snacks, and crafts
Saturday at 3 pm, April 10
* * * * * * *
Easter Sunrise Service at Dawes
6:30 am at upper picnic shelter
Handbells, singing, and message
Breakfast following at Hebron UMC
* * * * * * *
Celebration of the Resurrection
10:30 am in the sanctuary,
beginning with Service of Baptism
Junior Choir Call to Worship
Handbell Choir offering
Senior Choir Cantata
* * * * * * *
Crafty Women
Third Thursday, Apr. 16
6 pm to ???
Crafts and Scrapwork in the parsonage, open to any women with any level of craft skill or interest!
* * * * * * *
“Date Your Mate” night
Sat. April 17, 4 to 9 pm
Following our study of “The Purpose Driven Life” asking (and answering!) “What on earth am I here for,” we will give married couples a chance to ask “what would a Purpose Driven Marriage look like?”
$50 per couple will get you child care at the church, a program from Hebron to Granville where our trail of activities will pause at the 1812 Buxton Inn for a full dinner and dessert together (all costs included), and return to the church for a conclusion together.
A sign up at the back of the church (or downstairs during coffee fellowship) will allow you to choose your entrée and help Pastor Jeff plan the evening.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
The Scouter – May 2004
Simon Kenton Council BSA
Licking District Trailmarkers
One of our own!
Licking District is proud to have Trevor Gamble as our District Chairman, and we are even prouder to announce that “Trig” is the first recipient of the Licking County United Way’s first annual “Ken Johnston Volunteer Award” for distinguished service to the community as a volunteer.
Ken was a very active part of the United Way for many years, working as a teacher and administrator (and earlier in his life, as a pastor in Hebron!); after his death a few years ago, the board of the United Way decided to take an idea they had been considering for some time – to honor a volunteer each year for their career of service across the community – and name it after Ken. For Trig to be the first to receive what will no doubt be a long-standing, prestigious award is no surprise to those who know him but still quite an honor.
The award was was presented at the annual meeting of Licking County United Way in the Reese Center at OSU-N, with hundreds in attendance. Licking District joins in saluting this fine scouter whose volunteer work has gone far beyond even his Scouting commitments, and whose hard work continues with leading our county into new heights of Scouting involvement.
We also appreciate our strong connection to the United Way in Licking County all the more after the difficulties Simon Kenton Council has had with the Franklin County United Way board; there too, Trevor Gamble has been a voice for Scouting on our local board of UW.
They say after you’ve made night landings on aircraft carriers everything else is pretty easy: Trig certainly makes it look that way!
* * * * * * *
If you have ideas for material you’d like to see in “The Scouter” on the Licking District section, call 928-4066 and leave a message for Jeff Gill, or better yet, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net.
Which is also how you can offer material for publishing in this page. . .plus:
See http://www.lickingdistrict.org for all your latest updates!
* * * * * * *
Cub Day Camp 2004 is a “Circus” at the Rock
June 16 – 19, Wed. – Sat.
Licking District Cub Day Camp registration packets have been sent out to all the Cub leaders. If you haven’t received one, please call Angie or Ric Eder at 740.927.0357, or e-mail ldcsdaycamp04@earthlink.net.
Volunteers are coming in, but we still have some areas to be filled (contact info same as above!). We will be starting each day at 8:30 am and ending at 4:30 pm.
Stations include the ever popular creek walk in Rocky Fork, songs and storytelling by the Talestone, clowns, and of course, in keeping with the circus theme, we’ll see Cubmasters juggling paperwork!
Camp fee is $46, and for each additional scout registered from the same family before May 14, it is $40. All scouts must be registered when they arrive or they cannot attend, to protect the child and Scouting under our insurance. Registrations received after May 15 to June 11 are $56, and any postmarked after June 11 will cost $66. Camperships are available, but they must be turned in before May 14. Cancellations must be submitted before June 1, and are subject to a $20 fee for materials already purchased. Additionally it is $10 for the Friday Webelos overnight, and $10 for the Sibling Circle, limited to children of those working as part of Cub Day Camp, with required registration form.
We need to maintain a 1:4 adult:Cub ratio, so keep recruiting your leadership; they will need to be fully registered adults before the first day of camp as well – this helps us verify and secure the status of all adults who have access to children in a camp setting, in keeping with Ohio state law. The state and Scouting’s inspection process will check this, so please help out by verifiying registration before you arrive for everyone.
Thanks from the district to Ric & Angie who are putting so much careful preplanning into this major Licking District event!
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 3-28-04
By Jeff Gill
Leo climbs into the early night sky from the east, as Orion and his faithful dog Sirius chase Taurus the bull with his star-crowded heart of the Pleiades into the western sunset.
Venus plunges after the crescent moon, with Mars at her heels (as always), with Saturn at the zenith and Jupiter shining near Leo’s heart.
The Little Guy has been captivated by the planets lately, writing and making a set of the nine “wanderers” (which is what “planetarii” means in Greek), and going out on the now-warmer nights to trace the zodiacal path of the planets across the sky. And in the news, a tenth planet, or planetoid, called Sedna has been identified, perhaps out in the Oort Cloud and more an overgrown comet, a closer part of the Kuiper Belt. Sedna is the Inuit (casually and inaccurately known as Eskimos) goddess of the seas, and a rocky lump some thousand miles across circling irregularly close to the orbits of Pluto and our nearer neighbors.
Saturn is tilted so that the rings are visible through even my old binoculars, at least as ears on the glob of gold that is the sixth planet, and Jupiter’s moons can be seen near the gas giant’s orb in a modest optical device.
If you have the binox out for the birds passing through to the north, keep them handy for nighttime viewing; you don’t have to have a telescope to see remarkable, awe-inspiring sights in the heavens. A glance to the setting V of Taurus’ horns, capped to the left hand with Aldebaran, shows clustering clouds of stars around them and nearby Orion; nebulae and globular clusters are easy to spot. And wait ‘til Sagittarius rises after sunset. . .
Can you get over the amazing achievement for Licking County high school bands? In one week, Lakewood, Licking Valley, and Newark are all on display in one of the world’s top tourist destinations, Disney World.
If Licking County had three high schools in the sweet sixteen for basketball or baseball, we’d hear about it no end. Well, this is much the same thing, band fans, and kudos to Scott Coffey and all involved at the other schools. Well done, marching bands.
If your church or civic group in the area (Hebron to Buckeye Lake, Jacksontown to Kirkersville) has an Easter Egg hunt to share with the general public, or an Easter sunrise service to celebrate, please let me know this week at disciple@voyager.net or 928-4066. We’ll be delighted to share them at the Hebron Crossroads.
Thanks to the Licking Park District, who will have one of those big April 10 egg hunt activities, and Mary Beth Sills who led a program on the first weekend of spring to look in ponds for signs of warmth and life to come.
The pond probe, which was very well attended considering the threatening weather last weekend, will be followed by a May program looking at what some of the remarkable life in the margins of Infirmary Mound Park wetlands will develop into come another few weeks.
Nymphs of dragonflies and caddis flies and midges were seen under the magnifiers, and many young people (and their parents) learned about the richness of life invisible near our everyday paths, even through the heart of winter. . .now past, right?
Don’t forget the Saturday, April 3 feeding frenzy, at Jacksontown United Methodist in the morning for breakfast, and the United Methodist Church of Hebron for baked steak in the evening.
And as we approach the First of April, a new newsy note for Hebron Village.
Thanks to some aggressive grant writing by village staff, every full-time employee of Hebron will have their own Segway human transporter. These two-wheeled, gyroscopically balanced, battery powered wonders are normally $5,000 through Amazon.com, but the special “governmental package” will bring the price to half that at $2,500. Meter reading, sidewalk patrol, and code enforcement will all be done at eye-level from these rolling wonders, though Planning and Zoning is disputing with the Police department who gets the Segway HPV, or “high performance vehicle” that has the extra battery life and knobby tires.
Planning and Zoning has quite a few active construction sites to navigate through nowadays, but the Police usually require a more beefed up transportation option no matter how many wheels. Council may have to decide this issue, allocating the 8 mile an hour version versus everyone else’s 4 mile an hour standard Segway.
Our Hebron Fire Department says they don’t care either way, since you can barely carry a fire extinguisher and still steer one of these teetery zip-a-dee-doo-dahs, and they don’t plan on using one at all.
Did I mention that the First of April is coming soon? Happy April 1, all, and talk to you soon at the Hebron Crossroads.
By Jeff Gill
Leo climbs into the early night sky from the east, as Orion and his faithful dog Sirius chase Taurus the bull with his star-crowded heart of the Pleiades into the western sunset.
Venus plunges after the crescent moon, with Mars at her heels (as always), with Saturn at the zenith and Jupiter shining near Leo’s heart.
The Little Guy has been captivated by the planets lately, writing and making a set of the nine “wanderers” (which is what “planetarii” means in Greek), and going out on the now-warmer nights to trace the zodiacal path of the planets across the sky. And in the news, a tenth planet, or planetoid, called Sedna has been identified, perhaps out in the Oort Cloud and more an overgrown comet, a closer part of the Kuiper Belt. Sedna is the Inuit (casually and inaccurately known as Eskimos) goddess of the seas, and a rocky lump some thousand miles across circling irregularly close to the orbits of Pluto and our nearer neighbors.
Saturn is tilted so that the rings are visible through even my old binoculars, at least as ears on the glob of gold that is the sixth planet, and Jupiter’s moons can be seen near the gas giant’s orb in a modest optical device.
If you have the binox out for the birds passing through to the north, keep them handy for nighttime viewing; you don’t have to have a telescope to see remarkable, awe-inspiring sights in the heavens. A glance to the setting V of Taurus’ horns, capped to the left hand with Aldebaran, shows clustering clouds of stars around them and nearby Orion; nebulae and globular clusters are easy to spot. And wait ‘til Sagittarius rises after sunset. . .
Can you get over the amazing achievement for Licking County high school bands? In one week, Lakewood, Licking Valley, and Newark are all on display in one of the world’s top tourist destinations, Disney World.
If Licking County had three high schools in the sweet sixteen for basketball or baseball, we’d hear about it no end. Well, this is much the same thing, band fans, and kudos to Scott Coffey and all involved at the other schools. Well done, marching bands.
If your church or civic group in the area (Hebron to Buckeye Lake, Jacksontown to Kirkersville) has an Easter Egg hunt to share with the general public, or an Easter sunrise service to celebrate, please let me know this week at disciple@voyager.net or 928-4066. We’ll be delighted to share them at the Hebron Crossroads.
Thanks to the Licking Park District, who will have one of those big April 10 egg hunt activities, and Mary Beth Sills who led a program on the first weekend of spring to look in ponds for signs of warmth and life to come.
The pond probe, which was very well attended considering the threatening weather last weekend, will be followed by a May program looking at what some of the remarkable life in the margins of Infirmary Mound Park wetlands will develop into come another few weeks.
Nymphs of dragonflies and caddis flies and midges were seen under the magnifiers, and many young people (and their parents) learned about the richness of life invisible near our everyday paths, even through the heart of winter. . .now past, right?
Don’t forget the Saturday, April 3 feeding frenzy, at Jacksontown United Methodist in the morning for breakfast, and the United Methodist Church of Hebron for baked steak in the evening.
And as we approach the First of April, a new newsy note for Hebron Village.
Thanks to some aggressive grant writing by village staff, every full-time employee of Hebron will have their own Segway human transporter. These two-wheeled, gyroscopically balanced, battery powered wonders are normally $5,000 through Amazon.com, but the special “governmental package” will bring the price to half that at $2,500. Meter reading, sidewalk patrol, and code enforcement will all be done at eye-level from these rolling wonders, though Planning and Zoning is disputing with the Police department who gets the Segway HPV, or “high performance vehicle” that has the extra battery life and knobby tires.
Planning and Zoning has quite a few active construction sites to navigate through nowadays, but the Police usually require a more beefed up transportation option no matter how many wheels. Council may have to decide this issue, allocating the 8 mile an hour version versus everyone else’s 4 mile an hour standard Segway.
Our Hebron Fire Department says they don’t care either way, since you can barely carry a fire extinguisher and still steer one of these teetery zip-a-dee-doo-dahs, and they don’t plan on using one at all.
Did I mention that the First of April is coming soon? Happy April 1, all, and talk to you soon at the Hebron Crossroads.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 03-21-04
By Jeff Gill
Prime Producers 4-H Club has elected their officers for 2004.
Lexi Messenger is the new president, Christian Slater vice-president, Joey Cormican treasurer, and Whitney Mason as secretary.
Also elected were Drew Cable as health officer, David Cable safety officer, Josh Halter news reporter, and Alden Gowdy was tapped for recreation leader after a great nomination speech which the presidential candidates could take notes from!
Many thanks to the outgoing officers, Joey Cormican, Aaron Dunkle, David Cable, and Lexi Messenger as the “top four” last year. David Cable has also moved on to work on the Junior Fair Board for out at Hartford, with quite a bit of work upcoming in running some of the orientations for those bringing livestock projects.
As David’s mom Martha reminded the whole club, “those doing market livestock projects are raising food for America, and that’s an awesome responsibility.” Every livestock participant, from cattle to rabbits, must learn ethical, healthy, and appropriate methods to raise market animals for 4-H fair competition.
Watch the Booster for news of Prime Producers’ trip to the Hebron Fish Hatchery, where the crop is already “out in the field” so to speak; the club’s next meeting is March 28 at Hebron Christian Church, and they’ll have a service project out at Evans Park on Refugee Road April 25.
Saturday April 3 can be a full service Methodist meal day, if you plan your schedule correctly. In the morning, starting at 7 am, you can breakfast at Jacksontown United Methodist Church as always for a first Saturday. Then, beginning around 4:30 pm, Hebron United Methodist Church on East Main has their next baked steak dinner, with carryouts available. Cost is $5.50, $2 for children.
What about lunch, you ask? You haven’t been to the J-town breakfast, then. Eat up there, and you’ll be fine ‘til 5 pm or so. Trust me.
Lakewood High’s band program has no fundraisers planned this week at all: that’s because they’re all in Florida for Spring Break and marching at Disney World. Mickey may take over as drum major (sorry, Josh) when they march down Main Street, USA. We look forward to their tales of the Magic Kingdom when they return later this week!
The high school bands will be a big part of the Crossroads Festival planned for Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. Along with the rides and games starting May 28 at Canal Park behind Bowman’s truck lot and Hayman’s Dairy Bar, the jazz band will be part of the gazebo schedule Saturday, along with some other local musical talent, plus the symphonic band concert on Sunday afternoon May 30 at Evans Park.
And part of the gazebo events Friday through Saturday is the “Crossroads Storytelling Festival,” with tales of history, stories for kids, and a tall tale competition, which is not to say a “Biggest Liar in Ohio” award might be given, but it just might. What story would you tell at the “historic crossroads of Ohio”?
Stories are still being told of “The Passion” both around our crossroads and far beyond. . . Bruce Feirstein, a Hollywood reporter for the New York Observer, wrote last week “So I’m sitting in a restaurant in Santa Monica on the Sunday night that Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ clocked through $200 million at the box office, after only 11 days in the theaters. Not one of the other 10 people sitting at our table had actually seen the film, despite offering vociferous opinions about it. Then the Hispanic waiter spoke up. "I loved it. I usually don’t go to movies, but I went to a matinee, on the second day." In Hollywood, the real question of the age isn’t "Why does a movie do $200 million at the box office?", but rather "Why do so few of them do $200 million?" From The Passion of the Christ to My Big Fat Greek Wedding to Something’s Gotta Give, how many audiences—how many groups of people—does Hollywood overlook, or miss completely.” A very good question, says your columnist.
Cub Scout Pack 141 had their Blue & Gold Banquet down at Etna UMC last week, and the turnout this winter at Scouting events in Licking County has truly been stupendous. Scouting is really on a roll in our area, thanks to youth interest and adult leaders like Ric & Angie Eader and our area’s Ed & Rexana Fuentes with Pack 33.
It was a century ago this summer that Robert Baden-Powell, British hero of the Boer War, sat down to start writing “Scouting for Boys,” the first manual that led to the World Scouting Movment. But the interest that led him to write that work grew out of the popularity of a book B-P wrote during the 1890’s that wasn’t aimed at youth at all, but started being read by young boys and youth leaders during B-P’s exploits in South Africa.
“Aids To Scouting” was a manual for soldiers that the man who became Lord Baden-Powell wrote as a colonel while serving on what the British used to call “the Northwest Frontier,” that is, of India. Before parts of the Punjab, Afghanistan, and Kashmir were split off of India to form Pakistan (P…A…K…I. . .get it? Geographic trivia for the day…), the tribal groups of the region kept the British hopping Baden-Powell wrote the first draft of “Aids To Scouting,” the forerunner of “Scouting for Boys” and the inspiration for the entire Scouting movement, while on a “working vacation” in the area of Kandahar and Quetta and Kabul.
We’ll see how my prediction streak keeps up, but that area B-P traveled and wrote in will be the area that I think we’ll hear shortly from, when the capture of Osama bin Laden is announced. Remember, you read it first in at the Crossroads. . .
Are you familiar with the Beloit College annual Mindset List, given to professors to help them get a sense of the worldview of incoming freshmen?
This is a bit late, but it hasn’t been much of year for filler; so here are some excerpts from the list illustrating the perspective of students born in 1983.
-- From their point of view, Ronald Reagan is an airport.
-- Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Martin Sheen are the only presidents they have ever known.
-- Dinner with the family happens only in the minivan.
-- Elections determine who gets kicked off the island.
-- Since Oprah has not yet recommended their books, today's freshmen don't know the names Alexis de Tocqueville or Adam Smith.
-- Although they've never heard of Ozzie and Harriet, they think Ozzy and Sharon are the ideal parents.
-- Everybody remembers where they were when they heard that John F. Kennedy's plane had crashed into the ocean.
-- They have never sprayed on deodorant.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and given to wild speculation; if you have a shot in the dark or random guess to share, or better yet, news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
By Jeff Gill
Prime Producers 4-H Club has elected their officers for 2004.
Lexi Messenger is the new president, Christian Slater vice-president, Joey Cormican treasurer, and Whitney Mason as secretary.
Also elected were Drew Cable as health officer, David Cable safety officer, Josh Halter news reporter, and Alden Gowdy was tapped for recreation leader after a great nomination speech which the presidential candidates could take notes from!
Many thanks to the outgoing officers, Joey Cormican, Aaron Dunkle, David Cable, and Lexi Messenger as the “top four” last year. David Cable has also moved on to work on the Junior Fair Board for out at Hartford, with quite a bit of work upcoming in running some of the orientations for those bringing livestock projects.
As David’s mom Martha reminded the whole club, “those doing market livestock projects are raising food for America, and that’s an awesome responsibility.” Every livestock participant, from cattle to rabbits, must learn ethical, healthy, and appropriate methods to raise market animals for 4-H fair competition.
Watch the Booster for news of Prime Producers’ trip to the Hebron Fish Hatchery, where the crop is already “out in the field” so to speak; the club’s next meeting is March 28 at Hebron Christian Church, and they’ll have a service project out at Evans Park on Refugee Road April 25.
Saturday April 3 can be a full service Methodist meal day, if you plan your schedule correctly. In the morning, starting at 7 am, you can breakfast at Jacksontown United Methodist Church as always for a first Saturday. Then, beginning around 4:30 pm, Hebron United Methodist Church on East Main has their next baked steak dinner, with carryouts available. Cost is $5.50, $2 for children.
What about lunch, you ask? You haven’t been to the J-town breakfast, then. Eat up there, and you’ll be fine ‘til 5 pm or so. Trust me.
Lakewood High’s band program has no fundraisers planned this week at all: that’s because they’re all in Florida for Spring Break and marching at Disney World. Mickey may take over as drum major (sorry, Josh) when they march down Main Street, USA. We look forward to their tales of the Magic Kingdom when they return later this week!
The high school bands will be a big part of the Crossroads Festival planned for Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. Along with the rides and games starting May 28 at Canal Park behind Bowman’s truck lot and Hayman’s Dairy Bar, the jazz band will be part of the gazebo schedule Saturday, along with some other local musical talent, plus the symphonic band concert on Sunday afternoon May 30 at Evans Park.
And part of the gazebo events Friday through Saturday is the “Crossroads Storytelling Festival,” with tales of history, stories for kids, and a tall tale competition, which is not to say a “Biggest Liar in Ohio” award might be given, but it just might. What story would you tell at the “historic crossroads of Ohio”?
Stories are still being told of “The Passion” both around our crossroads and far beyond. . . Bruce Feirstein, a Hollywood reporter for the New York Observer, wrote last week “So I’m sitting in a restaurant in Santa Monica on the Sunday night that Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ clocked through $200 million at the box office, after only 11 days in the theaters. Not one of the other 10 people sitting at our table had actually seen the film, despite offering vociferous opinions about it. Then the Hispanic waiter spoke up. "I loved it. I usually don’t go to movies, but I went to a matinee, on the second day." In Hollywood, the real question of the age isn’t "Why does a movie do $200 million at the box office?", but rather "Why do so few of them do $200 million?" From The Passion of the Christ to My Big Fat Greek Wedding to Something’s Gotta Give, how many audiences—how many groups of people—does Hollywood overlook, or miss completely.” A very good question, says your columnist.
Cub Scout Pack 141 had their Blue & Gold Banquet down at Etna UMC last week, and the turnout this winter at Scouting events in Licking County has truly been stupendous. Scouting is really on a roll in our area, thanks to youth interest and adult leaders like Ric & Angie Eader and our area’s Ed & Rexana Fuentes with Pack 33.
It was a century ago this summer that Robert Baden-Powell, British hero of the Boer War, sat down to start writing “Scouting for Boys,” the first manual that led to the World Scouting Movment. But the interest that led him to write that work grew out of the popularity of a book B-P wrote during the 1890’s that wasn’t aimed at youth at all, but started being read by young boys and youth leaders during B-P’s exploits in South Africa.
“Aids To Scouting” was a manual for soldiers that the man who became Lord Baden-Powell wrote as a colonel while serving on what the British used to call “the Northwest Frontier,” that is, of India. Before parts of the Punjab, Afghanistan, and Kashmir were split off of India to form Pakistan (P…A…K…I. . .get it? Geographic trivia for the day…), the tribal groups of the region kept the British hopping Baden-Powell wrote the first draft of “Aids To Scouting,” the forerunner of “Scouting for Boys” and the inspiration for the entire Scouting movement, while on a “working vacation” in the area of Kandahar and Quetta and Kabul.
We’ll see how my prediction streak keeps up, but that area B-P traveled and wrote in will be the area that I think we’ll hear shortly from, when the capture of Osama bin Laden is announced. Remember, you read it first in at the Crossroads. . .
Are you familiar with the Beloit College annual Mindset List, given to professors to help them get a sense of the worldview of incoming freshmen?
This is a bit late, but it hasn’t been much of year for filler; so here are some excerpts from the list illustrating the perspective of students born in 1983.
-- From their point of view, Ronald Reagan is an airport.
-- Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Martin Sheen are the only presidents they have ever known.
-- Dinner with the family happens only in the minivan.
-- Elections determine who gets kicked off the island.
-- Since Oprah has not yet recommended their books, today's freshmen don't know the names Alexis de Tocqueville or Adam Smith.
-- Although they've never heard of Ozzie and Harriet, they think Ozzy and Sharon are the ideal parents.
-- Everybody remembers where they were when they heard that John F. Kennedy's plane had crashed into the ocean.
-- They have never sprayed on deodorant.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and given to wild speculation; if you have a shot in the dark or random guess to share, or better yet, news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
If you came here looking for Jeff's "Notes" on "The Passion of the Christ," scroll down a few entries (plus a long e-mail from a Disciples' pastors' discussion and additional commentary in the last two "Hebron Crossroads" columns). And sorry about the sloppy looking nav bar on the left; if i knew how to fix it, i would!
pax et gratia, jeff
pax et gratia, jeff
Guaranteed Only Comparison This Week. . .
. . .that you’ll see of “The Passion of The Christ” and “Twin Peaks.”
[This is a response to a series of e-mails between Disciple pastors in Ohio (mostly) about "The Passion" and how to respond to it. Pax, jeff]
Full disclosure to start: yes, I have a reputation to maintain as a bit of a smart aleck, even for a pastor, and no, I’m not kidding. Seeing “The Passion” did, in fact, put me in mind of “Twin Peaks” so strongly that I had to go back and watch the pilot and episodes one and two of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s groundbreaking TV series.
Read on if you will, or no; but you may have to explain your decision in the Red Room to the Man From Another Place. OK, enough cheap “Twin Peaks” references. . .
I think to “get” Mel Gibson’s opus (and a work of art it is, absolutely no doubt and certainly too, too self-consciously) you have to speak the language of sacramental theology and devotional discipline. The fact that so many mainline Protestant, not to mention Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are “getting” this movie means that you don’t have to speak it as a native, but it helps to have grown up around, if not within the traditions of “The Stations of the Cross” and the decades (three or now four) of the Rosary. A dash of Marian co-redemptrix piety sure helps, as does a working understanding of the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
With that armload of lexicons and interpretive keys, the “text” of “The Passion” is remarkably clear, coherent, and interwoven. The Judas and Satan themes are seen in their intended context of defeat and corruption vs. victory and incorruption, enduring witness Mary is our source of identification and point of relationship (resonating over into the other Mary, as sinful as mother Mary is sinless, but both redeemed by their encounter and embrace of Jesus), and the flashbacks neatly weave our own pre-understandings into the primary narrative of inflicted suffering, swiftly negated by the clear gaze of the resurrected Christ at the end.
Without them, while the story is comprehensible in a standard cinematic way, it becomes a morbid celebration of dying-before-he’s-dead Judas and a seductive Satan, we identify (within our capacities and fixations) with the twisting, shattered figure of the one on the receiving end of Roman lashes, while marveling at a mother able to watch her child’s torment, and we finally slump under the overwhelming weight of physical agony, jerking back to alertness in the sunlight entering the tomb where the winner prepares to stride out into day. The comic relief of Mary and carpenter Jesus, the jolt of his hop onto the finished table, the bemused interchange through the latticework – this is but one of many places where even those who profess to “like” the movie confess confusion, which may hint at the problems we will yet have to deal with.
But I only recently learned that, while Mel has gotten credit (not enough, I suggest) for his not appearing in the movie physically except to hold the nail for the first part of the crucifixion (clearing up for me, at least, who he thinks is responsible for killing Jesus), there is another, subtle, crafty way Gibson is in this movie he risked so much to make – and let’s not let its success obscure the fact that for two years he’s had not a reason to think he’d make a dime on “The Passion.”
If you’ve seen “The Patriot,” in which Gibson plays a colonial craftsman of sorts, he keeps trying to make a Windsor chair, a clever piece of skill in furniture. When Gibson’s character finishes the chair and seats himself in it, he gets a moment of self-satisfaction, and then crashes to the floor with the chair in splinters. When Jesus makes a piece of furniture, the so called “new kind of table,” and hops onto it, there is nary a creak. The table holds.
Friends, I saw that scene last Sunday, vividly overlaid across Hebron Christian Church’s communion table. And that is exactly what Mel Gibson wanted, with the light echo of our own work cracking and crumbling away beneath the weight of our pretensions.
What happens for those whose next worship did not include communion, whose last service before seeing the movie barely referred to the broken bread and poured out cup, if at all? I really can’t imagine. But my worry is that, for them, the usual practice of self-identification - no matter how distanced - with the star of the show puts us in Jesus’ place, and doesn’t tell us much about where to go with that identification. Will more folks think, out of this film’s influence, that we must suffer for our salvation? That paying a price, as opposed to not counting the cost (and theologically, saying salvation has a price vs. has a cost are very, crucially different things) is the way of Jesus? So I don’t commend the movie without reservation or qualification.
But you probably have been this patient with me because you want the “Twin Peaks” point: fair enough. David Lynch is also a very skilled filmmaker, whose attention to detail and nuance (and skewed vision!) is every bit as obsessive as we’ve learned Gibson’s is. The complex interlocking plot of “Twin Peaks” is purposely intended to evoke connections layered atop connections, branching and weaving around a central figure with whom it is essentially impossible to identify as the viewer. Because she’s dead. . .and wrapped in plastic.
So far, so good, but I think Lynch and Gibson share a fatal flaw, *hubris* in the Greek sense, where a gift uncritically used in a context where no one can critique the gifted one can turn on them, and bring them low. If you’re a “Twin Peaks” buff, you know that the killer of Laura Palmer, the young woman who is dead before we ever see her but who dominates the story, is BOB. BOB is. . .well, we know BOB is evil, but after a while, as the show ran down into incoherence (very watchable incoherence, but still), we stopped even caring if BOB was a demon, an alien, a government project, or whatever.
The genesis of BOB, though, is not in any of the original plot outlines. BOB is Frank Silva, a prop wrangler who accidentally ended up in a shot of Laura Palmer’s mother’s living room. Lynch, seeing the “rushes” on the day, loved the look of the unintentional footage, and decided to keep it, signed Frank Silva to an acting contract, and tried to do what he had already brilliantly done with a number of other pieces of “found footage.” But I would argue that, in the long run, BOB killed “Twin Peaks.” A story of how we are all connected, that we all have secrets, and how those secrets shape our lives (how we all need redemption?), and how Laura’s father could have loved her and killed her at the same time, as did many of her friends indirectly as well, became subject to the need to incorporate a mystical being named BOB into the story.
Or as my grandmother would have said, “he was too clever by half.”
There is my concern with Gibson’s wide release. I’m not sure if Mel kept track of where he was being subtly, usefully clever (the table evoking communion and his own collapsed chair), and where he was just getting self-indulgent (demon children chasing Judas, the DeMille temple earthquake tearing the floor, not the veil). As is said about some scenery-chewing actors, he steps on some of his own directorial best lines by obscuring them: hardly anyone is talking about the moving Simon of Cyrene sequence, or the very light touch (yes, I’m still talking about Mel Gibson) with the Veronica veil image and the actions leading up to it. There are many sections of this movie that deserve comment, and the fact that we’re not talking about them is a shame, and a lost teaching moment with the large questioning audiences of today. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow I’ll have a chance to discuss this with study groups in the church, no doubt long into this century, but this public moment is indeed obscured by some of the artistic gore, no doubt about it. I understand why Gibson did it, just like I’m fascinated by the audacity of using a messed up shot of the prop guy to fix a plot hole, but that doesn’t mean it was really a good idea, and it’s a shame there wasn’t anyone else involved to tell them so.
My reaction to the fact of “The Passion” is to educate, inform, and discuss, using the movie as an opportunity. While I understand some of the concerns raised by some critics, the fact that people “aren’t aware/sophisticated/informed enough to experience this movie appropriately” doesn’t say to me that we should shun, ignore, or protest the release; it says to me we’re already behind in Christian formation, and like it or not, this sets the tone for where we need to go next. In many ways, Disciples of Christ have an opportunity second only to that held by Catholic Christians and other more sacramental groups to use this movie to teach what we mean alongside of, and at oblique angles to, this amazing work of art.
During this Lent, we’re doing the 40 Days of Purpose study through Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life.” For many of the same “reasons” I hear from fellow mainline Protestants about keeping one’s distance from “The Passion,” there’s a wide-spread sense that a smart Disciple doesn’t dabble in Pastor Warren’s Southern Baptist pool. We dove in, and I have no reason to regret it.
Does Warren have problems with women in leadership? Nope, cause he doesn’t have any (insert strained laughter here). Does he let slip a literalistic, creationistic view of Genesis in those pages? Yes he does. Are these viewpoints readily available around and within the congregation, ours and yours? If you say “no,” you ain’t payin’ attention. But reading this book as a congregation has brought some of these conversations out into the cold light of dawn, and the mildew had better be off of my own teaching and arguments, let alone those of the Biblical literalists. “Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you,” Peter said (or a pseudonymous student of the Petrine schola, OK), and this is one such moment. We create, in fact, myriad more such moments by taking such modest risks as exposing church members to healthy Christian debate.
When we as Disciples stand for “don’t watch that, don’t read that,” or even worse, an affected “well, at least I won’t be watching that, and I can’t imagine why anyone would,” we are seen as not having an account worth sharing. It starts to sound like we don’t even have a cheering interest in the race, let alone a personal stake. Mel Gibson has given us a flawed, but majestic opportunity to say, “Would you like to know *more* about this Jesus?” Or even better, to answer someone – as I have more often in the last few weeks than I have in years – who comes to us *asking* “Could you tell me more about Jesus?” I want to be seen as someone happy to hear that question, and as a Christian proud to try and answer.
Jeff Gill
Hebron Christian Church
Hebron, OH
. . .that you’ll see of “The Passion of The Christ” and “Twin Peaks.”
[This is a response to a series of e-mails between Disciple pastors in Ohio (mostly) about "The Passion" and how to respond to it. Pax, jeff]
Full disclosure to start: yes, I have a reputation to maintain as a bit of a smart aleck, even for a pastor, and no, I’m not kidding. Seeing “The Passion” did, in fact, put me in mind of “Twin Peaks” so strongly that I had to go back and watch the pilot and episodes one and two of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s groundbreaking TV series.
Read on if you will, or no; but you may have to explain your decision in the Red Room to the Man From Another Place. OK, enough cheap “Twin Peaks” references. . .
I think to “get” Mel Gibson’s opus (and a work of art it is, absolutely no doubt and certainly too, too self-consciously) you have to speak the language of sacramental theology and devotional discipline. The fact that so many mainline Protestant, not to mention Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are “getting” this movie means that you don’t have to speak it as a native, but it helps to have grown up around, if not within the traditions of “The Stations of the Cross” and the decades (three or now four) of the Rosary. A dash of Marian co-redemptrix piety sure helps, as does a working understanding of the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
With that armload of lexicons and interpretive keys, the “text” of “The Passion” is remarkably clear, coherent, and interwoven. The Judas and Satan themes are seen in their intended context of defeat and corruption vs. victory and incorruption, enduring witness Mary is our source of identification and point of relationship (resonating over into the other Mary, as sinful as mother Mary is sinless, but both redeemed by their encounter and embrace of Jesus), and the flashbacks neatly weave our own pre-understandings into the primary narrative of inflicted suffering, swiftly negated by the clear gaze of the resurrected Christ at the end.
Without them, while the story is comprehensible in a standard cinematic way, it becomes a morbid celebration of dying-before-he’s-dead Judas and a seductive Satan, we identify (within our capacities and fixations) with the twisting, shattered figure of the one on the receiving end of Roman lashes, while marveling at a mother able to watch her child’s torment, and we finally slump under the overwhelming weight of physical agony, jerking back to alertness in the sunlight entering the tomb where the winner prepares to stride out into day. The comic relief of Mary and carpenter Jesus, the jolt of his hop onto the finished table, the bemused interchange through the latticework – this is but one of many places where even those who profess to “like” the movie confess confusion, which may hint at the problems we will yet have to deal with.
But I only recently learned that, while Mel has gotten credit (not enough, I suggest) for his not appearing in the movie physically except to hold the nail for the first part of the crucifixion (clearing up for me, at least, who he thinks is responsible for killing Jesus), there is another, subtle, crafty way Gibson is in this movie he risked so much to make – and let’s not let its success obscure the fact that for two years he’s had not a reason to think he’d make a dime on “The Passion.”
If you’ve seen “The Patriot,” in which Gibson plays a colonial craftsman of sorts, he keeps trying to make a Windsor chair, a clever piece of skill in furniture. When Gibson’s character finishes the chair and seats himself in it, he gets a moment of self-satisfaction, and then crashes to the floor with the chair in splinters. When Jesus makes a piece of furniture, the so called “new kind of table,” and hops onto it, there is nary a creak. The table holds.
Friends, I saw that scene last Sunday, vividly overlaid across Hebron Christian Church’s communion table. And that is exactly what Mel Gibson wanted, with the light echo of our own work cracking and crumbling away beneath the weight of our pretensions.
What happens for those whose next worship did not include communion, whose last service before seeing the movie barely referred to the broken bread and poured out cup, if at all? I really can’t imagine. But my worry is that, for them, the usual practice of self-identification - no matter how distanced - with the star of the show puts us in Jesus’ place, and doesn’t tell us much about where to go with that identification. Will more folks think, out of this film’s influence, that we must suffer for our salvation? That paying a price, as opposed to not counting the cost (and theologically, saying salvation has a price vs. has a cost are very, crucially different things) is the way of Jesus? So I don’t commend the movie without reservation or qualification.
But you probably have been this patient with me because you want the “Twin Peaks” point: fair enough. David Lynch is also a very skilled filmmaker, whose attention to detail and nuance (and skewed vision!) is every bit as obsessive as we’ve learned Gibson’s is. The complex interlocking plot of “Twin Peaks” is purposely intended to evoke connections layered atop connections, branching and weaving around a central figure with whom it is essentially impossible to identify as the viewer. Because she’s dead. . .and wrapped in plastic.
So far, so good, but I think Lynch and Gibson share a fatal flaw, *hubris* in the Greek sense, where a gift uncritically used in a context where no one can critique the gifted one can turn on them, and bring them low. If you’re a “Twin Peaks” buff, you know that the killer of Laura Palmer, the young woman who is dead before we ever see her but who dominates the story, is BOB. BOB is. . .well, we know BOB is evil, but after a while, as the show ran down into incoherence (very watchable incoherence, but still), we stopped even caring if BOB was a demon, an alien, a government project, or whatever.
The genesis of BOB, though, is not in any of the original plot outlines. BOB is Frank Silva, a prop wrangler who accidentally ended up in a shot of Laura Palmer’s mother’s living room. Lynch, seeing the “rushes” on the day, loved the look of the unintentional footage, and decided to keep it, signed Frank Silva to an acting contract, and tried to do what he had already brilliantly done with a number of other pieces of “found footage.” But I would argue that, in the long run, BOB killed “Twin Peaks.” A story of how we are all connected, that we all have secrets, and how those secrets shape our lives (how we all need redemption?), and how Laura’s father could have loved her and killed her at the same time, as did many of her friends indirectly as well, became subject to the need to incorporate a mystical being named BOB into the story.
Or as my grandmother would have said, “he was too clever by half.”
There is my concern with Gibson’s wide release. I’m not sure if Mel kept track of where he was being subtly, usefully clever (the table evoking communion and his own collapsed chair), and where he was just getting self-indulgent (demon children chasing Judas, the DeMille temple earthquake tearing the floor, not the veil). As is said about some scenery-chewing actors, he steps on some of his own directorial best lines by obscuring them: hardly anyone is talking about the moving Simon of Cyrene sequence, or the very light touch (yes, I’m still talking about Mel Gibson) with the Veronica veil image and the actions leading up to it. There are many sections of this movie that deserve comment, and the fact that we’re not talking about them is a shame, and a lost teaching moment with the large questioning audiences of today. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow I’ll have a chance to discuss this with study groups in the church, no doubt long into this century, but this public moment is indeed obscured by some of the artistic gore, no doubt about it. I understand why Gibson did it, just like I’m fascinated by the audacity of using a messed up shot of the prop guy to fix a plot hole, but that doesn’t mean it was really a good idea, and it’s a shame there wasn’t anyone else involved to tell them so.
My reaction to the fact of “The Passion” is to educate, inform, and discuss, using the movie as an opportunity. While I understand some of the concerns raised by some critics, the fact that people “aren’t aware/sophisticated/informed enough to experience this movie appropriately” doesn’t say to me that we should shun, ignore, or protest the release; it says to me we’re already behind in Christian formation, and like it or not, this sets the tone for where we need to go next. In many ways, Disciples of Christ have an opportunity second only to that held by Catholic Christians and other more sacramental groups to use this movie to teach what we mean alongside of, and at oblique angles to, this amazing work of art.
During this Lent, we’re doing the 40 Days of Purpose study through Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life.” For many of the same “reasons” I hear from fellow mainline Protestants about keeping one’s distance from “The Passion,” there’s a wide-spread sense that a smart Disciple doesn’t dabble in Pastor Warren’s Southern Baptist pool. We dove in, and I have no reason to regret it.
Does Warren have problems with women in leadership? Nope, cause he doesn’t have any (insert strained laughter here). Does he let slip a literalistic, creationistic view of Genesis in those pages? Yes he does. Are these viewpoints readily available around and within the congregation, ours and yours? If you say “no,” you ain’t payin’ attention. But reading this book as a congregation has brought some of these conversations out into the cold light of dawn, and the mildew had better be off of my own teaching and arguments, let alone those of the Biblical literalists. “Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you,” Peter said (or a pseudonymous student of the Petrine schola, OK), and this is one such moment. We create, in fact, myriad more such moments by taking such modest risks as exposing church members to healthy Christian debate.
When we as Disciples stand for “don’t watch that, don’t read that,” or even worse, an affected “well, at least I won’t be watching that, and I can’t imagine why anyone would,” we are seen as not having an account worth sharing. It starts to sound like we don’t even have a cheering interest in the race, let alone a personal stake. Mel Gibson has given us a flawed, but majestic opportunity to say, “Would you like to know *more* about this Jesus?” Or even better, to answer someone – as I have more often in the last few weeks than I have in years – who comes to us *asking* “Could you tell me more about Jesus?” I want to be seen as someone happy to hear that question, and as a Christian proud to try and answer.
Jeff Gill
Hebron Christian Church
Hebron, OH
Hebron Crossroads 3-14-2004
By Jeff Gill
Spring isn’t astronomically official ‘til next weekend, but the signs, they are a changin’ all around.
A few weeks ago we saw a Coyote trotting through the field behind Chez Gill; in recent weeks, I’ve spotted a bunch of American Kestrels perched on roadside wires (usually with a dangling mouse or vole counterbalancing them under their perch); the Little Guy and I saw a Cedar Waxwing at Dawes Arboretum, along with a wide assortment of migrating birds, plus a huge flock of cowbirds heading north stopping through the area for a quick wormy forage.
Speaking of Dawes, we hope this is the last Spring without a Maple Syrup program, which should be all the better next year with the new improved sugar shack at the old log cabin.
True sign of Spring, accepted by all: Hayman’s Dairy Bar is open. You know what to do.
Not a sign of Spring, but your columnist was delighted to see a B-17 in flight, apparently taking off from Heath/Newark airport on what must have been a series of hops across the country. The distinctive long swoop of the tail up to the broad rudder, combined with the four props across a vast wingspan, left me certain; anybody know what this WWII flying monument to valor was doing across our fair county?
Cub Scout Pack 33, based at Jackson Elementary but covering all of Lakewood’s schools for first through fifth graders, enjoyed a very successful “Blue and Gold” banquet at the Ohio National Guard Armory in Newark. They made such a trip to have their annual awards and “crossover ceremony” for Cubs to Scouts because with 150 and more in attendance, there aren’t many places that can hold them (and for free, and on a Friday night!), which is a great problem to have. Congrats to Ed and Rexana Fuentes, who are doing a great job with the unit.
And major “attaboys” to Hebron Elementary’s Tim Nauer, who looked sharp on Cash Explosion last weekend! And the tie went with the suit, too. He didn’t win enough to hit him for a loan, OK, but congratulate him anyhow.
As for quizzes, as a born Cub fan (they could still win a pennant in ’04!), I had a good time finding a “real Chicagoan” quiz on chicagotribune.com; well, I had a good time until I took a second quiz aimed, it said, at younger readers. It turned out that, on the Chicago quiz, I got a higher score on the one that wasn’t called the . . . non-geezer version. Which makes me a . . .
Speaking of senior moments, as if getting the better score on what is apparently the “geezer version” of the Chicago history quiz isn’t bad enough . . . I called Laura Gallup something else (why repeat the mistake?).
Laura Gallup has the art exhibit going on in the public hallway at Brezina Design and Construction, aka the Hebron Mill. Her installation is meant to evoke history and culture, looking back at women in Licking County and American history, giving us new contexts to meditate on the role and place of women in religious and family life. She takes some “risks” in presenting the work that I might not agree with (same as with Mel Gibson, in fact!), but the technical execution is quite impressive.
Carlos Brezina is to be commended for creating a new public space in Hebron – don’t forget we’ve had community art in the lobby of the municipal building since it opened – and here’s hoping the idea catches on and continues. This exhibit is on through March 31.
Did I hear someone ask: Was there any part of Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ” I didn’t like? Sure: the suffering went on too long. . .of Judas. This is just one of the many interesting questions “we” have yet to discuss about this very complex work of film art. Until everyone calms down over the faux-controversy surrounding “The Passion,” we won’t get to some intriguing problems and successes that deserve more conversation.
Judas is a necessary part of the passion narrative, and the device of the mule carcass was effective as a foreshadowing of what the texts say about Judas’ fate and a nice twist on the triumphal procession on muleback just days before. . .but we got more of his torment than I think helped the cinematic story.
Overall, the point can’t be made too often that Gibson’s point of view makes much more sense, extended suffering and all, if one is familiar with a) the devotional practice of the Stations of the Cross, and b) the Rosary. Many Protestant and Evangelical Christians have gotten access to the images through the remarkable use of communion imagery in the movie’s one humorous scene (“wha’?” you say; you didn’t know “The Passion” had a funny scene? That’s what I mean by needing to talk about the whole movie itself more than commentary about the movie). And whether you are part of a sacramental religious tradition or not, the table image in the flashback of Jesus the Carpenter is not only incredibly resonant, but I’ve recently learned is Gibson’s other “self-insertion” into the narrative, along with holding the nail at the crucifixion. If you’ve seen “The Patriot,” you may know that Gibson’s character keeps trying to make a Windsor chair, but everytime he sits down in a finished piece, it collapses. If you’ve seen “The Passion,” you know exactly where this point goes, so I’ll end it there.
Warning: Major subject change! Octagon State Memorial, home of one of the Seventy Ancient Wonders of the World, along with Chaco Canyon and Cahokia in North America, is holding an open house on Sunday, March 21, from 11 am to 3 pm. Just north of Licking Memorial Hospital, accessible off of Main at 33rd St. or by Moundview off of 30th St., there will be curators and the “History To Go” van from the Ohio Historical Society, owners of the site, and Native American storytellers at Noon and 2 pm.
You may walk the grounds of the 20 acre perfect circle or the 50 acre connected octagon throughout that time, without fear of the golf balls often flying past when Moundbuilders Country Club, the longtime tenants, is active.
Come out and bring your family to learn and enjoy this global heritage in the heart of Licking County!
Wrapping up for now, can I just say, everybody ease up on Stephanie Hamrick; for the record, everybody is underpaid, and everything costs too much, and columnists in time will talk about both. . .but the one thing bites the other’s tail, and so on.
So we columnists are doomed to never make everyone happy; like not getting to details about the Hebron PTO & Village Crossroads Festival Memorial Day weekend! Tune in next week. . .
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and habitually tries to say too much in too little space. If you don’t want to contribute to this problem, avoid calling 928-4066 or e-mailing disciple@voyager.net to add stuff to this space next week. . .oh, why not; go ahead.
By Jeff Gill
Spring isn’t astronomically official ‘til next weekend, but the signs, they are a changin’ all around.
A few weeks ago we saw a Coyote trotting through the field behind Chez Gill; in recent weeks, I’ve spotted a bunch of American Kestrels perched on roadside wires (usually with a dangling mouse or vole counterbalancing them under their perch); the Little Guy and I saw a Cedar Waxwing at Dawes Arboretum, along with a wide assortment of migrating birds, plus a huge flock of cowbirds heading north stopping through the area for a quick wormy forage.
Speaking of Dawes, we hope this is the last Spring without a Maple Syrup program, which should be all the better next year with the new improved sugar shack at the old log cabin.
True sign of Spring, accepted by all: Hayman’s Dairy Bar is open. You know what to do.
Not a sign of Spring, but your columnist was delighted to see a B-17 in flight, apparently taking off from Heath/Newark airport on what must have been a series of hops across the country. The distinctive long swoop of the tail up to the broad rudder, combined with the four props across a vast wingspan, left me certain; anybody know what this WWII flying monument to valor was doing across our fair county?
Cub Scout Pack 33, based at Jackson Elementary but covering all of Lakewood’s schools for first through fifth graders, enjoyed a very successful “Blue and Gold” banquet at the Ohio National Guard Armory in Newark. They made such a trip to have their annual awards and “crossover ceremony” for Cubs to Scouts because with 150 and more in attendance, there aren’t many places that can hold them (and for free, and on a Friday night!), which is a great problem to have. Congrats to Ed and Rexana Fuentes, who are doing a great job with the unit.
And major “attaboys” to Hebron Elementary’s Tim Nauer, who looked sharp on Cash Explosion last weekend! And the tie went with the suit, too. He didn’t win enough to hit him for a loan, OK, but congratulate him anyhow.
As for quizzes, as a born Cub fan (they could still win a pennant in ’04!), I had a good time finding a “real Chicagoan” quiz on chicagotribune.com; well, I had a good time until I took a second quiz aimed, it said, at younger readers. It turned out that, on the Chicago quiz, I got a higher score on the one that wasn’t called the . . . non-geezer version. Which makes me a . . .
Speaking of senior moments, as if getting the better score on what is apparently the “geezer version” of the Chicago history quiz isn’t bad enough . . . I called Laura Gallup something else (why repeat the mistake?).
Laura Gallup has the art exhibit going on in the public hallway at Brezina Design and Construction, aka the Hebron Mill. Her installation is meant to evoke history and culture, looking back at women in Licking County and American history, giving us new contexts to meditate on the role and place of women in religious and family life. She takes some “risks” in presenting the work that I might not agree with (same as with Mel Gibson, in fact!), but the technical execution is quite impressive.
Carlos Brezina is to be commended for creating a new public space in Hebron – don’t forget we’ve had community art in the lobby of the municipal building since it opened – and here’s hoping the idea catches on and continues. This exhibit is on through March 31.
Did I hear someone ask: Was there any part of Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ” I didn’t like? Sure: the suffering went on too long. . .of Judas. This is just one of the many interesting questions “we” have yet to discuss about this very complex work of film art. Until everyone calms down over the faux-controversy surrounding “The Passion,” we won’t get to some intriguing problems and successes that deserve more conversation.
Judas is a necessary part of the passion narrative, and the device of the mule carcass was effective as a foreshadowing of what the texts say about Judas’ fate and a nice twist on the triumphal procession on muleback just days before. . .but we got more of his torment than I think helped the cinematic story.
Overall, the point can’t be made too often that Gibson’s point of view makes much more sense, extended suffering and all, if one is familiar with a) the devotional practice of the Stations of the Cross, and b) the Rosary. Many Protestant and Evangelical Christians have gotten access to the images through the remarkable use of communion imagery in the movie’s one humorous scene (“wha’?” you say; you didn’t know “The Passion” had a funny scene? That’s what I mean by needing to talk about the whole movie itself more than commentary about the movie). And whether you are part of a sacramental religious tradition or not, the table image in the flashback of Jesus the Carpenter is not only incredibly resonant, but I’ve recently learned is Gibson’s other “self-insertion” into the narrative, along with holding the nail at the crucifixion. If you’ve seen “The Patriot,” you may know that Gibson’s character keeps trying to make a Windsor chair, but everytime he sits down in a finished piece, it collapses. If you’ve seen “The Passion,” you know exactly where this point goes, so I’ll end it there.
Warning: Major subject change! Octagon State Memorial, home of one of the Seventy Ancient Wonders of the World, along with Chaco Canyon and Cahokia in North America, is holding an open house on Sunday, March 21, from 11 am to 3 pm. Just north of Licking Memorial Hospital, accessible off of Main at 33rd St. or by Moundview off of 30th St., there will be curators and the “History To Go” van from the Ohio Historical Society, owners of the site, and Native American storytellers at Noon and 2 pm.
You may walk the grounds of the 20 acre perfect circle or the 50 acre connected octagon throughout that time, without fear of the golf balls often flying past when Moundbuilders Country Club, the longtime tenants, is active.
Come out and bring your family to learn and enjoy this global heritage in the heart of Licking County!
Wrapping up for now, can I just say, everybody ease up on Stephanie Hamrick; for the record, everybody is underpaid, and everything costs too much, and columnists in time will talk about both. . .but the one thing bites the other’s tail, and so on.
So we columnists are doomed to never make everyone happy; like not getting to details about the Hebron PTO & Village Crossroads Festival Memorial Day weekend! Tune in next week. . .
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and habitually tries to say too much in too little space. If you don’t want to contribute to this problem, avoid calling 928-4066 or e-mailing disciple@voyager.net to add stuff to this space next week. . .oh, why not; go ahead.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
The Scouter – April 2004
Simon Kenton Council BSA
Licking District Trailmarkers
Charters – What are they, and why do we care?
Many Cubmaster, Scoutmasters, and Pack or Troop Committee chairs see the charter as “just one of those annual annoyances” from the council office. What the rechartering and presentation period are – or can be – is a great opportunity to firm up the relationship between your unit’s chartering organization and Scouting.
The chartering institution, whether a church, PTO, or civic organization, is who “owns the franchise” for Scouting in your location. With developments such as United Way cuts and defunding, the charter relationship becomes ever more important in maintaining our ability to deliver the Scouting program of values formation, leadership development, and outdoor education.
Some units say, quite truthfully, that their chartered organization just signs a piece of paper, offers a meeting space (in many cases), pays the charter fee (if that), and that’s all. That may be the case for some units, but it doesn’t have to be.
Your unit commissioner can be a resource for renewing contact with a low-key charter organization. A presentation of the charter can be scheduled with support from your district staff, and can be a great way to spark – and right before Cub Day Camp or the Scout summer camp season starts! – new levels of awareness among the members of the church, board, or club that holds your charter, whether they knew it before or not.
If you haven’t had a formal charter presentation recently, discuss it at your next unit committee meeting. Scouting needs the support of our chartered relationships now more than ever!
If you have ideas for material you’d like to see in “The Scouter” on the Licking District section, call 928-4066 and leave a message for Jeff Gill, or better yet, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net.
Which is also how you can offer material for publishing in this page. . .plus:
See http://www.lickingdistrict.org for all your latest updates!
Cub Day Camp at the Rock
“Circus” 2004
June 16 – 19, Wed. – Sat.
Licking District Cub Day Camp registration packets have been sent out to all the Cub leaders. If you haven’t received one, please call Angie or Ric Eders at 740.927.0357, or e-mail ldcsdaycamp04@earthlink.net.
Volunteers are coming in, but we still have lots of areas to be filled (contact info same as above!). We will be starting each day at 8:30 am and ending at 4:30 pm.
Camp fee is $46, and for each additional scout registered from the same family before May 14, it is $40. All scouts must be registered when they arrive or they cannot attend, to protect the child and Scouting under our insurance. Registrations received after May 15 to June 11 are $56, and any postmarked after June 11 will cost $66. Camperships are available, but they must be turned in before May 14. Cancellations must be submitted before June 1, and are subject to a $20 fee for materials already purchased. Additionally it is $10 for the Friday Webelos overnight, and $10 for the Sibling Circle, limited to children of those working as part of Cub Day Camp, with required registration form.
We need to maintain a 1:4 adult:Cub ratio, so keep recruiting your leadership; they will need to be registered adults before the first day of camp as well.
Thanks from the district to Ric & Angie who are putting so much careful preplanning into this major Licking District event!
Spring Camporee at Hartford Fairgrounds
April 23-25, 2004
Licking District Emergency Preparedness Camporee will allow scouts to
complete to complete the following requirements:
Tenderfoot: 12a-b
Second Class: 6a-c
First Class 8b-d
First class scouts will be able to earn their emergency preparedness
merit badge if they complete the following pre-requisites.
1, 2a-b, 3a-d, 4a-d, 8a-c, and 9c.
The Scoutmaster must sign off pre-requisites on a blue card.
We are planning to conduct an emergency drill with the corporation of
the Licking County Emergency Management team and local fire
departments. This Camporee will be held at the Hartford Fair grounds in
Croton OH. Registration will begin at 6:00 PM at the north fair ground
entrance. Cost for the weekend will be $6.00 per person. All units have received registration materials; come to April Roundtable at Central Christian on Mt. Vernon Rd. in Newark, Tues., Apr. 6 at 7:15 pm for more info!
Simon Kenton Council BSA
Licking District Trailmarkers
Charters – What are they, and why do we care?
Many Cubmaster, Scoutmasters, and Pack or Troop Committee chairs see the charter as “just one of those annual annoyances” from the council office. What the rechartering and presentation period are – or can be – is a great opportunity to firm up the relationship between your unit’s chartering organization and Scouting.
The chartering institution, whether a church, PTO, or civic organization, is who “owns the franchise” for Scouting in your location. With developments such as United Way cuts and defunding, the charter relationship becomes ever more important in maintaining our ability to deliver the Scouting program of values formation, leadership development, and outdoor education.
Some units say, quite truthfully, that their chartered organization just signs a piece of paper, offers a meeting space (in many cases), pays the charter fee (if that), and that’s all. That may be the case for some units, but it doesn’t have to be.
Your unit commissioner can be a resource for renewing contact with a low-key charter organization. A presentation of the charter can be scheduled with support from your district staff, and can be a great way to spark – and right before Cub Day Camp or the Scout summer camp season starts! – new levels of awareness among the members of the church, board, or club that holds your charter, whether they knew it before or not.
If you haven’t had a formal charter presentation recently, discuss it at your next unit committee meeting. Scouting needs the support of our chartered relationships now more than ever!
If you have ideas for material you’d like to see in “The Scouter” on the Licking District section, call 928-4066 and leave a message for Jeff Gill, or better yet, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net.
Which is also how you can offer material for publishing in this page. . .plus:
See http://www.lickingdistrict.org for all your latest updates!
Cub Day Camp at the Rock
“Circus” 2004
June 16 – 19, Wed. – Sat.
Licking District Cub Day Camp registration packets have been sent out to all the Cub leaders. If you haven’t received one, please call Angie or Ric Eders at 740.927.0357, or e-mail ldcsdaycamp04@earthlink.net.
Volunteers are coming in, but we still have lots of areas to be filled (contact info same as above!). We will be starting each day at 8:30 am and ending at 4:30 pm.
Camp fee is $46, and for each additional scout registered from the same family before May 14, it is $40. All scouts must be registered when they arrive or they cannot attend, to protect the child and Scouting under our insurance. Registrations received after May 15 to June 11 are $56, and any postmarked after June 11 will cost $66. Camperships are available, but they must be turned in before May 14. Cancellations must be submitted before June 1, and are subject to a $20 fee for materials already purchased. Additionally it is $10 for the Friday Webelos overnight, and $10 for the Sibling Circle, limited to children of those working as part of Cub Day Camp, with required registration form.
We need to maintain a 1:4 adult:Cub ratio, so keep recruiting your leadership; they will need to be registered adults before the first day of camp as well.
Thanks from the district to Ric & Angie who are putting so much careful preplanning into this major Licking District event!
Spring Camporee at Hartford Fairgrounds
April 23-25, 2004
Licking District Emergency Preparedness Camporee will allow scouts to
complete to complete the following requirements:
Tenderfoot: 12a-b
Second Class: 6a-c
First Class 8b-d
First class scouts will be able to earn their emergency preparedness
merit badge if they complete the following pre-requisites.
1, 2a-b, 3a-d, 4a-d, 8a-c, and 9c.
The Scoutmaster must sign off pre-requisites on a blue card.
We are planning to conduct an emergency drill with the corporation of
the Licking County Emergency Management team and local fire
departments. This Camporee will be held at the Hartford Fair grounds in
Croton OH. Registration will begin at 6:00 PM at the north fair ground
entrance. Cost for the weekend will be $6.00 per person. All units have received registration materials; come to April Roundtable at Central Christian on Mt. Vernon Rd. in Newark, Tues., Apr. 6 at 7:15 pm for more info!
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 3-07-04
by Jeff Gill
Anchor Pharmacy in Village Plaza has closed; while new manufacturing and warehouse space goes up north of town, we still have changes in the heart of town.
Word is that the prescriptions and “some” employees are going out to Kroger on East Main, and they better treat them right!
PAL Printing is about to finish their shift over to the old bank/library building they bought from the village last year (and we’ll watch to see what goes in their old hardware/clockshop/car detailing space), and the former municipal building, sold at the same time, is slowly being renovated for business and rental use.
In any village like Hebron there’s a real story to learn about what operations “used to be” in various buildings, or even simply “on” certain spots, like Hebron’s first Kroger in the early 1900’s where the drive-thru for Park National is.
Just east of there, Foxy Nails has made the old consignment shop look nice, and in cleaning the pole sign out front (I’m guessing in preparation to paint it), they’ve briefly exposed a ghostly inscription of “Dawson’s 5 & 10” on the west side of the sign. I’ve heard a number of local residents talk about how Mr. Dawson would close on Tuesday’s to go to Cincinnati to restock, so if you told him what you were looking for on Monday, you could get it by Wednesday at Dawson’s. Take that, internet! Hebron had just in time inventory and overnight delivery in the 50’s! Well, sorta.
Lakewood Band Boosters are doing Basket Bingo at the Tri-County Dive Team Building behind the Cardinal in Buckeye Lake on Saturday, Mar. 6. Hard to believe that the day for leaving to play on Disney World’s Main Street is less than six weeks away. . .
You’ve probably read your fill about “The Passion of the Christ” in this column . . . and if you haven’t, you can read my longer comments at http://knapsack.blogspot.com . . . but in fairness, is it time to rethink “The Last Temptation of Christ,” Martin Scorsese’s 1988 movie? A perfectly respectful film which was largely controversial to people who had not seen it and had no idea what the movie was doing (it was a long flashback of Jesus’ temptation by a very interesting Satan-figure, not what the filmmakers were saying actually happened to Jesus, which was what folks claimed to be upset about). The soundtrack to that, by the way, was partially recycled into “The Passion.” Anyhow, neither film is for children, and both provoke serious thought about important themes.
And how does “Jesus Christ Superstar” look now? Carl Anderson, the Judas who almost stole the movie from Ted Neely’s Jesus, died last week at 58. Then there’s the rolling release of “The Gospel According to John.” Jim Caviezel, Mel Gibson’s Jesus, keeps joking with interviewers that we’re going to see a surge of movies in Aramaic: but there’s already “Life of Brian” and “Dogma” . . . talk about movies not suitable for children, but all fascinating in their own way.
A number of you have sent me an e-mail forward that I’d actually seen a few years back, which is having a resurgence on the internet, purporting to tell the true story of Mel Gibson. Check out the invaluable snopes.com at http://www.snopes.com/glurge/noface.htm for the real deal; ditto for the Capt. Kangaroo at Iwo Jima story, for which you can enter Keeshan in the search box and see the facts about that.
Did you see the absolutely amazing Rainbow last week? It was a capital-R rainbow, all across the eastern sky: a Perfect Arc, making me think again about how ancient peoples must have looked on this mystery with awe and wonder . . . vs. our amazement even when you know a bit about optics and suspended water droplets. Next week, indicators of Spring (like “pitchers and catchers report” to spring training! and Cubs fans still have World Series hopes!).
Prime Producers 4-H had a great meeting with 35 kids present, and Martha & Dave Cable have their hands full (fuller than usual, that is); the club project this year will be fishing, with a chance for them and this column to tell the story of the most remarkable biotech business in central Ohio, the Hebron Fish Hatchery. Their next meeting will hold officer elections, Sunday, March 14 at 6 pm downstairs at Hebron Christian Church.
Plus this weekend is the birthday of the Girl Scouts of America! They do much more than sell cookies, y’know. Thanks to Juliette Low of Savannah, Georgia sharing an ocean liner with Lord Baden-Powell who had just started a boy’s group called “Scouting,” her curiosity, and her initiative once back home, we now have the GSA. Have a Savannah in the girls’ honor, OK?
And down at the Hebron Mill, thanks to the host business Brezina Design and Construction, an interesting art exhibit is on display by a Licking County graphic designer, open whenever the building is open which is most of the week: but the art display is only up through March, so drop by some morning or afternoon.
More, more, more next week at the Hebron Crossroads, especially about the Crossroads Festival Memorial Day weekend!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a fan of Samoas (and Thin Mints, but who isn’t?); if you have Scouting stories to share, boy or girl, or news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
by Jeff Gill
Anchor Pharmacy in Village Plaza has closed; while new manufacturing and warehouse space goes up north of town, we still have changes in the heart of town.
Word is that the prescriptions and “some” employees are going out to Kroger on East Main, and they better treat them right!
PAL Printing is about to finish their shift over to the old bank/library building they bought from the village last year (and we’ll watch to see what goes in their old hardware/clockshop/car detailing space), and the former municipal building, sold at the same time, is slowly being renovated for business and rental use.
In any village like Hebron there’s a real story to learn about what operations “used to be” in various buildings, or even simply “on” certain spots, like Hebron’s first Kroger in the early 1900’s where the drive-thru for Park National is.
Just east of there, Foxy Nails has made the old consignment shop look nice, and in cleaning the pole sign out front (I’m guessing in preparation to paint it), they’ve briefly exposed a ghostly inscription of “Dawson’s 5 & 10” on the west side of the sign. I’ve heard a number of local residents talk about how Mr. Dawson would close on Tuesday’s to go to Cincinnati to restock, so if you told him what you were looking for on Monday, you could get it by Wednesday at Dawson’s. Take that, internet! Hebron had just in time inventory and overnight delivery in the 50’s! Well, sorta.
Lakewood Band Boosters are doing Basket Bingo at the Tri-County Dive Team Building behind the Cardinal in Buckeye Lake on Saturday, Mar. 6. Hard to believe that the day for leaving to play on Disney World’s Main Street is less than six weeks away. . .
You’ve probably read your fill about “The Passion of the Christ” in this column . . . and if you haven’t, you can read my longer comments at http://knapsack.blogspot.com . . . but in fairness, is it time to rethink “The Last Temptation of Christ,” Martin Scorsese’s 1988 movie? A perfectly respectful film which was largely controversial to people who had not seen it and had no idea what the movie was doing (it was a long flashback of Jesus’ temptation by a very interesting Satan-figure, not what the filmmakers were saying actually happened to Jesus, which was what folks claimed to be upset about). The soundtrack to that, by the way, was partially recycled into “The Passion.” Anyhow, neither film is for children, and both provoke serious thought about important themes.
And how does “Jesus Christ Superstar” look now? Carl Anderson, the Judas who almost stole the movie from Ted Neely’s Jesus, died last week at 58. Then there’s the rolling release of “The Gospel According to John.” Jim Caviezel, Mel Gibson’s Jesus, keeps joking with interviewers that we’re going to see a surge of movies in Aramaic: but there’s already “Life of Brian” and “Dogma” . . . talk about movies not suitable for children, but all fascinating in their own way.
A number of you have sent me an e-mail forward that I’d actually seen a few years back, which is having a resurgence on the internet, purporting to tell the true story of Mel Gibson. Check out the invaluable snopes.com at http://www.snopes.com/glurge/noface.htm for the real deal; ditto for the Capt. Kangaroo at Iwo Jima story, for which you can enter Keeshan in the search box and see the facts about that.
Did you see the absolutely amazing Rainbow last week? It was a capital-R rainbow, all across the eastern sky: a Perfect Arc, making me think again about how ancient peoples must have looked on this mystery with awe and wonder . . . vs. our amazement even when you know a bit about optics and suspended water droplets. Next week, indicators of Spring (like “pitchers and catchers report” to spring training! and Cubs fans still have World Series hopes!).
Prime Producers 4-H had a great meeting with 35 kids present, and Martha & Dave Cable have their hands full (fuller than usual, that is); the club project this year will be fishing, with a chance for them and this column to tell the story of the most remarkable biotech business in central Ohio, the Hebron Fish Hatchery. Their next meeting will hold officer elections, Sunday, March 14 at 6 pm downstairs at Hebron Christian Church.
Plus this weekend is the birthday of the Girl Scouts of America! They do much more than sell cookies, y’know. Thanks to Juliette Low of Savannah, Georgia sharing an ocean liner with Lord Baden-Powell who had just started a boy’s group called “Scouting,” her curiosity, and her initiative once back home, we now have the GSA. Have a Savannah in the girls’ honor, OK?
And down at the Hebron Mill, thanks to the host business Brezina Design and Construction, an interesting art exhibit is on display by a Licking County graphic designer, open whenever the building is open which is most of the week: but the art display is only up through March, so drop by some morning or afternoon.
More, more, more next week at the Hebron Crossroads, especially about the Crossroads Festival Memorial Day weekend!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a fan of Samoas (and Thin Mints, but who isn’t?); if you have Scouting stories to share, boy or girl, or news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Notes From My Knapsack -- on "The Passion of the Christ"
(a special bulletin insert, Feb. 29)
Since this is a fifth Sunday/youth-led worship, where the preacher normally plays a supporting role and keeps quiet (or at least quieter than usual!), I wanted to add this bulletin insert today for you to read on your own.
"The Passion of the Christ" has attracted a great deal of attention in recent days, and opened in local theaters on Ash Wednesday. The first thing as your pastor I want to say is that I hope many of you will go see it, ideally while it’s still in theaters on a large screen. It is a very powerful movie.
Having said that, let me note that a bolt of lightning is powerful, as is electricity. Fire, Mack trucks, sexual intimacy, these are all powerful things: so powerful that we know that there are certain times and places and circumstances where their power can be channeled and used rightly. So we have fireplaces and don’t build a fire in the living
room floor, there are load limits on bridges and CDL’s required to drive certain vehicles, we have the institution of marriage where life and relationships can blossom and grow, and we make sure our wiring has insulation and fuses and no short circuits in it.
I recommend "The Passion of the Christ" to adult, mature Christians. What I very carefully would caution is that this film is not an evangelistic tool for taking your unchurched friend to, or anyone who knows little of the story of Jesus of Nazareth before Good Friday . . .
and it certainly is not for children ? I’d say age 12 and up at the youngest, but parents would know best.
The movie is indeed violent, because it tells the story of what Christ knowingly and willingly faced without flinching. The movie is violent because it accurately portrays the time and place, which is not our own. But those who say the movie is too violent miss something crucial, I believe. They also distract us from talking about the many counterpoints to the violence: the stunning portrayals of Mary and Simon of Cyrene, and the flashbacks throughout, most of which illustrate the correspondences between the Communion table of our Lord and the events we see unfolding.
Many critics and reviewers, quite frankly, seem downright panicked that this movie, so explicitly and deeply rooted in faith of a very traditional sort, might do well. I’ve read joking references to "Mel’s folly" for almost two years now, laughing about his quixotic attempt to make a realistic movie about the Crucifixion in Latin and Aramaic; I’ve
also read from long ago Mr. Gibson philosophically saying, "Sure, I’ll lose my shirt on this, but don’t feel bad for me: I’ve got more shirts than most guys."
Now it appears that audiences are flocking to see the story of Christ’s sacrifice, and his suffering, and when many critics discuss their discomfort with the violence, what I hear them talking about is their own discomfort with how closely we are brought to the sufferer. This is a hard movie to watch, but for reasons that have to do with what we
think that suffering is for. Most movie violence shows the initial impact, and leaves the suffering out. This does not.
A large number of the criticisms of "The Passion" focus on this point: why is there so much emphasis on Christ's suffering and death, and share so little of his wisdom, teaching, and/or spirituality? This gets at a split within much of Christendom, between those who see Jesus as primarily a great moral and ethical teacher, tragically killed at the end of his life -- and those of us who say that, in some mysterious yet necessary way, his death informs the meaning of his life, and can't be seen separate from it. . .or from the Resurrection. To say that we should mainly share Christ as a teacher goes against thousands of years of teaching and understanding (which we still struggle with, to be sure) about how Jesus being "handed over into suffering and death" is at the heart of the Christian witness, at the table of Communion and in the living words of Scripture, Old and New.
As to the flogging scene, little noted is that from the writings of the Roman philosopher Seneca on down, we know that Roman soldiers were brutal and desensitized to their own violence, crucifying dozens and even occasionally hundreds (a hundred years before Jesus, in the Spartacus revolt against Rome, up to 7,000!) as a tool of terror and oppression. Part of this was the sight of roadside miles of crosses, with sufferers
slowly dying of the effects of the cross, often taking up to a week. This happened near Nazareth, around Sepphoris, during the time when Jesus was a child, and he refers to this as an adult (Luke 13:1-3).
If they wanted to speed up the process, with what for the pragmatic and harsh Romans passed for mercy, they would "flog the hide off" the one to be nailed up, so their back could not be used to give support, and thus shorten the death to a single day instead of days and even a week.
Some have asked about the point of Christ carrying an entire cross, while the thieves carry only crosspieces; again, if the arrest and "trial" of Jesus was rushed and somewhat furtive, then the uprights would only have been prepared in advance for the other two. Add to that the intention to humiliate and teach a lesson to those watching: "rebel
against Rome in any way, and this is what you can expect," and the whole cross burden, plus the gratuitous flogging along the journey (the "Via Dolorosa" of the Stations of the Cross, or Dolorous Way) makes a certain cruel sense. Theologically, we also see this as symbolic of Christ carrying an "unnecessary" burden, the weight of our sin and shame.
As to the particularly horrific aspects of what Christ is put through, which some have called "over the top" or "unrealistically demonic", the historian in me trumps the theologian. There is a movie which probably will never be made about a key moment in Ohio history, an event which almost anyone reading this has driven past, just north of Upper Sandusky. It is the death of Col. William Crawford, a close friend of George
Washington, who had the misfortune to command a militia group into the Ohio country during the American Revolution. Many of these same militiamen had brutally massacred almost a hundred innocent Moravian Christian Indians a few months earlier, and now a detachment was looking to find the actual perpetrators of the raids on the Ohio River
settlements in the 1780’s.
Instead, the raiders caught them, and captured a few, including Crawford, who had initially gone along somewhat unwillingly, but precisely to prevent more undisciplined killing as had happened before. Since the previous commander had escaped the debacle on the Sandusky River, these Indians in the pay of the British out of Fort Detroit decided that justice required that this commander pay for his men’s sins, and suffer a hundred deaths to "balance accounts." There was even an American Judas in this story, Simon Girty, who pointed Crawford out and stood by uncomfortably, protesting that he couldn’t have helped if he wanted to.
If you need details, you can "google" around a bit to find out about the horrific, days-long death of Col. Crawford. He was immortalized in numerous Crawford Counties across the Midwest, plus a few Crawfordsvilles. He died for the sins of others, and showing his dying
agonies would make "The Passion" look quite tame. (And the story has long since been confirmed by archaeological research into the marks left on mangled skeletal remains from that period, along with similar tales such as Fr. Jean Brebeuf in Canada, or Simon Kenton in Kentucky and southern Ohio.)
So the question isn’t "does this sort of thing happen" or "is it ever really this horrible" or
even "should this story be told" but "what does this death have to do with me, anyhow?" Crawford’s death has a great deal to do with how this area became part of the United States and how Ohio came to be; can anyone really doubt that Jesus’ death, and the manner of his dying, has any less to do with the world as it is today?
Finally, there have been many who say that the movie does not emphasize Jesus’ "good news" so much as dwell on the "bad news" of his death. To that I have to turn to another old friend in faith, who lived himself 150 years ago, but has said much to me today. "For, while ultimately the Christian message is good news: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace, good will towards men’, ‘Come unto me all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’; it is proximately to man’s self-love the worst possible news -- ‘Take up thy cross and follow me.’ Thus to be relived of suffering in one sense is voluntarily to accept suffering in another." (Kierkegaard by way of W.H. Auden)
If we could get past some of the more simplistic (and I believe, ill-founded) critiques of "The Passion," I believe Christians and others of good will could have some very interesting discussions and even healthy disagreements about how we would have shown or told different parts of the story -- the use of Judas' demonic tormentors and the final scenes in the Temple come to mind -- if we had $30 million to gamble on a "leap of faith" such as this.
There are more points in Mr. Gibson’s defense I could offer, but let me just close by noting that I hope you do see the movie, and we have a chance to discuss it with others through Lent as we again approach Good Friday, those eternally significant events, and their meaning for us.
In Grace & Peace, Pastor Jeff
(on-line p.s.: if this isn't enough for you, click to:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/special/passionofthechrist.html
for large quantities of commentary and reviews from a faith-based perspective. pax, jbg)
(a special bulletin insert, Feb. 29)
Since this is a fifth Sunday/youth-led worship, where the preacher normally plays a supporting role and keeps quiet (or at least quieter than usual!), I wanted to add this bulletin insert today for you to read on your own.
"The Passion of the Christ" has attracted a great deal of attention in recent days, and opened in local theaters on Ash Wednesday. The first thing as your pastor I want to say is that I hope many of you will go see it, ideally while it’s still in theaters on a large screen. It is a very powerful movie.
Having said that, let me note that a bolt of lightning is powerful, as is electricity. Fire, Mack trucks, sexual intimacy, these are all powerful things: so powerful that we know that there are certain times and places and circumstances where their power can be channeled and used rightly. So we have fireplaces and don’t build a fire in the living
room floor, there are load limits on bridges and CDL’s required to drive certain vehicles, we have the institution of marriage where life and relationships can blossom and grow, and we make sure our wiring has insulation and fuses and no short circuits in it.
I recommend "The Passion of the Christ" to adult, mature Christians. What I very carefully would caution is that this film is not an evangelistic tool for taking your unchurched friend to, or anyone who knows little of the story of Jesus of Nazareth before Good Friday . . .
and it certainly is not for children ? I’d say age 12 and up at the youngest, but parents would know best.
The movie is indeed violent, because it tells the story of what Christ knowingly and willingly faced without flinching. The movie is violent because it accurately portrays the time and place, which is not our own. But those who say the movie is too violent miss something crucial, I believe. They also distract us from talking about the many counterpoints to the violence: the stunning portrayals of Mary and Simon of Cyrene, and the flashbacks throughout, most of which illustrate the correspondences between the Communion table of our Lord and the events we see unfolding.
Many critics and reviewers, quite frankly, seem downright panicked that this movie, so explicitly and deeply rooted in faith of a very traditional sort, might do well. I’ve read joking references to "Mel’s folly" for almost two years now, laughing about his quixotic attempt to make a realistic movie about the Crucifixion in Latin and Aramaic; I’ve
also read from long ago Mr. Gibson philosophically saying, "Sure, I’ll lose my shirt on this, but don’t feel bad for me: I’ve got more shirts than most guys."
Now it appears that audiences are flocking to see the story of Christ’s sacrifice, and his suffering, and when many critics discuss their discomfort with the violence, what I hear them talking about is their own discomfort with how closely we are brought to the sufferer. This is a hard movie to watch, but for reasons that have to do with what we
think that suffering is for. Most movie violence shows the initial impact, and leaves the suffering out. This does not.
A large number of the criticisms of "The Passion" focus on this point: why is there so much emphasis on Christ's suffering and death, and share so little of his wisdom, teaching, and/or spirituality? This gets at a split within much of Christendom, between those who see Jesus as primarily a great moral and ethical teacher, tragically killed at the end of his life -- and those of us who say that, in some mysterious yet necessary way, his death informs the meaning of his life, and can't be seen separate from it. . .or from the Resurrection. To say that we should mainly share Christ as a teacher goes against thousands of years of teaching and understanding (which we still struggle with, to be sure) about how Jesus being "handed over into suffering and death" is at the heart of the Christian witness, at the table of Communion and in the living words of Scripture, Old and New.
As to the flogging scene, little noted is that from the writings of the Roman philosopher Seneca on down, we know that Roman soldiers were brutal and desensitized to their own violence, crucifying dozens and even occasionally hundreds (a hundred years before Jesus, in the Spartacus revolt against Rome, up to 7,000!) as a tool of terror and oppression. Part of this was the sight of roadside miles of crosses, with sufferers
slowly dying of the effects of the cross, often taking up to a week. This happened near Nazareth, around Sepphoris, during the time when Jesus was a child, and he refers to this as an adult (Luke 13:1-3).
If they wanted to speed up the process, with what for the pragmatic and harsh Romans passed for mercy, they would "flog the hide off" the one to be nailed up, so their back could not be used to give support, and thus shorten the death to a single day instead of days and even a week.
Some have asked about the point of Christ carrying an entire cross, while the thieves carry only crosspieces; again, if the arrest and "trial" of Jesus was rushed and somewhat furtive, then the uprights would only have been prepared in advance for the other two. Add to that the intention to humiliate and teach a lesson to those watching: "rebel
against Rome in any way, and this is what you can expect," and the whole cross burden, plus the gratuitous flogging along the journey (the "Via Dolorosa" of the Stations of the Cross, or Dolorous Way) makes a certain cruel sense. Theologically, we also see this as symbolic of Christ carrying an "unnecessary" burden, the weight of our sin and shame.
As to the particularly horrific aspects of what Christ is put through, which some have called "over the top" or "unrealistically demonic", the historian in me trumps the theologian. There is a movie which probably will never be made about a key moment in Ohio history, an event which almost anyone reading this has driven past, just north of Upper Sandusky. It is the death of Col. William Crawford, a close friend of George
Washington, who had the misfortune to command a militia group into the Ohio country during the American Revolution. Many of these same militiamen had brutally massacred almost a hundred innocent Moravian Christian Indians a few months earlier, and now a detachment was looking to find the actual perpetrators of the raids on the Ohio River
settlements in the 1780’s.
Instead, the raiders caught them, and captured a few, including Crawford, who had initially gone along somewhat unwillingly, but precisely to prevent more undisciplined killing as had happened before. Since the previous commander had escaped the debacle on the Sandusky River, these Indians in the pay of the British out of Fort Detroit decided that justice required that this commander pay for his men’s sins, and suffer a hundred deaths to "balance accounts." There was even an American Judas in this story, Simon Girty, who pointed Crawford out and stood by uncomfortably, protesting that he couldn’t have helped if he wanted to.
If you need details, you can "google" around a bit to find out about the horrific, days-long death of Col. Crawford. He was immortalized in numerous Crawford Counties across the Midwest, plus a few Crawfordsvilles. He died for the sins of others, and showing his dying
agonies would make "The Passion" look quite tame. (And the story has long since been confirmed by archaeological research into the marks left on mangled skeletal remains from that period, along with similar tales such as Fr. Jean Brebeuf in Canada, or Simon Kenton in Kentucky and southern Ohio.)
So the question isn’t "does this sort of thing happen" or "is it ever really this horrible" or
even "should this story be told" but "what does this death have to do with me, anyhow?" Crawford’s death has a great deal to do with how this area became part of the United States and how Ohio came to be; can anyone really doubt that Jesus’ death, and the manner of his dying, has any less to do with the world as it is today?
Finally, there have been many who say that the movie does not emphasize Jesus’ "good news" so much as dwell on the "bad news" of his death. To that I have to turn to another old friend in faith, who lived himself 150 years ago, but has said much to me today. "For, while ultimately the Christian message is good news: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace, good will towards men’, ‘Come unto me all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’; it is proximately to man’s self-love the worst possible news -- ‘Take up thy cross and follow me.’ Thus to be relived of suffering in one sense is voluntarily to accept suffering in another." (Kierkegaard by way of W.H. Auden)
If we could get past some of the more simplistic (and I believe, ill-founded) critiques of "The Passion," I believe Christians and others of good will could have some very interesting discussions and even healthy disagreements about how we would have shown or told different parts of the story -- the use of Judas' demonic tormentors and the final scenes in the Temple come to mind -- if we had $30 million to gamble on a "leap of faith" such as this.
There are more points in Mr. Gibson’s defense I could offer, but let me just close by noting that I hope you do see the movie, and we have a chance to discuss it with others through Lent as we again approach Good Friday, those eternally significant events, and their meaning for us.
In Grace & Peace, Pastor Jeff
(on-line p.s.: if this isn't enough for you, click to:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/special/passionofthechrist.html
for large quantities of commentary and reviews from a faith-based perspective. pax, jbg)
Monday, February 23, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 2-29-04
“Hebron Has a Festival Coming!”
By Jeff Gill
Big news for the Hebron area! After around 15 years without a local carnival or festival, thanks to the intrepid Hebron Elementary PTO, we will begin a new tradition Memorial Day weekend. What else but a. . . Crossroads Festival!
In Canal Park, rides and games with Michael’s Amusements (a local firm, natch), and in the gazebo, music and storytelling; on Sunday afternoon a concert by the Lakewood Symphonic Band (see further down for a thanx from those fine folks, too) over at Evans Park on Refugee Road; then Monday the fitting finale with the long-standing community parade from the Legion Hall to Hebron Cemetery for a Memorial Day salute and remembrance.
More to come, but exciting news even in outline, isn’t it?
Congratulations to Erin Finkes, who is returning to village council after a “get your child off to college” break, so to speak; the council thanks Ken George, Jack Mayberry, and Jan Yocum for their applications and interest as well.
Election day coming right up March 2, and for the Dems, competition on the national scene (as predicted right here, Kerry or Edwards, but with Ohio finally playing a significant role), while the R’s have all the local fun in one commissioner race, with incumbent “D” Marcia Phelps deservedly heading into November solo in the other.
Respected Republicans Tim Bubb & Jim Crane are getting good marks for their positive campaigning in the Lakewood area, working for the contested seat to replace Albert Ashbrook (and get better soon, Al, tho’ I hear you have expert help working on your lambs this spring). There’s a third, but he hasn’t been seen or heard from around the Crossroads to date, so I’ll stick with saying we couldn’t lose in Licking County with either of these fine men working with Marcia and Jay Baird. I have to say that Tim gets high marks for clever e-mails and great sign placement, and those skills can come in awful handy on the county commissioners’ bench.
If there’s primary opposition to President Bush, I can’t say anything about ‘em, but can I say something about the Guard & Reserves? Considering the number of both R’s (Gingrich, Cheney, Buchanan) and D’s (Dean – remember him? or Clinton – ditto?) who managed to find a way to not sign up or get drafted a’tall, can we just give the man credit for volunteering in the first place? This continued attempt to make Bush look bad for being in the Air Guard runs the risk of defaming a proud branch of the service where there’s more risk than most seem aware of, or are willing to admit.
The point should be that Kerry’s service was exceptionally admirable, and let’s lift that up, rather than try to put down Bush’s time flying F-102’s. Did they both have myriad, even mixed motives for signing up? Well sure; ask me some time why I enlisted, but make sure you have half an hour or so. Few of us whistle “Yankee Doodle” down to the recruiters’ office and take the oath in a pure glow of patriotism.
And no, I don’t know for sure who I’m voting for in November. But it won’t be based on a 30 year old military record, no matter how proud.
Say, while I’m annoying the dickens out of some of y’all loyal readers (if I were making everyone happy, I couldn’t be doing my job that well, right?), can I just ask a question to discomfort everybody?
Back when Judge Roy Moore was defying a court order in keeping a personally placed Ten Commandments monument in his state office building in Alabama, I have to admit I was uncomfortable with his action in response to a duly constituted authority, and said so, to the unhappiness of some of my churchly friends. But now Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, flouts state law and even a recent public referendum on same-sex marriage in his state, and is hailed far and wide as a principled civil servant -- ? So was I wrong to wish Moore had been more law abiding, or to see Newsom as the more egregious offender?
Same-sex marriage advocates would probably get more support from your average “live and let live” American citizen if they didn’t go right on to saying that society will be improved by a looser, freer, less monogamous approach to relationships that same-sex couples will bring to the marriage mix. Yep, that’s what the last thirty years have shown us, all right: less commitment and stability are great for kids and the elderly, the weakest elements of a society. What’s too often missed in this debate is that marriage isn’t an institution about relationships, it’s a social institution. And society has a huge vested interest in strong, stable, lasting families. No solution to the knotty conundrums of abortion, divorce, civil unions, or poor families will gain headway until the debaters acknowledge that the answers will always go far beyond matters of individual preference or relationships in isolation.
Can you tell we’ve entered that serious season of Lent? Well, let’s brighten up a bit before we go. . .
A little news flash thanks to Marsha Justice: Four Lakewood students participated in the God, Flag and Country essay contest sponsored by the Aerie #387 chaired by Linda and Joe Hannigan on February l4th. Elaine Hertler won the l4-l5 year old category and Kyle West won the12-13 year old category. They will move on to compete at the District level in Newark on March l3th at 10a.m. with students from Zanesville.
Any student in Licking County wishing to participate next year should contact your principal or English department. Congratulations also to Ashley Napier who finished 2nd and Jessica Graham who finished 3rd in the 14-15 year old category. Thanks so much to Mrs. Eckard and the Lakewood School System for their hard work, and we wish the two winners the best of luck as they move on in competition.
And a thank you came in over the transom: The Lakewood High School Band, directed by Scott Coffey, Lauren Houk, and Rob Caldwell, in cooperation with the Lakewood Band Boosters, held a successful fundraising dinner last month and would like to thank the many people and organizations that made the evening a success.
First and foremost is the Outback Steak House, which provided the delicious steak and chicken dinners. “These guys went out of their way to provide excellent food, at the perfect serving temperature, to hundreds of people in a short amount of time,” notes Coffey. “We really were impressed with their efforts all the way around.”
Other businesses which donated food, supplies, decorations, and other items include: The Hometown Deli, Hebron; McDonald’s, Hebron; Pepsi, Zanesville; Tri-County Chrysler; Pizza Cottage, Sweetman Music, Lancaster; and Meijer. In addition, individuals providing desserts, silent auction items, or volunteering their time for the event included members of the Lakewood High School Band, the Lakewood Band Boosters, Tim Bubb, and several Lakewood staff members.
According to Director Coffey, the event netted just under $10,000, and will be used to help fund the group’s 2004 trip to play at Disney World in March. “It is a real honor to be selected as one of the bands to play at Disney World in Orlando, marching in the Main Street parade. We are very proud to be among those selected, and we thank each and every person who has helped us along the way to raise enough money in order for us to participate this year.”
“Hebron Has a Festival Coming!”
By Jeff Gill
Big news for the Hebron area! After around 15 years without a local carnival or festival, thanks to the intrepid Hebron Elementary PTO, we will begin a new tradition Memorial Day weekend. What else but a. . . Crossroads Festival!
In Canal Park, rides and games with Michael’s Amusements (a local firm, natch), and in the gazebo, music and storytelling; on Sunday afternoon a concert by the Lakewood Symphonic Band (see further down for a thanx from those fine folks, too) over at Evans Park on Refugee Road; then Monday the fitting finale with the long-standing community parade from the Legion Hall to Hebron Cemetery for a Memorial Day salute and remembrance.
More to come, but exciting news even in outline, isn’t it?
Congratulations to Erin Finkes, who is returning to village council after a “get your child off to college” break, so to speak; the council thanks Ken George, Jack Mayberry, and Jan Yocum for their applications and interest as well.
Election day coming right up March 2, and for the Dems, competition on the national scene (as predicted right here, Kerry or Edwards, but with Ohio finally playing a significant role), while the R’s have all the local fun in one commissioner race, with incumbent “D” Marcia Phelps deservedly heading into November solo in the other.
Respected Republicans Tim Bubb & Jim Crane are getting good marks for their positive campaigning in the Lakewood area, working for the contested seat to replace Albert Ashbrook (and get better soon, Al, tho’ I hear you have expert help working on your lambs this spring). There’s a third, but he hasn’t been seen or heard from around the Crossroads to date, so I’ll stick with saying we couldn’t lose in Licking County with either of these fine men working with Marcia and Jay Baird. I have to say that Tim gets high marks for clever e-mails and great sign placement, and those skills can come in awful handy on the county commissioners’ bench.
If there’s primary opposition to President Bush, I can’t say anything about ‘em, but can I say something about the Guard & Reserves? Considering the number of both R’s (Gingrich, Cheney, Buchanan) and D’s (Dean – remember him? or Clinton – ditto?) who managed to find a way to not sign up or get drafted a’tall, can we just give the man credit for volunteering in the first place? This continued attempt to make Bush look bad for being in the Air Guard runs the risk of defaming a proud branch of the service where there’s more risk than most seem aware of, or are willing to admit.
The point should be that Kerry’s service was exceptionally admirable, and let’s lift that up, rather than try to put down Bush’s time flying F-102’s. Did they both have myriad, even mixed motives for signing up? Well sure; ask me some time why I enlisted, but make sure you have half an hour or so. Few of us whistle “Yankee Doodle” down to the recruiters’ office and take the oath in a pure glow of patriotism.
And no, I don’t know for sure who I’m voting for in November. But it won’t be based on a 30 year old military record, no matter how proud.
Say, while I’m annoying the dickens out of some of y’all loyal readers (if I were making everyone happy, I couldn’t be doing my job that well, right?), can I just ask a question to discomfort everybody?
Back when Judge Roy Moore was defying a court order in keeping a personally placed Ten Commandments monument in his state office building in Alabama, I have to admit I was uncomfortable with his action in response to a duly constituted authority, and said so, to the unhappiness of some of my churchly friends. But now Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, flouts state law and even a recent public referendum on same-sex marriage in his state, and is hailed far and wide as a principled civil servant -- ? So was I wrong to wish Moore had been more law abiding, or to see Newsom as the more egregious offender?
Same-sex marriage advocates would probably get more support from your average “live and let live” American citizen if they didn’t go right on to saying that society will be improved by a looser, freer, less monogamous approach to relationships that same-sex couples will bring to the marriage mix. Yep, that’s what the last thirty years have shown us, all right: less commitment and stability are great for kids and the elderly, the weakest elements of a society. What’s too often missed in this debate is that marriage isn’t an institution about relationships, it’s a social institution. And society has a huge vested interest in strong, stable, lasting families. No solution to the knotty conundrums of abortion, divorce, civil unions, or poor families will gain headway until the debaters acknowledge that the answers will always go far beyond matters of individual preference or relationships in isolation.
Can you tell we’ve entered that serious season of Lent? Well, let’s brighten up a bit before we go. . .
A little news flash thanks to Marsha Justice: Four Lakewood students participated in the God, Flag and Country essay contest sponsored by the Aerie #387 chaired by Linda and Joe Hannigan on February l4th. Elaine Hertler won the l4-l5 year old category and Kyle West won the12-13 year old category. They will move on to compete at the District level in Newark on March l3th at 10a.m. with students from Zanesville.
Any student in Licking County wishing to participate next year should contact your principal or English department. Congratulations also to Ashley Napier who finished 2nd and Jessica Graham who finished 3rd in the 14-15 year old category. Thanks so much to Mrs. Eckard and the Lakewood School System for their hard work, and we wish the two winners the best of luck as they move on in competition.
And a thank you came in over the transom: The Lakewood High School Band, directed by Scott Coffey, Lauren Houk, and Rob Caldwell, in cooperation with the Lakewood Band Boosters, held a successful fundraising dinner last month and would like to thank the many people and organizations that made the evening a success.
First and foremost is the Outback Steak House, which provided the delicious steak and chicken dinners. “These guys went out of their way to provide excellent food, at the perfect serving temperature, to hundreds of people in a short amount of time,” notes Coffey. “We really were impressed with their efforts all the way around.”
Other businesses which donated food, supplies, decorations, and other items include: The Hometown Deli, Hebron; McDonald’s, Hebron; Pepsi, Zanesville; Tri-County Chrysler; Pizza Cottage, Sweetman Music, Lancaster; and Meijer. In addition, individuals providing desserts, silent auction items, or volunteering their time for the event included members of the Lakewood High School Band, the Lakewood Band Boosters, Tim Bubb, and several Lakewood staff members.
According to Director Coffey, the event netted just under $10,000, and will be used to help fund the group’s 2004 trip to play at Disney World in March. “It is a real honor to be selected as one of the bands to play at Disney World in Orlando, marching in the Main Street parade. We are very proud to be among those selected, and we thank each and every person who has helped us along the way to raise enough money in order for us to participate this year.”
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Notes From My Knapsack – March 2004 “The Church Window”
Most of you reading this know that, when trying to understand a problem of today, my first impulse is to look at the past. History is not an unfailing guide, but can be a useful directional arrow. In the same sense, Scripture guides us not by having specific counsel for every situation we meet, but by always pointing us towards God’s presence in every event.
These are, indeed, interesting times we find ourselves in. Americans, and Christians of this nation, have found themselves in morally challenging situations before. I look to the period before the Civil War, the work of the abolitionists, when I think about the dilemma of abortion in society.
When we look back on the 1830’s, 40’s, and 50’s, I don’t think many of us have trouble sympathizing with the supporters of the Underground Railroad, who had stops right here in the Hebron area on the way to the Western Reserve, Canada, and freedom. And it takes little empathy to understand the resistance of many slaveholders, who greatly feared releasing those whom they had bought and sold and slain. Those who are most baffling, looking back, are the bulk of Americans who had little concern about slavery and bondage as long as they weren’t bothered, financially or personally. It was their indifference that led to five years of slaughter and bloodshed between Union and Confederate troops.
When a future era looks back on the days of abortion on demand throughout the third trimester, I fear they will wonder much the same about us. Even after viability, you chose to permit the killing of unborn infants? How could so many have been so indifferent?
At the same time, some would evoke the era of the Civil Rights struggle of the 1950’s and 60’s to urge people of good will to support the cause of same-sex marriage, equating sexual orientation and racial status, making this the new civil rights debate. I have spent much time in prayer and reflection and study over this question, and yet cannot find a way to make any behavioral choice one might make the same as an ethnic status. There are friends I have lost over this question, and more pain ahead I can see.
Others insist on a literally Biblical turn of argument, where also I cannot go. My concern over widening the scope of marriage is that the bonds of obligation are already looser than they were a generation ago, and the clear losers are the most vulnerable and weak. As Christians, we are called to shape communities and build relationships that defend and support the weak and powerless.
May we faithfully use both Scripture and Tradition to bring past and future together this Lenten season.
In Grace and Peace, Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Pastor’s Class for Membership
Sundays at 4 pm, starting March 7
For age 11 through ??
* * * * * * *
“The Purpose Driven Life”
by Rick Warren
a 40 Day study through Lent!
“What on earth am I here for?”
Small Group opportunities:
Sunday @ 9:30 am – Older Youth Class
-- Adult Class
Wednesday @ 10 am – Lenten Study Group
Thursday @ 7 am – Prayer & Study Group
Thursday @ 6:30 pm – Junior Choir (brief)
Thursday @ 7 pm – Senior Choir (brief)
Saturday @ 8 am – Hometown Deli
As well as Sunday sermon through Holy Week,
And weekly themes/questions on the church web site,
http://go.to/Hebron_Christian
* * * * * * *
Interfaith Legal Services
offered at Hebron Christian Church
Wed., Mar. 17th
5 to 8 pm
First 30 present are assisted
Most of you reading this know that, when trying to understand a problem of today, my first impulse is to look at the past. History is not an unfailing guide, but can be a useful directional arrow. In the same sense, Scripture guides us not by having specific counsel for every situation we meet, but by always pointing us towards God’s presence in every event.
These are, indeed, interesting times we find ourselves in. Americans, and Christians of this nation, have found themselves in morally challenging situations before. I look to the period before the Civil War, the work of the abolitionists, when I think about the dilemma of abortion in society.
When we look back on the 1830’s, 40’s, and 50’s, I don’t think many of us have trouble sympathizing with the supporters of the Underground Railroad, who had stops right here in the Hebron area on the way to the Western Reserve, Canada, and freedom. And it takes little empathy to understand the resistance of many slaveholders, who greatly feared releasing those whom they had bought and sold and slain. Those who are most baffling, looking back, are the bulk of Americans who had little concern about slavery and bondage as long as they weren’t bothered, financially or personally. It was their indifference that led to five years of slaughter and bloodshed between Union and Confederate troops.
When a future era looks back on the days of abortion on demand throughout the third trimester, I fear they will wonder much the same about us. Even after viability, you chose to permit the killing of unborn infants? How could so many have been so indifferent?
At the same time, some would evoke the era of the Civil Rights struggle of the 1950’s and 60’s to urge people of good will to support the cause of same-sex marriage, equating sexual orientation and racial status, making this the new civil rights debate. I have spent much time in prayer and reflection and study over this question, and yet cannot find a way to make any behavioral choice one might make the same as an ethnic status. There are friends I have lost over this question, and more pain ahead I can see.
Others insist on a literally Biblical turn of argument, where also I cannot go. My concern over widening the scope of marriage is that the bonds of obligation are already looser than they were a generation ago, and the clear losers are the most vulnerable and weak. As Christians, we are called to shape communities and build relationships that defend and support the weak and powerless.
May we faithfully use both Scripture and Tradition to bring past and future together this Lenten season.
In Grace and Peace, Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Pastor’s Class for Membership
Sundays at 4 pm, starting March 7
For age 11 through ??
* * * * * * *
“The Purpose Driven Life”
by Rick Warren
a 40 Day study through Lent!
“What on earth am I here for?”
Small Group opportunities:
Sunday @ 9:30 am – Older Youth Class
-- Adult Class
Wednesday @ 10 am – Lenten Study Group
Thursday @ 7 am – Prayer & Study Group
Thursday @ 6:30 pm – Junior Choir (brief)
Thursday @ 7 pm – Senior Choir (brief)
Saturday @ 8 am – Hometown Deli
As well as Sunday sermon through Holy Week,
And weekly themes/questions on the church web site,
http://go.to/Hebron_Christian
* * * * * * *
Interfaith Legal Services
offered at Hebron Christian Church
Wed., Mar. 17th
5 to 8 pm
First 30 present are assisted
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 2-22-04
By Jeff Gill
Janice Harris assures me that CPT does indeed stand for “certified personal trainer,” since she just got that certification herself. It is a good thing to hear that places like “It’s a Girl Thing” are doing so well, and that personal fitness and physical health are valued in a new way by so many. Keep up the good work, y’all!
Helping others with their health was the result of the ongoing series of Red Cross blood drives at the Hebron Municipal Complex. The date and even time change (starting at 2 instead of 1 pm, which wasn’t Linda’s idea!) kept some from donating, but over sixty people will benefit from the two-dozen pints donated right before Valentine’s Day. We’ll remind you here at the Hebron Crossroads of the mid-April blood drive a little closer to the day, which is Apr. 19 and will go back to a 1 pm start.
In the volunteering and helping others department, I heard that Beth Walters received the “Volunteer of the Quarter” award from the Licking County Board of Realtors. That group is a real county wide asset, by the way, with a track record for service and support matched by few trade associations. For Beth to stand out among that crowd is a double compliment.
Beth has been a big part of the 9-11 “Patriots Day” community service projects these last few years, and we’re looking at a possible “Crossroads Festival” for the Hebron area coming soon. . .stay tuned.
We’ll also have more to share in the next few weeks about the work Lakewood Intermediate is doing to prepare for the writing portions of the proficiency tests coming in a few weeks. There are some great budding writers over on Lancers Road, and that’s good news for editor Amy as she looks for future correspondents and columnists in a few years.
Next week is Ash Wednesday, the traditional beginning of Lent, the period that leads to Easter. For some, the significance is that it’s the day after “Fat Tuesday” (or in French, “Mardi Gras”) when the big blowout before the rigors of Lenten fasting and discipline begin. The Licking County Coalition for Housing will be just a few days late (somehow that seems appropriate) celebrating a great cause with their Mardi Gras fundraiser at the Granville Inn Friday, Feb. 27. Call 345-1970 to see if there’s still a ticket or two left for the murder mystery and fine food evening.
Being a pastor, you’ll expect me to note that the season of Lent really is for preparation, to get ready mind, body, and spirit for Easter week. We’ve talked about physical health: giving up or taking on something for Lent is really about your mental and spiritual health.
There are a number of Licking County churches that are reading the forty chapters of “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren through Lent day by day, and you can find one near wherever you live.
And you’ve probably heard about the movie. Yep, that movie. “The Passion of the Christ,” a work of love produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who feels that reclaiming his faith saved his life from Hollywood excess. Some feel that the movie has its own excesses, both in terms of the violence shown and the blame cast.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, so my comments are limited, but I do want to make two here. First, from everything I’ve read on-line and seen on TV, this is a devotional message, not so much an evangelistic tool. What I mean by that is that this doesn’t sound like it was meant as a good “front door” or first stop along the way into understanding the message and meaning of Jesus’ last twelve hours on that long ago Friday. Mel didn’t pick Ash Wednesday as the release date at random, I am quite certain. This movie is intended to focus and intensify a Christian’s understanding of what that death represents. I won’t say that “The Passion” won’t spark some conversions, but it is aimed primarily at those who already have a sense of the story and where it leads, drawing them deeper.
As to accusations of blaming the faith of Judaism or Jews in general for Christ’s death, while there is a clear obligation on Christians since the Holocaust to be scrupulously careful about where our teaching leads, I think the movie carries within itself one immensely powerful counterargument, carefully placed.
Mel Gibson made, bankrolled, and risked much to make this film. But he didn’t put his own very bankable self into the shooting. . .except for one scene. You won’t see his face. When Jesus is nailed to the cross, the hands and forearms that hold the nails and swing the mallet are those of Mr. Gibson himself.
I think that should clear up any question of who he thinks is “responsible” for nailing Christ to the cross.
“The Passion” won’t be for everyone. You will have to decide for yourself if the wrenching experience of such violence, graphically depicted, is appropriate for you or those under your care. Yet I don’t think you have to be a preacher to note that this is an event that stands at the heart of human history as we know it, and the question of why we’re still talking about the death of a minor political prisoner in an obscure backwater of a long-dead ancient empire is still worth talking about.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church; if you have Lenten events at your church or other news of local interest, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net or call 928-4066.
By Jeff Gill
Janice Harris assures me that CPT does indeed stand for “certified personal trainer,” since she just got that certification herself. It is a good thing to hear that places like “It’s a Girl Thing” are doing so well, and that personal fitness and physical health are valued in a new way by so many. Keep up the good work, y’all!
Helping others with their health was the result of the ongoing series of Red Cross blood drives at the Hebron Municipal Complex. The date and even time change (starting at 2 instead of 1 pm, which wasn’t Linda’s idea!) kept some from donating, but over sixty people will benefit from the two-dozen pints donated right before Valentine’s Day. We’ll remind you here at the Hebron Crossroads of the mid-April blood drive a little closer to the day, which is Apr. 19 and will go back to a 1 pm start.
In the volunteering and helping others department, I heard that Beth Walters received the “Volunteer of the Quarter” award from the Licking County Board of Realtors. That group is a real county wide asset, by the way, with a track record for service and support matched by few trade associations. For Beth to stand out among that crowd is a double compliment.
Beth has been a big part of the 9-11 “Patriots Day” community service projects these last few years, and we’re looking at a possible “Crossroads Festival” for the Hebron area coming soon. . .stay tuned.
We’ll also have more to share in the next few weeks about the work Lakewood Intermediate is doing to prepare for the writing portions of the proficiency tests coming in a few weeks. There are some great budding writers over on Lancers Road, and that’s good news for editor Amy as she looks for future correspondents and columnists in a few years.
Next week is Ash Wednesday, the traditional beginning of Lent, the period that leads to Easter. For some, the significance is that it’s the day after “Fat Tuesday” (or in French, “Mardi Gras”) when the big blowout before the rigors of Lenten fasting and discipline begin. The Licking County Coalition for Housing will be just a few days late (somehow that seems appropriate) celebrating a great cause with their Mardi Gras fundraiser at the Granville Inn Friday, Feb. 27. Call 345-1970 to see if there’s still a ticket or two left for the murder mystery and fine food evening.
Being a pastor, you’ll expect me to note that the season of Lent really is for preparation, to get ready mind, body, and spirit for Easter week. We’ve talked about physical health: giving up or taking on something for Lent is really about your mental and spiritual health.
There are a number of Licking County churches that are reading the forty chapters of “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren through Lent day by day, and you can find one near wherever you live.
And you’ve probably heard about the movie. Yep, that movie. “The Passion of the Christ,” a work of love produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who feels that reclaiming his faith saved his life from Hollywood excess. Some feel that the movie has its own excesses, both in terms of the violence shown and the blame cast.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, so my comments are limited, but I do want to make two here. First, from everything I’ve read on-line and seen on TV, this is a devotional message, not so much an evangelistic tool. What I mean by that is that this doesn’t sound like it was meant as a good “front door” or first stop along the way into understanding the message and meaning of Jesus’ last twelve hours on that long ago Friday. Mel didn’t pick Ash Wednesday as the release date at random, I am quite certain. This movie is intended to focus and intensify a Christian’s understanding of what that death represents. I won’t say that “The Passion” won’t spark some conversions, but it is aimed primarily at those who already have a sense of the story and where it leads, drawing them deeper.
As to accusations of blaming the faith of Judaism or Jews in general for Christ’s death, while there is a clear obligation on Christians since the Holocaust to be scrupulously careful about where our teaching leads, I think the movie carries within itself one immensely powerful counterargument, carefully placed.
Mel Gibson made, bankrolled, and risked much to make this film. But he didn’t put his own very bankable self into the shooting. . .except for one scene. You won’t see his face. When Jesus is nailed to the cross, the hands and forearms that hold the nails and swing the mallet are those of Mr. Gibson himself.
I think that should clear up any question of who he thinks is “responsible” for nailing Christ to the cross.
“The Passion” won’t be for everyone. You will have to decide for yourself if the wrenching experience of such violence, graphically depicted, is appropriate for you or those under your care. Yet I don’t think you have to be a preacher to note that this is an event that stands at the heart of human history as we know it, and the question of why we’re still talking about the death of a minor political prisoner in an obscure backwater of a long-dead ancient empire is still worth talking about.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church; if you have Lenten events at your church or other news of local interest, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net or call 928-4066.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Proposed Outline for Camp Christian x 12 Task Force
Our first steps have to be to get everyone together on the same page
as to how Camp Christian has been (in the recent past) used through
Sept. to May, and how the general cost/income structure works, in reference to the general regional budget and as to fee structures for camp/conf, CWF/CMF retreats, congregational use, and outside interests.
After going over this to everyone's clarity, our next task is to look ahead, and then farther forward; to wit:
Short term futures (one to three years)
* Increased usage for training and retreats to empower congregations and leaders (how would this fit into what we're doing now, what plans are currently in the works assuming use of camp facility)
* Year-round school and possible adaptations camp/conf program would make to space under that eventuality
* A New church start support for west-of-Delaware or east-of-Marysville area
* Possible impacts depending on various configurations of relocated regional office
Long term futures (four years and out)
* Revenue generating uses [yes, i'm intentionally putting this under long- term; while a two to three year out possibility exists, i don't want anyone getting too excited based on all i'm hearing from other camps/mgrs i'm talking to about revenue generation; specifically, Camp Lazarus south of Delaware, Beaumont Scout Reservation near Cleveland, UCC's Templed and Pilgrim Hills, Presby's Geneva Hills near Logan, RC's in WV with Wheeling and Charleston retreat centers that are very "posh" for retreat housing and meals]
* Leadership Center/Outdoor Ed Center/Retreat Center subcontracting
* Agressive marketing to a) our region's congregations and small groups, b) the central Ohio market for such a facility, c) Ohio/Midwest church groups with similar aims. This possibility, where seen succesfully, is tied to being seen as a staffed center of excellence in some particular area of training or spirituality. . .and usually requires some extral fiscal support, whether judicatory, general, or grants.
* Or opening a Starbucks/Panera in the new dining hall to attract commuters off of Rt. 37. . .
Our first steps have to be to get everyone together on the same page
as to how Camp Christian has been (in the recent past) used through
Sept. to May, and how the general cost/income structure works, in reference to the general regional budget and as to fee structures for camp/conf, CWF/CMF retreats, congregational use, and outside interests.
After going over this to everyone's clarity, our next task is to look ahead, and then farther forward; to wit:
Short term futures (one to three years)
* Increased usage for training and retreats to empower congregations and leaders (how would this fit into what we're doing now, what plans are currently in the works assuming use of camp facility)
* Year-round school and possible adaptations camp/conf program would make to space under that eventuality
* A New church start support for west-of-Delaware or east-of-Marysville area
* Possible impacts depending on various configurations of relocated regional office
Long term futures (four years and out)
* Revenue generating uses [yes, i'm intentionally putting this under long- term; while a two to three year out possibility exists, i don't want anyone getting too excited based on all i'm hearing from other camps/mgrs i'm talking to about revenue generation; specifically, Camp Lazarus south of Delaware, Beaumont Scout Reservation near Cleveland, UCC's Templed and Pilgrim Hills, Presby's Geneva Hills near Logan, RC's in WV with Wheeling and Charleston retreat centers that are very "posh" for retreat housing and meals]
* Leadership Center/Outdoor Ed Center/Retreat Center subcontracting
* Agressive marketing to a) our region's congregations and small groups, b) the central Ohio market for such a facility, c) Ohio/Midwest church groups with similar aims. This possibility, where seen succesfully, is tied to being seen as a staffed center of excellence in some particular area of training or spirituality. . .and usually requires some extral fiscal support, whether judicatory, general, or grants.
* Or opening a Starbucks/Panera in the new dining hall to attract commuters off of Rt. 37. . .
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 2-15-04
By Jeff Gill
Did you watch “Groundhog’s Day” early in February? That Bill Murray & Andie McDowell classic is one of those films that may not be one of the best crafted movies ever made, but just has a lasting impact on your psyche.
It’s one of those movies that becomes, I’d say, part of your “mental furniture,” with images and dialogue that keep cropping up in how we deal with everyday “real” life.
That’s part of the anticipatory excitement I feel for “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” the movie based on a book based on a Vermeer painting.
Vermeer’s art has long fascinated me, and all the critical buzz has so far focused on how each shot in the movie looks like a Vermeer portrait. OK, stop right there. If I get to see live action versions of Vermeer paintings, with stark northern Dutch light angling into stern Delft interiors and enigmatic Netherlandish characters, I’m there. If the plot makes sense, that’s gravy.
Make no mistake about it, the visual images we take in, like “you are what you eat,” shape our view of the world. That’s what is the real story behind the Super Bowl halftime flap: not whether certain body parts shouldn’t seen on primetime broadcast TV (sure, you can guess my answer to that one), but how folks are reaching into our heads and rearranging the sofa and mantelpieces of our everyday imaginings that we never intended. I’m not as bothered by Justin’s immature self-promoting self-absorbtion as I am by MTV, CBS, and the NFL trying to pretend that they had no idea, couldn’t have known, had no intention, blah blah blah.
In the immortal (paraphrased) words of Judge Judy, don’t pour your coffee on my foot and then tell me it’s raining. All of those aforementioned corporate entities want to push our mental furniture and emotional boundaries to where it suits them, and over our heartfelt objections. So we either turn it off, or take control in any way we can, and picking our viewing carefully can sure help.
There are an assortment of “mental furniture” films that earn repeated showings in Chez Gill. These aren’t the finest movies we can name, but they do have lines or scenes that just etch themselves on our memory and have a way of interpreting everyday experience for us. In no particular order. . .
1. We know you’re all tired of hearing me go on about “Holiday Inn,” but from “a great big valise full / of books to read where it’s peaceful,” or “I’ll be big” to, well, every other line in the durn flick, we just find Bing’s or Fred’s dialogue universally applicable.
2. “Local Hero” has long had a strange hold on me, and I keep trying to make Joyce enjoy it too, especially the idea that every idyllic spot is also a place someone is desperately trying to escape from, and vice versa, and they may both be equally right.
3. “The Trip To Bountiful” tells us something about having a connection to a piece of land, no matter how unremarkable, and how that connection gives us meaning and makes us part of something larger than ourselves.
4. You expect a pastor to have a religious film on a list like this, and mine is “Jesus Christ Superstar,” especially the opening soliloquy by Judas and Jesus’ solo in Gethsemane. When Pilate sings softly “Who are you, Jesus Christ,” he asks a question that demands an answer, from us if not from the questioner himself.
5. If you haven’t seen “The Milagro Beanfield War,” you are no doubt in good company. Too, too tragically few ever saw this wonderful movie, which was what Robert Redford the director did after “Ordinary People,” his amazing rookie effort. You really can’t miss when filming northern New Mexico around Chimayo and Truchas, but Bob did even more than make it beautiful, he made it real by making it magical. That stretch of country has some special meaning to my wife and I, but this story adds to that narrative instead of just offering visuals.
6. “Broadcast News,” and the line “no, it’s awful. . .” if you don’t know what I mean, you need to watch the movie; just like
7. “State & Main;” “Go you Huskies.” Don’t ask, just go rent the film.
Or 8., “Roxanne,” and “let’s just stay up here for a while.” Along with counting how many jokes Steve Martin has to tell to get to twenty, and it’s more than 20.
9. “Casablanca” may be a movie more quoted than viewed; if you haven’t seen the story in full, give Bogie and Bergman a chance. This is a pop cultural gold mine, all the way to “this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
10. If you don’t get a lift from Errol Flynn’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and the Hans Zimmer score, you need a cardiologist to give you a thorough check up. Really.
11. “Leap of Faith” has one of the best endings of any movie I know from the last two decades, but for signature lines, let me just remind you: “aluminum siding.” If you start watching it and think in the first twenty minutes this isn’t your taste, give it another twenty, and you can’t turn it off.
12. While we’re singing the praises of one of today’s finest actors, I’ll list another Steve Martin movie. “Parenthood” is a flick that may be a bit trite in parts, but the whole hangs together as something rarely matched. And when Jason Robards tells us (through his “son” Steve) that parents “never get to cross the goal line and spike the ball and do a victory dance,” you know you’re hearing Wisdom with a capital W.
13. “A Man For All Seasons” with Paul Scofield and Orson Welles is the most visually ravishing and best acted versions you will ever see of Robert Bolt’s brilliant script.Bolt’s “The Mission” was amazing in its own right, and existentially searing, but so many scenes in the story of Thomas More come to mind in more everyday life’s challenges. Not yet “Saint” Thomas More, Scofield shows us the path of purification this ambitious man takes from the courts of power to solitary faithfulness.
14. “Nobody’s Fool” is Paul Newman at his best telling one of Richard Russo’s better tales. Read any book you can find by Russo, but catch this realization of friendship as soon as you can, with the most remarkable climactic scene I know of in all moviedom: a small boy carrying an artificial leg across a barroom floor. Yeah, I know what you’ll say, it’s been done. But not like this.
15. For no good reason, Joyce and I have become quite enamoured of “The Right Stuff.” It may be the scenes of Chuck Yeager, played by the incomparable Sam Shephard, asking to borrow a stick of Beeman’s Gum as he heads out to break the sound barrier, or it may be the taglines like “spam in a can,” “our rockets always blow up,” or even “the right stuff,” but right up to the final narration by Gordo Cooper himself, the story is made all the more stirring by being true.
What movies are part of your mental furniture? Let me know at disciple@voyager.net, or call 928-4066. And we’ll share your memorable selections next week at the Hebron Crossroads.
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads 2-08-04
By Jeff Gill
So much going on around the Hebron Crossroads this February, and so little time in this, the shortest month of the year! At least we get an extra day this leap year, and on a Sunday no less. We need it. . .let’s go:
As of this weekend, you can now go to the Licking County Coalition for Housing website at http://www.lcchousing.org to register online for their upcoming “Murder at Mardi Gras” fundraising event on February 27 at The Granville Inn.
With the help of the Licking County Players, your $50 ticket will welcome you to a mystery inside The Granville Inn that you might have a part in solving, while enjoying food thingys (I’ve never been able to spell that horse-over-doors French foodie word) and a cash bar. Beads will be provided, since it can’t be Mardi Gras without colorful trinkets, right? More importantly, proceeds help to support the work of this vital assistance agency in our county.
On the LCCH home page, click on "Coming Events", then go to “Murder at
Mardi Gras,” click, and it should take you to the online form hosted by
Sporg.com. Guests can send their checks to PO Box 613, Newark, OH
43058-0613 or call the Coalition office at 345-1970 to pay with VISA or MasterCard. The Granville Inn is taking and holding reservations as well, and response is already lively for this “deadly” event. So you need to mark your calendar and make reservations TODAY!
Are you ready to think about the Hartford Fair in August? A warming thought, isn’t it? This Sunday, Feb. 8, at 6 pm in the basement of Hebron Christian Church on West Main Street, Prime Producers 4-H Club will have their organizational meeting. All school age children, boys or girls, can find a place in this great organization, learning public speaking and presentation skills, working on projects from woodworking and welding to gardening or rabbit raising.
Also on Sun., Feb. 8 is the next preview service for New Life Community at Lakewood Middle School in the auditorium. Worship begins at 10:30 am with child care provided. Come join Brian Harkness and their praise team in some contemporary Christian music and a message for Christ-centered living. They will continue to worship monthly until their “launch” with weekly worship in the fall.
Going back to the Hebron Christian Church basement, next Sat., Feb. 14, the Feast of Saint Valentine (as some might call it), there’s going to be a Sweetheart Spaghetti Dinner serving from 5 to 7 pm. It is a donations-only affair, with contributions going to help us support the new construction at Camp Christian for increased summer camp attendance.
Don’t know where to take your date for Valentine’s Day? Where else can you find bad karaoke and the great Dean Martin, the pride of Steubenville, singing “That’s Amore”? Until the next baked steak dinner at Hebron United Methodist (coming soon!), stock up on yer healthy antioxidants in marinara sauce next Saturday. Atkins plan folks can just have a bowl of the meal sauce with a spoon, and I’ll eat your breadsticks for you. . .
Hebron PTO had a great response for their “Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration” at the school last December, with 50 volunteers from the community that included a great effort from Dow in the Industrial Park. They have also sponsored the “Grandparents Day” programs at Hebron Elementary. 3rd grade has had theirs, and 2nd grade grandparents are re-invited Feb. 11 at 2:30 after they had their own grandparental snow day. 1st grade will have Grandparent Day Feb. 19.
All the feedback so far has been very positive, with Dr. Geist, the principal, telling the PTO about folks saying they hadn’t been in the building since the 50’s or 60’s in some cases, and adding “I had no idea the building was this well maintained!”
Kudos to Tim Nauer, his staff, as well as all the teachers involved, for giving some of our area senior citizens a new look at Hebron High through the eyes of their Hebron Elementary grandkids.
Days out of school ahead include a Parent-Teacher conference day on Fri., Feb. 13, plus the following Monday for President’s Day Feb. 16, and then a two hour early release Wed., Feb. 18.
Recently, I got an e-mail from a personal fitness trainer in the area, Kelly Biemesderfer, CFT. (I’m going to bet that stands for “certified fitness trainer,” dontcha think?) She has a local business, Sound Body Personal Training, and works with a number of local women at “It’s A Girl Thing” in Buckeye Lake.
Kelly also is in that select group of people who, amazingly, read all the way to the end of the Hebron Crossorads for my not-quite-always serious sign-off. When I wrote recently on eight steps to keeping resolutions, Kelly’s was one of a number of appreciative messages I got, but she also noted my “request” for veggie omelet recipe to improve our breakfasts! And here it is. . .
Very Veggie Omelet
Submitted by: Taste of Home's Light & Tasty from http://allrecipes.com
This light and fluffy omelet is a new twist on breakfast. It's chock-full of garden goodness.
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
1 small zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup chopped tomato
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 egg whites
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, divided
Directions:
1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the zucchini, tomato, oregano and pepper. Cook and stir for 5-8 minutes or until vegetables are tender and liquid is nearly evaporated. Set aside and keep warm.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites, water, cream of tartar and salt until stiff peaks form. Place egg substitute in another bowl; fold in egg white mixture. Pour into a 10-in. ovenproof skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Spoon vegetable mixture over one side; sprinkle with half of the cheese. To fold, score middle of omelet with a sharp knife; fold omelet over filling. Transfer to a warm platter. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cut in half to serve.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (half an omelet) equals 197 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 639 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 19 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 lean meat, 2 vegetable.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church but is ecumenical in where he eats spaghetti or baked steak; if you have a dinner or breakfast fundraiser to announce or local news to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net. And next week, he may even have something to say about Justin and Janet, after he figures out what it is everyone’s talking about.
By Jeff Gill
Did you watch “Groundhog’s Day” early in February? That Bill Murray & Andie McDowell classic is one of those films that may not be one of the best crafted movies ever made, but just has a lasting impact on your psyche.
It’s one of those movies that becomes, I’d say, part of your “mental furniture,” with images and dialogue that keep cropping up in how we deal with everyday “real” life.
That’s part of the anticipatory excitement I feel for “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” the movie based on a book based on a Vermeer painting.
Vermeer’s art has long fascinated me, and all the critical buzz has so far focused on how each shot in the movie looks like a Vermeer portrait. OK, stop right there. If I get to see live action versions of Vermeer paintings, with stark northern Dutch light angling into stern Delft interiors and enigmatic Netherlandish characters, I’m there. If the plot makes sense, that’s gravy.
Make no mistake about it, the visual images we take in, like “you are what you eat,” shape our view of the world. That’s what is the real story behind the Super Bowl halftime flap: not whether certain body parts shouldn’t seen on primetime broadcast TV (sure, you can guess my answer to that one), but how folks are reaching into our heads and rearranging the sofa and mantelpieces of our everyday imaginings that we never intended. I’m not as bothered by Justin’s immature self-promoting self-absorbtion as I am by MTV, CBS, and the NFL trying to pretend that they had no idea, couldn’t have known, had no intention, blah blah blah.
In the immortal (paraphrased) words of Judge Judy, don’t pour your coffee on my foot and then tell me it’s raining. All of those aforementioned corporate entities want to push our mental furniture and emotional boundaries to where it suits them, and over our heartfelt objections. So we either turn it off, or take control in any way we can, and picking our viewing carefully can sure help.
There are an assortment of “mental furniture” films that earn repeated showings in Chez Gill. These aren’t the finest movies we can name, but they do have lines or scenes that just etch themselves on our memory and have a way of interpreting everyday experience for us. In no particular order. . .
1. We know you’re all tired of hearing me go on about “Holiday Inn,” but from “a great big valise full / of books to read where it’s peaceful,” or “I’ll be big” to, well, every other line in the durn flick, we just find Bing’s or Fred’s dialogue universally applicable.
2. “Local Hero” has long had a strange hold on me, and I keep trying to make Joyce enjoy it too, especially the idea that every idyllic spot is also a place someone is desperately trying to escape from, and vice versa, and they may both be equally right.
3. “The Trip To Bountiful” tells us something about having a connection to a piece of land, no matter how unremarkable, and how that connection gives us meaning and makes us part of something larger than ourselves.
4. You expect a pastor to have a religious film on a list like this, and mine is “Jesus Christ Superstar,” especially the opening soliloquy by Judas and Jesus’ solo in Gethsemane. When Pilate sings softly “Who are you, Jesus Christ,” he asks a question that demands an answer, from us if not from the questioner himself.
5. If you haven’t seen “The Milagro Beanfield War,” you are no doubt in good company. Too, too tragically few ever saw this wonderful movie, which was what Robert Redford the director did after “Ordinary People,” his amazing rookie effort. You really can’t miss when filming northern New Mexico around Chimayo and Truchas, but Bob did even more than make it beautiful, he made it real by making it magical. That stretch of country has some special meaning to my wife and I, but this story adds to that narrative instead of just offering visuals.
6. “Broadcast News,” and the line “no, it’s awful. . .” if you don’t know what I mean, you need to watch the movie; just like
7. “State & Main;” “Go you Huskies.” Don’t ask, just go rent the film.
Or 8., “Roxanne,” and “let’s just stay up here for a while.” Along with counting how many jokes Steve Martin has to tell to get to twenty, and it’s more than 20.
9. “Casablanca” may be a movie more quoted than viewed; if you haven’t seen the story in full, give Bogie and Bergman a chance. This is a pop cultural gold mine, all the way to “this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
10. If you don’t get a lift from Errol Flynn’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and the Hans Zimmer score, you need a cardiologist to give you a thorough check up. Really.
11. “Leap of Faith” has one of the best endings of any movie I know from the last two decades, but for signature lines, let me just remind you: “aluminum siding.” If you start watching it and think in the first twenty minutes this isn’t your taste, give it another twenty, and you can’t turn it off.
12. While we’re singing the praises of one of today’s finest actors, I’ll list another Steve Martin movie. “Parenthood” is a flick that may be a bit trite in parts, but the whole hangs together as something rarely matched. And when Jason Robards tells us (through his “son” Steve) that parents “never get to cross the goal line and spike the ball and do a victory dance,” you know you’re hearing Wisdom with a capital W.
13. “A Man For All Seasons” with Paul Scofield and Orson Welles is the most visually ravishing and best acted versions you will ever see of Robert Bolt’s brilliant script.Bolt’s “The Mission” was amazing in its own right, and existentially searing, but so many scenes in the story of Thomas More come to mind in more everyday life’s challenges. Not yet “Saint” Thomas More, Scofield shows us the path of purification this ambitious man takes from the courts of power to solitary faithfulness.
14. “Nobody’s Fool” is Paul Newman at his best telling one of Richard Russo’s better tales. Read any book you can find by Russo, but catch this realization of friendship as soon as you can, with the most remarkable climactic scene I know of in all moviedom: a small boy carrying an artificial leg across a barroom floor. Yeah, I know what you’ll say, it’s been done. But not like this.
15. For no good reason, Joyce and I have become quite enamoured of “The Right Stuff.” It may be the scenes of Chuck Yeager, played by the incomparable Sam Shephard, asking to borrow a stick of Beeman’s Gum as he heads out to break the sound barrier, or it may be the taglines like “spam in a can,” “our rockets always blow up,” or even “the right stuff,” but right up to the final narration by Gordo Cooper himself, the story is made all the more stirring by being true.
What movies are part of your mental furniture? Let me know at disciple@voyager.net, or call 928-4066. And we’ll share your memorable selections next week at the Hebron Crossroads.
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads 2-08-04
By Jeff Gill
So much going on around the Hebron Crossroads this February, and so little time in this, the shortest month of the year! At least we get an extra day this leap year, and on a Sunday no less. We need it. . .let’s go:
As of this weekend, you can now go to the Licking County Coalition for Housing website at http://www.lcchousing.org to register online for their upcoming “Murder at Mardi Gras” fundraising event on February 27 at The Granville Inn.
With the help of the Licking County Players, your $50 ticket will welcome you to a mystery inside The Granville Inn that you might have a part in solving, while enjoying food thingys (I’ve never been able to spell that horse-over-doors French foodie word) and a cash bar. Beads will be provided, since it can’t be Mardi Gras without colorful trinkets, right? More importantly, proceeds help to support the work of this vital assistance agency in our county.
On the LCCH home page, click on "Coming Events", then go to “Murder at
Mardi Gras,” click, and it should take you to the online form hosted by
Sporg.com. Guests can send their checks to PO Box 613, Newark, OH
43058-0613 or call the Coalition office at 345-1970 to pay with VISA or MasterCard. The Granville Inn is taking and holding reservations as well, and response is already lively for this “deadly” event. So you need to mark your calendar and make reservations TODAY!
Are you ready to think about the Hartford Fair in August? A warming thought, isn’t it? This Sunday, Feb. 8, at 6 pm in the basement of Hebron Christian Church on West Main Street, Prime Producers 4-H Club will have their organizational meeting. All school age children, boys or girls, can find a place in this great organization, learning public speaking and presentation skills, working on projects from woodworking and welding to gardening or rabbit raising.
Also on Sun., Feb. 8 is the next preview service for New Life Community at Lakewood Middle School in the auditorium. Worship begins at 10:30 am with child care provided. Come join Brian Harkness and their praise team in some contemporary Christian music and a message for Christ-centered living. They will continue to worship monthly until their “launch” with weekly worship in the fall.
Going back to the Hebron Christian Church basement, next Sat., Feb. 14, the Feast of Saint Valentine (as some might call it), there’s going to be a Sweetheart Spaghetti Dinner serving from 5 to 7 pm. It is a donations-only affair, with contributions going to help us support the new construction at Camp Christian for increased summer camp attendance.
Don’t know where to take your date for Valentine’s Day? Where else can you find bad karaoke and the great Dean Martin, the pride of Steubenville, singing “That’s Amore”? Until the next baked steak dinner at Hebron United Methodist (coming soon!), stock up on yer healthy antioxidants in marinara sauce next Saturday. Atkins plan folks can just have a bowl of the meal sauce with a spoon, and I’ll eat your breadsticks for you. . .
Hebron PTO had a great response for their “Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration” at the school last December, with 50 volunteers from the community that included a great effort from Dow in the Industrial Park. They have also sponsored the “Grandparents Day” programs at Hebron Elementary. 3rd grade has had theirs, and 2nd grade grandparents are re-invited Feb. 11 at 2:30 after they had their own grandparental snow day. 1st grade will have Grandparent Day Feb. 19.
All the feedback so far has been very positive, with Dr. Geist, the principal, telling the PTO about folks saying they hadn’t been in the building since the 50’s or 60’s in some cases, and adding “I had no idea the building was this well maintained!”
Kudos to Tim Nauer, his staff, as well as all the teachers involved, for giving some of our area senior citizens a new look at Hebron High through the eyes of their Hebron Elementary grandkids.
Days out of school ahead include a Parent-Teacher conference day on Fri., Feb. 13, plus the following Monday for President’s Day Feb. 16, and then a two hour early release Wed., Feb. 18.
Recently, I got an e-mail from a personal fitness trainer in the area, Kelly Biemesderfer, CFT. (I’m going to bet that stands for “certified fitness trainer,” dontcha think?) She has a local business, Sound Body Personal Training, and works with a number of local women at “It’s A Girl Thing” in Buckeye Lake.
Kelly also is in that select group of people who, amazingly, read all the way to the end of the Hebron Crossorads for my not-quite-always serious sign-off. When I wrote recently on eight steps to keeping resolutions, Kelly’s was one of a number of appreciative messages I got, but she also noted my “request” for veggie omelet recipe to improve our breakfasts! And here it is. . .
Very Veggie Omelet
Submitted by: Taste of Home's Light & Tasty from http://allrecipes.com
This light and fluffy omelet is a new twist on breakfast. It's chock-full of garden goodness.
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
1 small zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup chopped tomato
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 egg whites
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, divided
Directions:
1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the zucchini, tomato, oregano and pepper. Cook and stir for 5-8 minutes or until vegetables are tender and liquid is nearly evaporated. Set aside and keep warm.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites, water, cream of tartar and salt until stiff peaks form. Place egg substitute in another bowl; fold in egg white mixture. Pour into a 10-in. ovenproof skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Spoon vegetable mixture over one side; sprinkle with half of the cheese. To fold, score middle of omelet with a sharp knife; fold omelet over filling. Transfer to a warm platter. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cut in half to serve.
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (half an omelet) equals 197 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 639 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 19 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 lean meat, 2 vegetable.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church but is ecumenical in where he eats spaghetti or baked steak; if you have a dinner or breakfast fundraiser to announce or local news to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net. And next week, he may even have something to say about Justin and Janet, after he figures out what it is everyone’s talking about.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Notes From My Knapsack – Feb 2004 “The Church Window”
Hebron Christian Church
Two words that get used all through the Gospels are “law” and “love.” Jesus has quite a bit to say about both; that law is not to be ignored, but must be fulfilled by love in order to move human hearts.
In this month where love – sort of – is celebrated all around, I’m reminded of how often I find myself explaining the practical side of Jesus’ words in present day application.
Grandparents want the law to require visitation with grandchildren, which (in Ohio, in most cases) it does not. Couples think the law can end a long relationship which includes children, and are surprised to find that it only creates a different relationship, and one rarely better than what they had. Neighbors look to the law to resolve tensions along property lines, and are upset that the situation only worsens.
What relationships have to have in order to improve and grow is love, not law. But it isn’t a Valentine’s Day kind of love that grandparents and neighbors and even most couples need, but the love Jesus speaks of and Paul sings the praises of, that doesn’t hold grudges or find fault, but forgives and seeks the best in the other.
Love that buys chocolate and flowers and dinners out certainly has a place, but even that kind of “give something to get something” sort of exchange sounds suspiciously like contracts and “law,” not like sacrifice and covenant and self-giving through love. Wed., March 17, when the Interfaith Legal Clinic visits Hebron again at our church, the line will form at 5 pm of folks looking for a brief time to talk to a lawyer for free.
Most of those 40 some people or families will be looking for a lawyer to straighten out a relationship that began with an intention to love. The intention may have been sincere, but the practice fell short. I hope that we can all use the Feast of Saint Valentine on Feb. 14 as a reminder to give of ourselves in love, and not focus on what is due us in obligation and law. Valentine gave his life out of love for Christ in ancient Rome, and today we can set the example for how the law is truly fulfilled through grace-filled love.
In Grace & Peace, Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Lent Begins Feb. 25
Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40 days (less Sundays) until Easter, a season for prayer and preparation leading to the culmination of Holy Week, with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunrise at the end of our journey alongside Christ.
Sundays Feb. 15 & 22 we will all have a chance to join in a churchwide commitment to read a 40 day devotional together called “The Purpose Driven Life.” Commitment cards will be shared in worship, and a form to order copies of the book (or audio versions that will cost more, either on tape or CD) if you need a copy. Some already have the book, but our goal is to have as many of us as possible reading each day’s devotional on the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, Apr. 4 and a celebration brunch after worship.
Small group opportunities will be available through the women’s and men’s fellowships, choirs, Sunday school, and Bible study time on Wed. at 10 am starting Feb. 25. If you have questions, call Pastor Jeff at 928-4066 or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net. The weekly themes and questions for reflection for the intro and five purposes will be on our church website at http://go.to/Hebron_Christian if you need to work on your own.
* * * * * * *
Youth Sunday – Feb. 29???
Sunday, Feb. 29 is not a date that we see in print very often. Some places the day is known as “Sadie Hawkins Day,” and much is done backwards on such a day according to tradition. Our youth will lead worship on this unusual fifth Sunday, after having seven away for the first Sunday of Feb. at Massilon for the biannual Midwinter CYF Retreat.
* * * * * * *
Keep The Fire Burning
For Camp Christian
Sat. Feb. 14 is St. Valentine’s Day and a wonderful night to eat spaghetti with Dean Martin! Bring your sweetheart and have dinner at Hebron Christian Church. The price is yours to determine, but remember that all proceeds go to the regional capital campaign for Camp Christian (and with a tithe of the work going to help build a camp in Chile with our global mission partners there).
Hebron Christian Church is one of the leaders in the campaign for District 10/11; to see a breakdown of giving for this region-wide effort, look at the latest “Buckeye Disciple” at http://www.christianchurchinohio.org.
Hebron Christian Church
Two words that get used all through the Gospels are “law” and “love.” Jesus has quite a bit to say about both; that law is not to be ignored, but must be fulfilled by love in order to move human hearts.
In this month where love – sort of – is celebrated all around, I’m reminded of how often I find myself explaining the practical side of Jesus’ words in present day application.
Grandparents want the law to require visitation with grandchildren, which (in Ohio, in most cases) it does not. Couples think the law can end a long relationship which includes children, and are surprised to find that it only creates a different relationship, and one rarely better than what they had. Neighbors look to the law to resolve tensions along property lines, and are upset that the situation only worsens.
What relationships have to have in order to improve and grow is love, not law. But it isn’t a Valentine’s Day kind of love that grandparents and neighbors and even most couples need, but the love Jesus speaks of and Paul sings the praises of, that doesn’t hold grudges or find fault, but forgives and seeks the best in the other.
Love that buys chocolate and flowers and dinners out certainly has a place, but even that kind of “give something to get something” sort of exchange sounds suspiciously like contracts and “law,” not like sacrifice and covenant and self-giving through love. Wed., March 17, when the Interfaith Legal Clinic visits Hebron again at our church, the line will form at 5 pm of folks looking for a brief time to talk to a lawyer for free.
Most of those 40 some people or families will be looking for a lawyer to straighten out a relationship that began with an intention to love. The intention may have been sincere, but the practice fell short. I hope that we can all use the Feast of Saint Valentine on Feb. 14 as a reminder to give of ourselves in love, and not focus on what is due us in obligation and law. Valentine gave his life out of love for Christ in ancient Rome, and today we can set the example for how the law is truly fulfilled through grace-filled love.
In Grace & Peace, Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Lent Begins Feb. 25
Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40 days (less Sundays) until Easter, a season for prayer and preparation leading to the culmination of Holy Week, with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunrise at the end of our journey alongside Christ.
Sundays Feb. 15 & 22 we will all have a chance to join in a churchwide commitment to read a 40 day devotional together called “The Purpose Driven Life.” Commitment cards will be shared in worship, and a form to order copies of the book (or audio versions that will cost more, either on tape or CD) if you need a copy. Some already have the book, but our goal is to have as many of us as possible reading each day’s devotional on the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, Apr. 4 and a celebration brunch after worship.
Small group opportunities will be available through the women’s and men’s fellowships, choirs, Sunday school, and Bible study time on Wed. at 10 am starting Feb. 25. If you have questions, call Pastor Jeff at 928-4066 or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net. The weekly themes and questions for reflection for the intro and five purposes will be on our church website at http://go.to/Hebron_Christian if you need to work on your own.
* * * * * * *
Youth Sunday – Feb. 29???
Sunday, Feb. 29 is not a date that we see in print very often. Some places the day is known as “Sadie Hawkins Day,” and much is done backwards on such a day according to tradition. Our youth will lead worship on this unusual fifth Sunday, after having seven away for the first Sunday of Feb. at Massilon for the biannual Midwinter CYF Retreat.
* * * * * * *
Keep The Fire Burning
For Camp Christian
Sat. Feb. 14 is St. Valentine’s Day and a wonderful night to eat spaghetti with Dean Martin! Bring your sweetheart and have dinner at Hebron Christian Church. The price is yours to determine, but remember that all proceeds go to the regional capital campaign for Camp Christian (and with a tithe of the work going to help build a camp in Chile with our global mission partners there).
Hebron Christian Church is one of the leaders in the campaign for District 10/11; to see a breakdown of giving for this region-wide effort, look at the latest “Buckeye Disciple” at http://www.christianchurchinohio.org.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 2-01-04
By Jeff Gill
Winter is surely upon us! A note is in order: it takes an air temperature of Zero degrees or a wind chill of Twenty Below to get a day off of school, and that strikes this columnist as about right.
As for snow and ice, that’s a call by the superintendent of Lakewood schools and the transportation director. When Flint Ridge Road is not a good place for buses to be, it doesn’t matter how good Kelly Drive in Hebron is. We’ll have the snow days we have to have, and that’s the way it is.
Oh, and for walking, skating, or messing around generally on ice. If it isn’t four inches or more, and if there’s any running water underneath, stream or spring fed, stay off it, OK? Having done some things in my distant youth that now blanch me with horror, let me count my blessings and say to risk takers everywhere, “Stay off of thin ice.”
When the overnight temps have gone down into the teens and stayed comfortably in that neighborhood, the iceboats come out on the lake (anyone else remember “The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge”?) and the glories of true winter pastimes are visible to all who can take the windchill.
Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, and here’s a last warning on “Souper Bowl of Caring” Sunday. Bring those canned goods, especially the always useful cans of soup, to Buckeye Lake LEADS or to your church food pantry, and know that your extra (excessive?) snacking for the big Patriots/Panthers game helped trigger an outpouring of support for local hunger programs during a time of year that often goes unassisted.
Last week a bunch of us from the Hebron Crossroads area were up at “The Place Off the Square” for the Licking County United Way 2003-04 campaign celebration. While they came a bit short of their hoped for goal, the nearly $2,000,000 raised for local assistance and leadership programs was more than had been raised before for the twenty some United Way agencies, like Boy and Girl Scouts, the Licking County Coalition for Housing, and many others.
What was striking about the reporting at the evening event was that fully 21% of the total was raised through the “Give Where You Live” program. That’s over $400,000 from Licking County residents working in Franklin and Delaware Counties. For many of us in the Lakewood area, that comes as no surprise, but it’s a total that will no doubt continue to climb.
New Life Community, the new church start sponsored by the United Methodist Church in the Hebron/Pataskala area, is having their next “preview” service on Feb. 8 at 10:30 am in the auditorium at Lakewood Middle School (entrance off of US 40). They had over 60 at their initial worship for the public, and Brian Harkness, their pastor, plans monthly worship through the summer as they work towards weekly services in the near future.
So, doesn’t it look like Kerry and Edwards are the likely survivors through March? Well, I don’t know as of this writing what the New Hampshire results were anymore than I knew what Iowa’s were for last week’s column, but I’m sticking with the projection I had this time last month. Howard “I Have a Scream” Dean will continue to fade into the silly sidelines, Joe Lieberman will (regrettably) find it hard to build momentum, and General Clark will learn that, by slamming lieutenants, there are many more former looeys and non-coms voting than retired generals.
I’d comment on Kucinich if I could keep him separate from Bob Denver, and as for Al Sharpton, someone has to keep the debates lively, so keep hope alive Rev.!
Ah, and that darn Groundhog! What will Monday bring in Punxsutawney, PA? Stay tuned for your six week weather forecast, and we’ll fight cabin fever next week in the Hebron Crossroads.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big fan of Bill Murray whether in “Groundhog’s Day” or “Lost In Translation.” If you don’t want to read a load of filler about movies to watch on snow days next week, send news of local interest to disciple@voyager.net, or call 928-4066.
By Jeff Gill
Winter is surely upon us! A note is in order: it takes an air temperature of Zero degrees or a wind chill of Twenty Below to get a day off of school, and that strikes this columnist as about right.
As for snow and ice, that’s a call by the superintendent of Lakewood schools and the transportation director. When Flint Ridge Road is not a good place for buses to be, it doesn’t matter how good Kelly Drive in Hebron is. We’ll have the snow days we have to have, and that’s the way it is.
Oh, and for walking, skating, or messing around generally on ice. If it isn’t four inches or more, and if there’s any running water underneath, stream or spring fed, stay off it, OK? Having done some things in my distant youth that now blanch me with horror, let me count my blessings and say to risk takers everywhere, “Stay off of thin ice.”
When the overnight temps have gone down into the teens and stayed comfortably in that neighborhood, the iceboats come out on the lake (anyone else remember “The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge”?) and the glories of true winter pastimes are visible to all who can take the windchill.
Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, and here’s a last warning on “Souper Bowl of Caring” Sunday. Bring those canned goods, especially the always useful cans of soup, to Buckeye Lake LEADS or to your church food pantry, and know that your extra (excessive?) snacking for the big Patriots/Panthers game helped trigger an outpouring of support for local hunger programs during a time of year that often goes unassisted.
Last week a bunch of us from the Hebron Crossroads area were up at “The Place Off the Square” for the Licking County United Way 2003-04 campaign celebration. While they came a bit short of their hoped for goal, the nearly $2,000,000 raised for local assistance and leadership programs was more than had been raised before for the twenty some United Way agencies, like Boy and Girl Scouts, the Licking County Coalition for Housing, and many others.
What was striking about the reporting at the evening event was that fully 21% of the total was raised through the “Give Where You Live” program. That’s over $400,000 from Licking County residents working in Franklin and Delaware Counties. For many of us in the Lakewood area, that comes as no surprise, but it’s a total that will no doubt continue to climb.
New Life Community, the new church start sponsored by the United Methodist Church in the Hebron/Pataskala area, is having their next “preview” service on Feb. 8 at 10:30 am in the auditorium at Lakewood Middle School (entrance off of US 40). They had over 60 at their initial worship for the public, and Brian Harkness, their pastor, plans monthly worship through the summer as they work towards weekly services in the near future.
So, doesn’t it look like Kerry and Edwards are the likely survivors through March? Well, I don’t know as of this writing what the New Hampshire results were anymore than I knew what Iowa’s were for last week’s column, but I’m sticking with the projection I had this time last month. Howard “I Have a Scream” Dean will continue to fade into the silly sidelines, Joe Lieberman will (regrettably) find it hard to build momentum, and General Clark will learn that, by slamming lieutenants, there are many more former looeys and non-coms voting than retired generals.
I’d comment on Kucinich if I could keep him separate from Bob Denver, and as for Al Sharpton, someone has to keep the debates lively, so keep hope alive Rev.!
Ah, and that darn Groundhog! What will Monday bring in Punxsutawney, PA? Stay tuned for your six week weather forecast, and we’ll fight cabin fever next week in the Hebron Crossroads.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big fan of Bill Murray whether in “Groundhog’s Day” or “Lost In Translation.” If you don’t want to read a load of filler about movies to watch on snow days next week, send news of local interest to disciple@voyager.net, or call 928-4066.
Monday, January 19, 2004
Hebron Crossroads 1-25-04
By Jeff Gill
While I enjoy writing this column very much, my day (and night) job is that of pastor. This section could easily become an extension of the eulogies I preach or hear at the funerals of some wonderful people whose presence we lose week to week around the Hebron Crossroads, like Frank DeVaul a few weeks ago, or Nancy Pugh right before Christmas.
So rather than miss someone who deserves the mention, I generally don’t spend much time on obituary notices here. But we lost another good one from our company recently, and personally I want to offer a few words about this fine lady.
Betty Friend was not so much a pillar as a foundation stone of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Monsignor Meagher spoke eloquently of Betty’s commitment to service and ministry in the congregation at her funeral mass. With a business on Main Street in Hebron and volunteer work at Licking Memorial Hospital, she was truly a friend to many throughout the wider community, and welcomed this preacher when he became a neighbor in 1999. On many occasions we would consult together in finding ways to care for distressed travelers along the old National Road passing us both by.
Less than two days before her death she spoke to me about how well her bypass surgery had gone, how much better she was feeling, and of her plans for the future. We talked about some disagreements we’d had recently, and closed the conversation with cheerful fellowship in Christ, even if we didn’t totally agree on every subject. Her death was a real loss to our community, let alone to her family who will miss her greatly.
Jim Friend, who has retired from village council as he looks to care for his mother’s legacy in Hebron, has our prayers and good wishes for the future, and we will all miss his mother, our Friend.
Annelle Porter, a member of Hebron Village council these last five years, was elected president of council, the first woman to hold the position as far as records can confirm. Some would also argue that, for a few hours at least, she then became the first lady mayor while Cliff Mason had some routine surgery and was under anesthetic. Cliff is doing fine now, and Annelle is also no worse the wear for her term (no matter how short) in the chief executive spot: but what do we call Dave Porter? First Spouse? First Guy of Hebron? That’s a tough one. . .
If you read this before Saturday night Jan. 24, make plans to eat dinner with the Lakewood Drama Club at Jacksontown United Methodist Church between 4:30 and 8 pm. They’ve got a plateful of spaghetti with your name on it, and you need to go eat it and hand our local Thespians a few bucks to pay for it. This Spring they plan to perform “The Wizard of Oz,” and each dinner means one more Munchkin costume, so eat hearty!
Speaking of food, with the Super Bowl set between the Patriots and the Panthers on Feb. 1, don’t forget the “Souper Bowl of Caring” on that date, where area churches and food pantries invite you to buy a can of soup for every snack item you buy for Feb. 1, and add to the collection for your area food pantry that week. Most of our area churches welcome your canned goods on any Sunday, but especially in this slack period after the Christmas season, which brings in much generosity but also often ends in barren shelves. Help them restock with “Souper Bowl” Sunday.
With the “time delay” of writing and printing in a weekly paper, you can’t get too much breaking news, but let me go out ahead of even the Iowa caucuses (which you no doubt know the results of by now) and make a prediction. It’s a pre-Iowa prediction, and you can ask my wife if it wasn’t my Jan. 18 forecast. This isn’t an endorsement, but something even more risky: a prediction. You will see the only realistic Democratic candidates in a few weeks as John Kerry and John Edwards, as of March 1. That’s my call, and you can laugh at me later if, like most predictions, they prove askew.
On the other hand, if I’m right, you have to read this column all the way to November at the very least to find out, don’t you?
And if you want to vote in primary elections for Ohio (when the Dem field may well still need weeding, friends), you need to be registered in just the next two weeks. Do it now, OK? Our county commissioners and a number of local elections will also be in play, and need your input. Time’s a wastin’ if you want to vote absentee, as well.
There are folks who have useful news who send it to me too late, forgetting that “two weeks ahead” rule to give me even a chance to print the announcement before the event. And sometimes even I forget that factor! Last week was the Martin Luther King Jr. observance, and in honor of the civil rights movement the holiday celebrates and with the words of the man himself, may I offer this belated tribute: from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 1963:
“Was not Jesus an extremist for love - "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice - "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ - "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist - "Here I stand; I can do no other, so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist - "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist - "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice - or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?
In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.”
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and proud to share a calling with MLK, Jr. If you have historical events to share or news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net.
By Jeff Gill
While I enjoy writing this column very much, my day (and night) job is that of pastor. This section could easily become an extension of the eulogies I preach or hear at the funerals of some wonderful people whose presence we lose week to week around the Hebron Crossroads, like Frank DeVaul a few weeks ago, or Nancy Pugh right before Christmas.
So rather than miss someone who deserves the mention, I generally don’t spend much time on obituary notices here. But we lost another good one from our company recently, and personally I want to offer a few words about this fine lady.
Betty Friend was not so much a pillar as a foundation stone of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Monsignor Meagher spoke eloquently of Betty’s commitment to service and ministry in the congregation at her funeral mass. With a business on Main Street in Hebron and volunteer work at Licking Memorial Hospital, she was truly a friend to many throughout the wider community, and welcomed this preacher when he became a neighbor in 1999. On many occasions we would consult together in finding ways to care for distressed travelers along the old National Road passing us both by.
Less than two days before her death she spoke to me about how well her bypass surgery had gone, how much better she was feeling, and of her plans for the future. We talked about some disagreements we’d had recently, and closed the conversation with cheerful fellowship in Christ, even if we didn’t totally agree on every subject. Her death was a real loss to our community, let alone to her family who will miss her greatly.
Jim Friend, who has retired from village council as he looks to care for his mother’s legacy in Hebron, has our prayers and good wishes for the future, and we will all miss his mother, our Friend.
Annelle Porter, a member of Hebron Village council these last five years, was elected president of council, the first woman to hold the position as far as records can confirm. Some would also argue that, for a few hours at least, she then became the first lady mayor while Cliff Mason had some routine surgery and was under anesthetic. Cliff is doing fine now, and Annelle is also no worse the wear for her term (no matter how short) in the chief executive spot: but what do we call Dave Porter? First Spouse? First Guy of Hebron? That’s a tough one. . .
If you read this before Saturday night Jan. 24, make plans to eat dinner with the Lakewood Drama Club at Jacksontown United Methodist Church between 4:30 and 8 pm. They’ve got a plateful of spaghetti with your name on it, and you need to go eat it and hand our local Thespians a few bucks to pay for it. This Spring they plan to perform “The Wizard of Oz,” and each dinner means one more Munchkin costume, so eat hearty!
Speaking of food, with the Super Bowl set between the Patriots and the Panthers on Feb. 1, don’t forget the “Souper Bowl of Caring” on that date, where area churches and food pantries invite you to buy a can of soup for every snack item you buy for Feb. 1, and add to the collection for your area food pantry that week. Most of our area churches welcome your canned goods on any Sunday, but especially in this slack period after the Christmas season, which brings in much generosity but also often ends in barren shelves. Help them restock with “Souper Bowl” Sunday.
With the “time delay” of writing and printing in a weekly paper, you can’t get too much breaking news, but let me go out ahead of even the Iowa caucuses (which you no doubt know the results of by now) and make a prediction. It’s a pre-Iowa prediction, and you can ask my wife if it wasn’t my Jan. 18 forecast. This isn’t an endorsement, but something even more risky: a prediction. You will see the only realistic Democratic candidates in a few weeks as John Kerry and John Edwards, as of March 1. That’s my call, and you can laugh at me later if, like most predictions, they prove askew.
On the other hand, if I’m right, you have to read this column all the way to November at the very least to find out, don’t you?
And if you want to vote in primary elections for Ohio (when the Dem field may well still need weeding, friends), you need to be registered in just the next two weeks. Do it now, OK? Our county commissioners and a number of local elections will also be in play, and need your input. Time’s a wastin’ if you want to vote absentee, as well.
There are folks who have useful news who send it to me too late, forgetting that “two weeks ahead” rule to give me even a chance to print the announcement before the event. And sometimes even I forget that factor! Last week was the Martin Luther King Jr. observance, and in honor of the civil rights movement the holiday celebrates and with the words of the man himself, may I offer this belated tribute: from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 1963:
“Was not Jesus an extremist for love - "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice - "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ - "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist - "Here I stand; I can do no other, so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist - "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist - "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice - or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?
In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.”
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and proud to share a calling with MLK, Jr. If you have historical events to share or news of local interest, call 928-4066 or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net.
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