Gainsville, Florida's Trinity United Methodist Church's Daily Scripture - Friday, 28 February 2014 - Devotion "Friendship"
Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of The Lord (I Samuel 20:42).
The deep friendship between David and Jonathan is legendary and so well known, I wish more men would live into a similar depth of friendship. What is it about our culture that discourages men from sharing deeply with other guys the things that are stirring deep within their hearts and souls? Why do we guys tend to staff on the surface, discussing sports, politics, economy, rather than our own personal stuff.
Blessed is the man who has a David or Jonathan in his life. If you're a man reading this, I hope you are a Jonathan to a David out there, or a David to a Jonathan. And, if you're not yet, ask God to open the door to a strong friendship. Life is tough enough as it is, and it's really tough to go it alone - no matter how great it seemed to work for John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, David and Jonathan knew a far better
way to travel through life - as close and trusted friends.
Love and prayers, Dan
-------
Friday, February 28, 2014
Grow! Pray! Study! from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection for Friday, 28 February 2014 "Finish it with as much enthusiasm as you started"
Grow! Pray! Study! from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection for Friday, 28 February 2014 "Finish it with as much enthusiasm as you started"
Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:10 I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. 11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. 13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed, 14 but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”[a]
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 8:15 Exodus 16:8
Reflection Questions:
Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem faced persecution and hardship almost from the beginning. Paul was concerned for them, and asked his relatively well-off Gentile Christian converts to give for a fund to help those in Jerusalem. They responded gladly, and he urged them to finish the collection with as much generous enthusiasm as they showed at the start.
Giving is personal. Paul made it plain that God does not compare the amount we give to what others give. What matters is the spirit in which we give, in proportion to the resources we have available. Plan to discuss with family, or with a trusted friend, your expectations or motivations for giving. To what extent can you set aside the "what's in it for me?" question, and instead give for the ways it will help others?
What standards or guidelines do you use to discern the difference between "wants" and "needs" in your decisions about what to spend on yourself, and what to give? Have you ever given to something important even though you felt that "My little gift can't make much difference," and then found great satisfaction afterward at having been part of that worthwhile effort?
Today's Prayer:
Dear God, help me be a generous person—with my words, with my abilities and gifts, and yes, with my money. Help me be grateful in all I do, remembering it was you who first gave to me. Amen.
Insight from Jane Fowler
Jane Fowler serves as Group Life Program Director at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. In that capacity, she encourages our congregation to be a part of the Journey of Knowing, Loving and Serving God and others by being in authentic community and growing in your love and knowledge of Christ.
Read and Reflect:
(Head)
If someone were to describe you, would they say you were generous, a giving person? Are you generous with your words toward others? Maybe you give to others in your daily actions and deeds. Or maybe you are generous in your financial giving. Most everyone wants to be generous. Often, we have every intention of being generous, but we don’t follow through with our good intentions.
In our scripture passage today, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth to see that their good intentions are translated into action. They pledged to financially help the struggling churches in Jerusalem, but a year later they had not acted on their pledge. The Corinthian believers excelled in everything—they had faith, good preaching, knowledge, earnestness and much love. Giving is a natural response of love. If you love someone, you give them your time and attention and provide for their needs. Paul wanted the Corinthians to prove their love was sincere by giving.
Unlike the prosperity found in Corinth, the Christians in Macedonia were not well off. But when they heard of the need of their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, they gave freely. They did not have to be pressured or coaxed. The particular way in which they showed they had received the grace of God was by their generosity.“
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (verse 9). God gave everything, including a son, so that we might have eternal life. What does God expect in return?
We love God and love others and we give with a willing heart and out of gratitude for what God has done for us. The point of giving is not so much the amount we give, but why and how we give.
When my daughter was in grade school, a classmates’ house burned to the ground. Thankfully, no one was injured; they were all at school or work. The school counselor sent a note home asking for donations for the family. They were covered by insurance, but it could be days or weeks before they saw any type of reimbursement. My daughter filled a bag with clothes that would fit her classmate and emptied her piggy bank into a zip lock bag. I counted the money in the baggie and told Maddy how proud of her I was for her giving heart. But, I asked, was she sure she wanted to give all her money? Maybe she should put a couple of the $20 bills back in her bank? Her response should have been mine: “Mom, I don’t need my money right now and they have lost everything.”
Prayer and Meditation
(Heart)
Dear God, help us to be generous people. Help us to be generous with our words—let us use words to build each other up and not tear down. Help us to be generous with our gifts and serve our families, our community and our world according to your plan. Help us to be generous with our money—to give first instead of out of what is left over. Help us to be grateful in all we do, by remembering it was you who first gave to us.
Amen.
Be, Do & Go
(Hands)
The kingdom of God spreads through believers’ concern and willingness to help others. Put your faith into action today—serve in your community. If you don’t know where to start, Resurrection has opportunities listed at www.cor.org/missions.
For Discussion:
Use this section to help prompt discussion with your spouse, children, small group, etc.
Giving is personal. God does not compare the amount we give to what others give. It is a topic that is rarely discussed, even among family members, yet it shapes how we live our lives. It might be helpful as a family to discuss your expectation or motivation behind giving. Be honest.
1. When you give, do you have an expectation of getting something in return?
2. Have you ever considered giving out of gratitude? How might this change how you give?
3. Do you plan your financial giving and make it a priority in your budget? Or do you hope there is something left over to give at the end of the month?
4. Do you believe giving is a purely financial matter, or a matter of the heart?
-------
Daily Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:10 I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. 11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. 13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed, 14 but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”[a]
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 8:15 Exodus 16:8
Reflection Questions:
Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem faced persecution and hardship almost from the beginning. Paul was concerned for them, and asked his relatively well-off Gentile Christian converts to give for a fund to help those in Jerusalem. They responded gladly, and he urged them to finish the collection with as much generous enthusiasm as they showed at the start.
Giving is personal. Paul made it plain that God does not compare the amount we give to what others give. What matters is the spirit in which we give, in proportion to the resources we have available. Plan to discuss with family, or with a trusted friend, your expectations or motivations for giving. To what extent can you set aside the "what's in it for me?" question, and instead give for the ways it will help others?
What standards or guidelines do you use to discern the difference between "wants" and "needs" in your decisions about what to spend on yourself, and what to give? Have you ever given to something important even though you felt that "My little gift can't make much difference," and then found great satisfaction afterward at having been part of that worthwhile effort?
Today's Prayer:
Dear God, help me be a generous person—with my words, with my abilities and gifts, and yes, with my money. Help me be grateful in all I do, remembering it was you who first gave to me. Amen.
Insight from Jane Fowler
Jane Fowler serves as Group Life Program Director at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. In that capacity, she encourages our congregation to be a part of the Journey of Knowing, Loving and Serving God and others by being in authentic community and growing in your love and knowledge of Christ.
Read and Reflect:
(Head)
If someone were to describe you, would they say you were generous, a giving person? Are you generous with your words toward others? Maybe you give to others in your daily actions and deeds. Or maybe you are generous in your financial giving. Most everyone wants to be generous. Often, we have every intention of being generous, but we don’t follow through with our good intentions.
In our scripture passage today, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth to see that their good intentions are translated into action. They pledged to financially help the struggling churches in Jerusalem, but a year later they had not acted on their pledge. The Corinthian believers excelled in everything—they had faith, good preaching, knowledge, earnestness and much love. Giving is a natural response of love. If you love someone, you give them your time and attention and provide for their needs. Paul wanted the Corinthians to prove their love was sincere by giving.
Unlike the prosperity found in Corinth, the Christians in Macedonia were not well off. But when they heard of the need of their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, they gave freely. They did not have to be pressured or coaxed. The particular way in which they showed they had received the grace of God was by their generosity.“
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (verse 9). God gave everything, including a son, so that we might have eternal life. What does God expect in return?
We love God and love others and we give with a willing heart and out of gratitude for what God has done for us. The point of giving is not so much the amount we give, but why and how we give.
When my daughter was in grade school, a classmates’ house burned to the ground. Thankfully, no one was injured; they were all at school or work. The school counselor sent a note home asking for donations for the family. They were covered by insurance, but it could be days or weeks before they saw any type of reimbursement. My daughter filled a bag with clothes that would fit her classmate and emptied her piggy bank into a zip lock bag. I counted the money in the baggie and told Maddy how proud of her I was for her giving heart. But, I asked, was she sure she wanted to give all her money? Maybe she should put a couple of the $20 bills back in her bank? Her response should have been mine: “Mom, I don’t need my money right now and they have lost everything.”
Prayer and Meditation
(Heart)
Dear God, help us to be generous people. Help us to be generous with our words—let us use words to build each other up and not tear down. Help us to be generous with our gifts and serve our families, our community and our world according to your plan. Help us to be generous with our money—to give first instead of out of what is left over. Help us to be grateful in all we do, by remembering it was you who first gave to us.
Amen.
Be, Do & Go
(Hands)
The kingdom of God spreads through believers’ concern and willingness to help others. Put your faith into action today—serve in your community. If you don’t know where to start, Resurrection has opportunities listed at www.cor.org/missions.
For Discussion:
Use this section to help prompt discussion with your spouse, children, small group, etc.
Giving is personal. God does not compare the amount we give to what others give. It is a topic that is rarely discussed, even among family members, yet it shapes how we live our lives. It might be helpful as a family to discuss your expectation or motivation behind giving. Be honest.
1. When you give, do you have an expectation of getting something in return?
2. Have you ever considered giving out of gratitude? How might this change how you give?
3. Do you plan your financial giving and make it a priority in your budget? Or do you hope there is something left over to give at the end of the month?
4. Do you believe giving is a purely financial matter, or a matter of the heart?
-------
Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation for Friday, February 28, 2014 "Letting Go of Our Fear of God"
Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation for Friday, February 28, 2014 "Letting Go of Our Fear of God"
We are afraid of emptiness. Spinoza speaks about our "horror vacui," our horrendous fear of vacancy. We like to occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we have even reached them. We fill them with our worries, saying, "But what if ..."
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God's actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love.--Father Henri J. M. Nouwen
-------
We are afraid of emptiness. Spinoza speaks about our "horror vacui," our horrendous fear of vacancy. We like to occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we have even reached them. We fill them with our worries, saying, "But what if ..."
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God's actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love.--Father Henri J. M. Nouwen
-------
DAILY PONDERABLES - Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny - Daily Reflections "WHAT? NO PRESIDENT?" for Friday, 28 February 2014
DAILY PONDERABLES - Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny - Daily Reflections "WHAT? NO PRESIDENT?" for Friday, 28 February 2014
When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, ... our friends gasp and exclaim, "this simply can't be...."--TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS page 132
When I finally made my way to A.A., I could not believe that there was no treasurer to "compel the payment of dues." I could not imagine an organization that didn't require monetary contributions in return for a service. It was my first and, thus far, only experience with getting "something for nothing." Because I did not feel used or conned by those in A.A., I was able to approach the program free from bias and with an open mind. They wanted nothing from me. What could I lose? I thank God for the wisdom of the early founders who knew so well the alcoholic's disdain for being manipulated.--From the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We should be free from alcohol for good. It's out of our hands and in the hands of God, so we don't need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven't done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since we don't trust God to take care of the problem for us, we reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. Then it's our problem again and we're in the same old mess we were in before. We're helpless again and we drink. Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?
Meditation for the Day
No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time, but doing bad work because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with the sharp, keen, perfect instrument working for only a short time, but that turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.--From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
The greatest gift--Page 60
"Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future."--Basic Text, page 96
When we begin coming to meetings, we hear other addicts talking about the gifts they have received as a result of this program, things we never thought of as "gifts" before. One such "gift" is the renewed ability to feel the emotions we had deadened for so long with drugs. It's not difficult to think of love, joy, and happiness as gifts, even if it's been a long time since we've felt them. But what about "bad" feelings like anger, sadness, fear, and loneliness? Such emotions can't be seen as gifts, we tell ourselves. After all, how can we be thankful for things we want to run from?!
We can become grateful for these emotions in our lives if we place them in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we've come to believe in a loving Higher Power, and we've asked that Power to care for us-and our Higher Power doesn't make mistakes. The feelings we're given, "good" or "bad" are given to us for a reason. With this in mind, we come to realize that there are no "bad" feelings, only lessons to be learned. Our faith and our Higher Power's care give us the courage we need to face whatever feelings may come up on a daily basis.
As we heard early in recovery, "Your Higher Power won't give you more than you can handle in just one day." And the ability to feel our emotions is one of the greatest gifts of recovery.
Just for Today: I will try to welcome my feelings, firm in the belief that I have the courage to face whatever emotions may come up in my life.--From the book Just for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or
unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.
Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I
have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy
in it."--Grouch Marx
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love.
What seeds will you plant there?
Native American
"Ultimately, nature will do the teaching."--Tom Porter, MOHAWK
There are things man has control over, and there are things man does not have control over. No matter how smart we get, whether it be in technology or science, there are things we will never control. The Great Spirit carefully protected and hid the control over certain things in the Unseen World. There are forces in the Unseen World that make sure humans don't mess things up. The bottom line is, no matter what we do, nature will have the last say. Nature is the teacher, we are the students. May we honor and respect our teacher.
Great Spirit, today, help me to live in harmony with people, principles, and life.
Keep It Simple
Leave yourself alone.--Jenny Janacek
We often pick on ourselves. We put ourselves down. But doing this isn't part of our recovery.
In fact, it goes against our program. Our program is based on loving care. We have turned our lives over to a caring, loving Higher Power who will give us the answers. We are told Easy Does It. We back off. As recovering addicts, we learn not to judge. Instead, we learn to be kind to ourselves. Our job is not to figure out the world, but to add more love to it. Let's start with ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, stop me from judging. Help me know what You want to do. Help me work the Steps Two and Three.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll leave myself alone. I will remember that picking on myself is another form of control.
Big Book
"The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves."--Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, page 25
----------------------------
Ebby Grapevine September 1999 (thanks Ronny H)
Ebby had been enabled to bring me the gift of grace because he could reach me at depth through the language of the heart. He had pushed ajar that great gate through which all in AA have since passed to find their freedom under God."--Bill W., AA Grapevine
While attending the annual Bill W. dinner in New York in October 1963, I noticed a man with a sad expression seated at the table that Bill and Lois shared with close friends. Since the general atmosphere in the large banquet room was festive, his sadness seemed out of place. Someone told me he was Ebby T., the friend who had called on Bill in late 1934 to bring him the Oxford Group's spiritual message that helped Bill get sober and helped form AA.
Several months later, during one of the last discussions I ever had with Bill, he told me that he had been able to place Ebby in a country rest home in upstate New York. Ebby died two years later from emphysema, the same affliction that would claim Bill's life in 1971.
Ebby's physical problems had been compounded by his frequent bouts with alcohol during the years since he had carried the message to Bill. His was the kind of story that causes continuing anguish in AA: a wonderful burst of initial sobriety followed by a devastating slip and then a pattern of repeated binges despite his best efforts and those of his friends. He had a tortured life, and yet there were times when he struggled valiantly to put his demons to rest.
I never actually met Ebby, but I kept learning more about him as the years passed. While serving as a contributing writer to Pass It On in 1980 and 1981, I had access to the correspondence that flowed between him and Bill. There was also an opportunity to spend a day with Margaret, the kindly nurse who cared for Ebby during his last two years of life.
In Albany, New York's capital city, there is archival information in the state library about Ebby's distinguished family members and their achievements in politics and business. Three members of the T. family were Albany mayors, and one lost a gubernatorial nomination by a very narrow margin. Ebby's parents were also prominent in social and church affairs. An assistant to the mayor at that time told me "you couldn't find a better family than the T.s" and put me in touch with Ebby's nephew, Ken T., Jr. When I returned to Albany some years later, Ken took me to visit Ebby's grave in the Albany Rural Cemetery, just north of the city.
There's no denying that Ebby was the "lost sheep" of the family, but it never completely rejected him or lost hope that he might someday recover. His last surviving brother, Ken T., Sr., stayed loyal to him right up to the time of his own death, just a few months before Ebby's passing.
But if Ebby had a friend who was unfailingly loyal and devoted, it was Bill W., who always called Ebby his sponsor and seemingly moved heaven and earth in trying to help Ebby regain sobriety. Indeed, it almost seemed that Bill threw his own good judgement out the window and became an "enabler" when Ebby was involved. The late Yev G., a member of the Manhattan Group since 1941, told me in 1980 that Bill seemed to lose all perspective when Ebby went off on another drunk. Yev recalled it this way:
"Bill was so definitely concerned about Ebby and so fond of him and felt so grateful and indebted to him that he would do anything rather than have anything happen to Ebby. Some of us were Bill's selected emissaries to find Ebby when he went out on one of his episodes. We knew his watering holes, the rooming houses, and the places where he went. So we'd get him and bring him back in the group, and he'd go along very well. But we had to observe, really, that Bill did not treat Ebby with the same kind of approach that he realistically would with the average kind of alcoholic member we had in those days in New York."
But even Bill became exasperated with Ebby at times, and this is revealed in some of his correspondence with and about Ebby. But he never lost hope that Ebby would recover, and years after his own recovery he would tell Ebby of his gratitude. It was an astonishing friendship, and one early AA told me that Bill and Ebby were almost like brothers.
A brief outline of Ebby's life goes this way: he was born in Albany in 1896, the youngest of five brothers. His father headed a family-owned foundry that manufactured railroad-car wheels, and Ebby entered life with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. Like his brothers, he attended Albany Academy, a prestigious private school that is highly regarded and whose graduates usually go on to college. But though his brothers excelled at the academy, Ebby was a lackluster student and did not graduate.
The family spent their summers in the resort town of Manchester, Vermont, seven miles south of Bill's hometown, East Dorset. Ebby's father was a golfing partner of Robert Todd Lincoln, a wealthy industrialist and the only son of Abraham Lincoln to reach adulthood. Lois's family was also a member of this social group, the "summer people" who awed Bill as he was growing up. Although Bill felt inferior in status to Ebby's family and Lois's family, he was something of a hero to other boys in Manchester because of his skill as a baseball pitcher. Ebby remembered meeting him in 1910 or '11 and perhaps watched him play.
Ebby may have sipped a little wine on family occasions, but he didn't have his real first drink until 1915, at age nineteen, when he walked into Albany's Hotel Ten Eyck and ordered a glass of beer. At about the same time, he went to work in the family business. By the time the firm closed in 1922, Ebby was getting drunk frequently. Later on in the nineteen-twenties he worked in the Albany office of a brokerage firm, but there's reason to believe he was never a real producer. In the meantime, Bill W. had become a New York stockbroker and was soaring with the surging market on Wall Street.
In January 1929, Bill stopped in Albany on his way to visit friends in Vermont, and he gave Ebby a call. He and Ebby spent the evening drinking and then agreed on a daring way to arrive in Manchester: by air, a risky action in those early days of aviation. They hired a barnstorming pilot to fly them to Manchester, which had just built an airfield, and they arrived, very drunk, the next day. Bill recalled (as quoted in Pass It On): "We somehow slid out of the cockpit, fell on the ground, and there we lay, immobile. Such was the history-making episode of the first airplane ever to light at Manchester, Vermont." Their drunken venture may have created an odd bond between Ebby and Bill that would be among the reasons Ebby would call on him in 1934.
Ebby's drinking worsened, and by late 1932 he had become such an embarrassment to his family that he slunk off to Manchester, and moved back into his family's summer home. He had periods of sobriety, but by mid-1934 his drinking had led to troubles and arrests in Manchester. While his brothers were still actively employed or in business, the family money supporting Ebby had largely run out. According to some tales circulated later, he sold some of the family furniture to buy booze.
About this time, several Oxford Group members in the area chose Ebby as a likely prospect for their spiritual message. They were Rowland H., Shep C., and Cebra G. He resisted their approach, but became more receptive when another drunken incident brought him before a judge in Bennington. He expected to be jailed for the weekend, but was permitted to go home on the promise that he would return--sober--on Monday.
And it was at this point, I think, that Ebby won a battle that became important for all of us. Waiting for him in the cellar at home were several bottles of his favorite ale, which he planned to drink immediately after the local constable let him off at the house. He was in agony when he raced down the stairs to get them. But then his promise to the judge stopped him cold, and he began to wrestle with his conscience. After a fierce struggle he took the bottles over to a neighbor. The action gave him peace. That was his last attempt to drink for two years and seven months.
I like to think of this moment as Ebby's Magnificent Victory. I've wondered whether, if he'd lost this struggle, he might not have stayed sober and been able to carry the message to Bill. In any case, he returned to court sober and was released to the custody of Rowland H., who then became what we AAs would call a sponsor. Along with giving Ebby a grounding in Oxford Group principles, Rowland took him to New York City. After staying with Shep for a short time, Ebby moved to Calvary Mission, run by Dr. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Church on Gramercy Park.
One November night in 1934, Ebby came to see Bill, who was then living in Brooklyn with his wife, Lois. Ebby told Bill, "I've got religion," and while Bill drank gin and pineapple juice, Ebby recounted his friendship with Rowland, described the principles of the Oxford Group (like the importance of absolute honesty when dealing with defects), and talked about his growing belief in God and the efficacy of prayer. Ebby's words, and his sober demeanor, stayed with Bill, who later recalled, "The good of what he said stuck so well that in no waking moment thereafter could I get that man and his message out of my head." Bill kept drinking, but he decided to pay a visit to the mission, which he did after stopping at a number of bars on the way and hooking up with a drunk Finnish fisherman. When he arrived at the mission, he ended up giving a kind of drunken monologue at the evening meeting where the derelict men gave testimonials about not drinking. On December 11, Bill checked himself back into Towns Hospital, where he'd previously been treated. Ebby visited him there, and a few days later, Bill had his "white light" experience and never took another drink.
Ebby stayed on in New York, continued to work with Bill, and moved in with Bill and Lois after Calvary Mission closed in 1936. But by 1937 he was back in Albany, working in a Ford factory. While he still worked with alcoholics and apparently kept up his Oxford Group connections, tensions were building up in his personal life. Finally, on a trip to New York City, he drank again, after two years and seven months of sobriety.
His life then became a nightmarish succession of binges followed by short periods of sobriety. He held jobs briefly and sometimes performed well for short periods of time. During World War II, for example, he worked as a Navy civilian employee and was well-liked by his superiors. He was given opportunities by other AA members, and both Bill W. and his older brother Jack sought ways to help him back to continuous sobriety and well-being. In the following years, he often lived with Bill and Lois for months at a time--something Lois tolerated for Bill's sake.
It also became a sort of a game by AA members to become the person who helped Ebby recover. In 1953, a New York member named Charlie M. collaborated with AA members in Dallas, Texas, to take Ebby to the Lone Star state for treatment at a clinic run by Searcy W., an early member who still recalls his years with Ebby. After initial troubles, Ebby found sobriety in Texas and stayed there for eight years. He also found steady employment for several years.
It's clear that Ebby's Texas interlude was the best period of his adult life. He was lionized by grateful Texas people who went out of their way to meet him or hear him speak. In 1954, Ralph J. and his wife Mary Lee even invited Ebby for a two-month stay at their sheep ranch near Ozona, Texas, and loved every minute of his visit. Two members, Olie L. and Icky S., virtually adopted him, and Searcy became Ebby's Texas sponsor.
But one of Ebby's obsessions had been the belief that "finding the right woman" would be his salvation. He did find a woman in Texas who seemed to be the love of his life, but when she died suddenly, he began taking mood-changing pills and soon was drinking again. He returned to the New York area in late 1961 and stayed for a time with his brother Ken.
Bill W. had continued to help Ebby with occasional checks, and now he came forward again to manage Ebby's life more closely, partly because of Ebby's declining physical condition. With help from others, Bill had created a fund for Ebby to cover his expenses at a treatment-type facility. Health problems were closing in on Ebby, however, and it was clear that he could no longer live independently. And that's probably why Ebby appeared so sad when I saw him at Bill's banquet in 1963. He was in very poor health, to say nothing of the other demons that plagued him.
But there was a miracle of sorts waiting for Ebby. In the final two years of his life, he would find peace, sobriety, and tender loving care given by Margaret M. and her husband Mickey at their rest farm in Galway, near Saratoga Springs, New York. Symbolically enough, the farm was on a road named Peaceable Street!
Bill had met the M.s and when he learned that Margaret was in New York attending a nurse's convention, he asked her to come over to talk with him at GSO. She agreed to give Ebby care at the farm for seventy-five dollars a week--a cost Bill could easily manage with the fund and Ebby's Social Security payments.
Bill drove Ebby up to the rest farm in May 1964, and turned him over to Margaret and Mickey. Ebby was angry and defensive at first, but soon responded to their attempts to help him. Usually a likable person, Ebby even became popular with the other residents and awed them by his ability to work The New York Times crossword puzzles. The farm was only twenty-five miles from Albany, so he also had visits from his brother Ken and other friends and relatives. There couldn't have been a better place for Ebby's last years. Bill, writing to Ebby's old friends in Texas, would comment on the fine care Margaret was giving Ebby, and would also note that she had a good doctor on call.
When Ebby's brother Ken died in January 1966, Ebby was too weak to travel the twenty-five miles to Albany for the funeral. He seemed to lose the will to live after that, and one morning in March the housekeeper told Margaret that Ebby couldn't come down for breakfast. He was rushed to the nearby Ballston Spa hospital, where he died early in the morning on March 21.
Bill and Lois were on a trip to Mexico, but returned quickly for the funeral in Albany. It was a small funeral, and one woman who attended thought it symbolic that twelve persons were there to see him off. A brief notice in the local newspaper mentioned that Ebby was the brother of a former prominent mayor.
In death, Ebby rejoined his prominent family at the Albany Rural Cemetery, where he lies next to his brother Ken. The large plot is defined by the monument of his grandfather, who launched the family business and also served as Albany's mayor during the Civil War. (Ken, Jr., who was so generous in supplying information about Ebby and the family, passed away two months after showing me Ebby's grave. He is also buried nearby.)
I felt some of that gratitude myself when I visited the old farmhouse with Margaret in 1980. She had operated it after Mickey's death but finally closed it in 1979.
When AA members learn that I've become a student of Ebby's life, their first question is usually, "Did he die sober?" I believe, as did Ebby's Texas sponsor, Searcy W., that Ebby was sober two-and-a-half years when he died. This may have taken lots of supervision by Bill and Margaret, but he did put this much together in his final years. We should give him credit for that, because he gave us so much--particularly when he won the battle with ale that weekend in 1934. Without that magnificent victory, the outcome could have been much different for all of us.--Mel B. of Toledo, Ohio
-------
If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's your own damn fault!
-------
When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, ... our friends gasp and exclaim, "this simply can't be...."--TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS page 132
When I finally made my way to A.A., I could not believe that there was no treasurer to "compel the payment of dues." I could not imagine an organization that didn't require monetary contributions in return for a service. It was my first and, thus far, only experience with getting "something for nothing." Because I did not feel used or conned by those in A.A., I was able to approach the program free from bias and with an open mind. They wanted nothing from me. What could I lose? I thank God for the wisdom of the early founders who knew so well the alcoholic's disdain for being manipulated.--From the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We should be free from alcohol for good. It's out of our hands and in the hands of God, so we don't need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven't done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since we don't trust God to take care of the problem for us, we reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. Then it's our problem again and we're in the same old mess we were in before. We're helpless again and we drink. Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?
Meditation for the Day
No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool working all the time, but doing bad work because of lack of preparation, is of small value compared with the sharp, keen, perfect instrument working for only a short time, but that turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.--From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
The greatest gift--Page 60
"Our newly found faith serves as a firm foundation for courage in the future."--Basic Text, page 96
When we begin coming to meetings, we hear other addicts talking about the gifts they have received as a result of this program, things we never thought of as "gifts" before. One such "gift" is the renewed ability to feel the emotions we had deadened for so long with drugs. It's not difficult to think of love, joy, and happiness as gifts, even if it's been a long time since we've felt them. But what about "bad" feelings like anger, sadness, fear, and loneliness? Such emotions can't be seen as gifts, we tell ourselves. After all, how can we be thankful for things we want to run from?!
We can become grateful for these emotions in our lives if we place them in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we've come to believe in a loving Higher Power, and we've asked that Power to care for us-and our Higher Power doesn't make mistakes. The feelings we're given, "good" or "bad" are given to us for a reason. With this in mind, we come to realize that there are no "bad" feelings, only lessons to be learned. Our faith and our Higher Power's care give us the courage we need to face whatever feelings may come up on a daily basis.
As we heard early in recovery, "Your Higher Power won't give you more than you can handle in just one day." And the ability to feel our emotions is one of the greatest gifts of recovery.
Just for Today: I will try to welcome my feelings, firm in the belief that I have the courage to face whatever emotions may come up in my life.--From the book Just for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or
unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.
Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I
have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy
in it."--Grouch Marx
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love.
What seeds will you plant there?
Native American
"Ultimately, nature will do the teaching."--Tom Porter, MOHAWK
There are things man has control over, and there are things man does not have control over. No matter how smart we get, whether it be in technology or science, there are things we will never control. The Great Spirit carefully protected and hid the control over certain things in the Unseen World. There are forces in the Unseen World that make sure humans don't mess things up. The bottom line is, no matter what we do, nature will have the last say. Nature is the teacher, we are the students. May we honor and respect our teacher.
Great Spirit, today, help me to live in harmony with people, principles, and life.
Keep It Simple
Leave yourself alone.--Jenny Janacek
We often pick on ourselves. We put ourselves down. But doing this isn't part of our recovery.
In fact, it goes against our program. Our program is based on loving care. We have turned our lives over to a caring, loving Higher Power who will give us the answers. We are told Easy Does It. We back off. As recovering addicts, we learn not to judge. Instead, we learn to be kind to ourselves. Our job is not to figure out the world, but to add more love to it. Let's start with ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, stop me from judging. Help me know what You want to do. Help me work the Steps Two and Three.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll leave myself alone. I will remember that picking on myself is another form of control.
Big Book
"The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves."--Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, page 25
----------------------------
Ebby Grapevine September 1999 (thanks Ronny H)
Ebby had been enabled to bring me the gift of grace because he could reach me at depth through the language of the heart. He had pushed ajar that great gate through which all in AA have since passed to find their freedom under God."--Bill W., AA Grapevine
While attending the annual Bill W. dinner in New York in October 1963, I noticed a man with a sad expression seated at the table that Bill and Lois shared with close friends. Since the general atmosphere in the large banquet room was festive, his sadness seemed out of place. Someone told me he was Ebby T., the friend who had called on Bill in late 1934 to bring him the Oxford Group's spiritual message that helped Bill get sober and helped form AA.
Several months later, during one of the last discussions I ever had with Bill, he told me that he had been able to place Ebby in a country rest home in upstate New York. Ebby died two years later from emphysema, the same affliction that would claim Bill's life in 1971.
Ebby's physical problems had been compounded by his frequent bouts with alcohol during the years since he had carried the message to Bill. His was the kind of story that causes continuing anguish in AA: a wonderful burst of initial sobriety followed by a devastating slip and then a pattern of repeated binges despite his best efforts and those of his friends. He had a tortured life, and yet there were times when he struggled valiantly to put his demons to rest.
I never actually met Ebby, but I kept learning more about him as the years passed. While serving as a contributing writer to Pass It On in 1980 and 1981, I had access to the correspondence that flowed between him and Bill. There was also an opportunity to spend a day with Margaret, the kindly nurse who cared for Ebby during his last two years of life.
In Albany, New York's capital city, there is archival information in the state library about Ebby's distinguished family members and their achievements in politics and business. Three members of the T. family were Albany mayors, and one lost a gubernatorial nomination by a very narrow margin. Ebby's parents were also prominent in social and church affairs. An assistant to the mayor at that time told me "you couldn't find a better family than the T.s" and put me in touch with Ebby's nephew, Ken T., Jr. When I returned to Albany some years later, Ken took me to visit Ebby's grave in the Albany Rural Cemetery, just north of the city.
There's no denying that Ebby was the "lost sheep" of the family, but it never completely rejected him or lost hope that he might someday recover. His last surviving brother, Ken T., Sr., stayed loyal to him right up to the time of his own death, just a few months before Ebby's passing.
But if Ebby had a friend who was unfailingly loyal and devoted, it was Bill W., who always called Ebby his sponsor and seemingly moved heaven and earth in trying to help Ebby regain sobriety. Indeed, it almost seemed that Bill threw his own good judgement out the window and became an "enabler" when Ebby was involved. The late Yev G., a member of the Manhattan Group since 1941, told me in 1980 that Bill seemed to lose all perspective when Ebby went off on another drunk. Yev recalled it this way:
"Bill was so definitely concerned about Ebby and so fond of him and felt so grateful and indebted to him that he would do anything rather than have anything happen to Ebby. Some of us were Bill's selected emissaries to find Ebby when he went out on one of his episodes. We knew his watering holes, the rooming houses, and the places where he went. So we'd get him and bring him back in the group, and he'd go along very well. But we had to observe, really, that Bill did not treat Ebby with the same kind of approach that he realistically would with the average kind of alcoholic member we had in those days in New York."
But even Bill became exasperated with Ebby at times, and this is revealed in some of his correspondence with and about Ebby. But he never lost hope that Ebby would recover, and years after his own recovery he would tell Ebby of his gratitude. It was an astonishing friendship, and one early AA told me that Bill and Ebby were almost like brothers.
A brief outline of Ebby's life goes this way: he was born in Albany in 1896, the youngest of five brothers. His father headed a family-owned foundry that manufactured railroad-car wheels, and Ebby entered life with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. Like his brothers, he attended Albany Academy, a prestigious private school that is highly regarded and whose graduates usually go on to college. But though his brothers excelled at the academy, Ebby was a lackluster student and did not graduate.
The family spent their summers in the resort town of Manchester, Vermont, seven miles south of Bill's hometown, East Dorset. Ebby's father was a golfing partner of Robert Todd Lincoln, a wealthy industrialist and the only son of Abraham Lincoln to reach adulthood. Lois's family was also a member of this social group, the "summer people" who awed Bill as he was growing up. Although Bill felt inferior in status to Ebby's family and Lois's family, he was something of a hero to other boys in Manchester because of his skill as a baseball pitcher. Ebby remembered meeting him in 1910 or '11 and perhaps watched him play.
Ebby may have sipped a little wine on family occasions, but he didn't have his real first drink until 1915, at age nineteen, when he walked into Albany's Hotel Ten Eyck and ordered a glass of beer. At about the same time, he went to work in the family business. By the time the firm closed in 1922, Ebby was getting drunk frequently. Later on in the nineteen-twenties he worked in the Albany office of a brokerage firm, but there's reason to believe he was never a real producer. In the meantime, Bill W. had become a New York stockbroker and was soaring with the surging market on Wall Street.
In January 1929, Bill stopped in Albany on his way to visit friends in Vermont, and he gave Ebby a call. He and Ebby spent the evening drinking and then agreed on a daring way to arrive in Manchester: by air, a risky action in those early days of aviation. They hired a barnstorming pilot to fly them to Manchester, which had just built an airfield, and they arrived, very drunk, the next day. Bill recalled (as quoted in Pass It On): "We somehow slid out of the cockpit, fell on the ground, and there we lay, immobile. Such was the history-making episode of the first airplane ever to light at Manchester, Vermont." Their drunken venture may have created an odd bond between Ebby and Bill that would be among the reasons Ebby would call on him in 1934.
Ebby's drinking worsened, and by late 1932 he had become such an embarrassment to his family that he slunk off to Manchester, and moved back into his family's summer home. He had periods of sobriety, but by mid-1934 his drinking had led to troubles and arrests in Manchester. While his brothers were still actively employed or in business, the family money supporting Ebby had largely run out. According to some tales circulated later, he sold some of the family furniture to buy booze.
About this time, several Oxford Group members in the area chose Ebby as a likely prospect for their spiritual message. They were Rowland H., Shep C., and Cebra G. He resisted their approach, but became more receptive when another drunken incident brought him before a judge in Bennington. He expected to be jailed for the weekend, but was permitted to go home on the promise that he would return--sober--on Monday.
And it was at this point, I think, that Ebby won a battle that became important for all of us. Waiting for him in the cellar at home were several bottles of his favorite ale, which he planned to drink immediately after the local constable let him off at the house. He was in agony when he raced down the stairs to get them. But then his promise to the judge stopped him cold, and he began to wrestle with his conscience. After a fierce struggle he took the bottles over to a neighbor. The action gave him peace. That was his last attempt to drink for two years and seven months.
I like to think of this moment as Ebby's Magnificent Victory. I've wondered whether, if he'd lost this struggle, he might not have stayed sober and been able to carry the message to Bill. In any case, he returned to court sober and was released to the custody of Rowland H., who then became what we AAs would call a sponsor. Along with giving Ebby a grounding in Oxford Group principles, Rowland took him to New York City. After staying with Shep for a short time, Ebby moved to Calvary Mission, run by Dr. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Church on Gramercy Park.
One November night in 1934, Ebby came to see Bill, who was then living in Brooklyn with his wife, Lois. Ebby told Bill, "I've got religion," and while Bill drank gin and pineapple juice, Ebby recounted his friendship with Rowland, described the principles of the Oxford Group (like the importance of absolute honesty when dealing with defects), and talked about his growing belief in God and the efficacy of prayer. Ebby's words, and his sober demeanor, stayed with Bill, who later recalled, "The good of what he said stuck so well that in no waking moment thereafter could I get that man and his message out of my head." Bill kept drinking, but he decided to pay a visit to the mission, which he did after stopping at a number of bars on the way and hooking up with a drunk Finnish fisherman. When he arrived at the mission, he ended up giving a kind of drunken monologue at the evening meeting where the derelict men gave testimonials about not drinking. On December 11, Bill checked himself back into Towns Hospital, where he'd previously been treated. Ebby visited him there, and a few days later, Bill had his "white light" experience and never took another drink.
Ebby stayed on in New York, continued to work with Bill, and moved in with Bill and Lois after Calvary Mission closed in 1936. But by 1937 he was back in Albany, working in a Ford factory. While he still worked with alcoholics and apparently kept up his Oxford Group connections, tensions were building up in his personal life. Finally, on a trip to New York City, he drank again, after two years and seven months of sobriety.
His life then became a nightmarish succession of binges followed by short periods of sobriety. He held jobs briefly and sometimes performed well for short periods of time. During World War II, for example, he worked as a Navy civilian employee and was well-liked by his superiors. He was given opportunities by other AA members, and both Bill W. and his older brother Jack sought ways to help him back to continuous sobriety and well-being. In the following years, he often lived with Bill and Lois for months at a time--something Lois tolerated for Bill's sake.
It also became a sort of a game by AA members to become the person who helped Ebby recover. In 1953, a New York member named Charlie M. collaborated with AA members in Dallas, Texas, to take Ebby to the Lone Star state for treatment at a clinic run by Searcy W., an early member who still recalls his years with Ebby. After initial troubles, Ebby found sobriety in Texas and stayed there for eight years. He also found steady employment for several years.
It's clear that Ebby's Texas interlude was the best period of his adult life. He was lionized by grateful Texas people who went out of their way to meet him or hear him speak. In 1954, Ralph J. and his wife Mary Lee even invited Ebby for a two-month stay at their sheep ranch near Ozona, Texas, and loved every minute of his visit. Two members, Olie L. and Icky S., virtually adopted him, and Searcy became Ebby's Texas sponsor.
But one of Ebby's obsessions had been the belief that "finding the right woman" would be his salvation. He did find a woman in Texas who seemed to be the love of his life, but when she died suddenly, he began taking mood-changing pills and soon was drinking again. He returned to the New York area in late 1961 and stayed for a time with his brother Ken.
Bill W. had continued to help Ebby with occasional checks, and now he came forward again to manage Ebby's life more closely, partly because of Ebby's declining physical condition. With help from others, Bill had created a fund for Ebby to cover his expenses at a treatment-type facility. Health problems were closing in on Ebby, however, and it was clear that he could no longer live independently. And that's probably why Ebby appeared so sad when I saw him at Bill's banquet in 1963. He was in very poor health, to say nothing of the other demons that plagued him.
But there was a miracle of sorts waiting for Ebby. In the final two years of his life, he would find peace, sobriety, and tender loving care given by Margaret M. and her husband Mickey at their rest farm in Galway, near Saratoga Springs, New York. Symbolically enough, the farm was on a road named Peaceable Street!
Bill had met the M.s and when he learned that Margaret was in New York attending a nurse's convention, he asked her to come over to talk with him at GSO. She agreed to give Ebby care at the farm for seventy-five dollars a week--a cost Bill could easily manage with the fund and Ebby's Social Security payments.
Bill drove Ebby up to the rest farm in May 1964, and turned him over to Margaret and Mickey. Ebby was angry and defensive at first, but soon responded to their attempts to help him. Usually a likable person, Ebby even became popular with the other residents and awed them by his ability to work The New York Times crossword puzzles. The farm was only twenty-five miles from Albany, so he also had visits from his brother Ken and other friends and relatives. There couldn't have been a better place for Ebby's last years. Bill, writing to Ebby's old friends in Texas, would comment on the fine care Margaret was giving Ebby, and would also note that she had a good doctor on call.
When Ebby's brother Ken died in January 1966, Ebby was too weak to travel the twenty-five miles to Albany for the funeral. He seemed to lose the will to live after that, and one morning in March the housekeeper told Margaret that Ebby couldn't come down for breakfast. He was rushed to the nearby Ballston Spa hospital, where he died early in the morning on March 21.
Bill and Lois were on a trip to Mexico, but returned quickly for the funeral in Albany. It was a small funeral, and one woman who attended thought it symbolic that twelve persons were there to see him off. A brief notice in the local newspaper mentioned that Ebby was the brother of a former prominent mayor.
In death, Ebby rejoined his prominent family at the Albany Rural Cemetery, where he lies next to his brother Ken. The large plot is defined by the monument of his grandfather, who launched the family business and also served as Albany's mayor during the Civil War. (Ken, Jr., who was so generous in supplying information about Ebby and the family, passed away two months after showing me Ebby's grave. He is also buried nearby.)
I felt some of that gratitude myself when I visited the old farmhouse with Margaret in 1980. She had operated it after Mickey's death but finally closed it in 1979.
When AA members learn that I've become a student of Ebby's life, their first question is usually, "Did he die sober?" I believe, as did Ebby's Texas sponsor, Searcy W., that Ebby was sober two-and-a-half years when he died. This may have taken lots of supervision by Bill and Margaret, but he did put this much together in his final years. We should give him credit for that, because he gave us so much--particularly when he won the battle with ale that weekend in 1934. Without that magnificent victory, the outcome could have been much different for all of us.--Mel B. of Toledo, Ohio
-------
If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's your own damn fault!
-------
L'Arche Foundation Daily Thought for Friday, 28 February 2014 "Solitude"
L'Arche Foundation Daily Thought for Friday, 28 February 2014 "Solitude"
Solitude does not separate me from others; it helps me love them more tenderly, realistically and attentively. I begin to distinguish between the false solitude which is a flight from others to be alone with egoism, sadness or a bruised sensitivity, and the true solitude which is communion with God and others.--Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, page 189
-------
Adam Hamilton for Friday, 28 February 2014
Adam Hamilton for Friday, 28 February 2014
Video Resources for Lent
I am that so many churches are using 24 Hours, Final Words or The Way for Lent this year. 24 Hours is a book, devotional and small group DVD filmed in the Holy Land focused on the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, and the meaning of the crucifixion. Final Words is a Lenten study of the seven statements of Jesus from the cross. It has a DVD for small groups. The Way is a study of the life of Jesus starting with his baptism and ending with the cross and resurrection. Like 24 Hours, the video was filmed in the Holy Land.
you are using these resources this Lent, or are just curious, you may want to check out these videos - you can post them on Facebook or Twitter or use them in worship to create interest in your small group.
for 24 Hours That Changed the World: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=9
--"24 Hours That Changed the World in the Holy Land" features my description of what students will see and study when using 24 Hours That Changed the World.
for The Way: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=13
--"The Way Promotional Video" features my description of what students will see and study when using The Way.
for Final Words From the Cross: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=12
also had several inquiries as to how to download the Leader Guide for The Way. It's a free download here: http://www.abingdonpress.com/leaderguides
I hope you find these resources helpful.
Have a blessed Lenten and Easter season!
-------
an enote from Reverend Adam Hamilton for Friday, 28 February 2014
Dear Resurrection Family,
This weekend is the conclusion of our 10,000 Reasons campaign at our Leawood campus as we return our pledge cards. It's going to be an awesome and inspiring weekend in worship…and, it's supposed to snow, Yikes! This morning I began the day on my knees praying for our congregation, and this campaign, and prayed, "Lord, I know that you've got bigger things to worry about than whether it snows on pledge Sunday at Church of the Resurrection, but I'm worried about this and it's impact upon our commitments to the campaign." I felt God saying to me, "Don't worry Adam, it's going to be okay," and I felt a peace about this, as though God were saying, "I've touched the hearts of my people, whether it snows or not, they will return their commitment cards." An hour later I received a commitment card e-mailed to me from someone who wasn't sure they were going to be able to make it to worship, planned to join us online if not, but wanted us to have their card. The commitment was for a lead gift in the campaign and it took my breath away.
Here's what I'd like to ask of you: If you can safely make it to church this weekend, would you join us? It is going to be a really meaningful weekend. If you can't would you please join us online at 10:45 or 5? You'll be blessed as you do and you can fill out your commitment card online this weekend.
LaVon and I have been surprised by the blessings that have come our way in life. I became a pastor assuming I would make very little money and we'd struggle most of our lives. That's what you sign on for in part when you choose the field over others you could pursue. We never thought we'd end up serving the largest church in our denomination, or that I would write books that people would buy. So we have more money than we thought we would have at this time (or any time) in our lives. I'm guessing many of you could say the same thing in your field - that you've been blessed. So we ask, Surely these blessings are not all for us. Surely we're meant to do something meaningful with these, and to invest in things that matter. We enjoy some of what we have, but we try to live well below our means so that we can invest in things that matter to us. We feel that, in the words of Jesus, "To whom much is given, much more is expected" and, in the words of the Torah, we are blessed to be a blessing. This capital campaign feels like one of those major investments to us. It is our opportunity to do something that will touch others for generations to come. I hope you might see this campaign in this way as well.
One of the reasons I hope you'll be here in person this weekend is that we have a small but pretty cool gift to give each household that returns their commitment for the campaign - a small thank you gift. I'll tell you about it in worship, but I'll give you a hint - you'll be taking home something from the Holy Land from the time of Christ, a 2,000 year old piece of history that comes right out of the text I'm preaching on this weekend. If you turn in your pledge card online, we'll mail you the gift.
Regarding your pledge, you might check to see if you have a matching donation program through your employer. This would, in some cases, double your pledge. For those outside of Kansas City, remember, we have a matching pledge of up to $2 million from a donor encouraging persons who are not members of Resurrection to pledge in this effort.
If you'd like to know more about the 10,000 Reasons campaign check out our website (future.cor.org) where you will find videos, FAQ's, blueprints and more.
Tonight at 5:00 we begin our 49-hour prayer vigil. Thanks to all who have signed up to pray for the 10,000 Reasons campaign and for our congregation. We'll have people here all day and all night for the next 49 hours praying for you and for this effort. I'll be here tomorrow morning at 3:00(or 2:30 am, I've forgotten now what time!). If you would like to come and join us for the prayer vigil, you can sign up by clicking on this link. The vigil is taking place in the Firestone Chapel in the narthex of the sanctuary. Enter through the south-east door (under the canopy) - it will be the only door unlocked at night. Thank you to all who have made a commitment to come and pray!
This coming Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent - the 40 day journey towards Easter. We'll have Ash Wednesday services at all of our campuses, Leawood, West, Downtown, and Blue Springs, all beginning at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 5.
Next weekend we'll begin a new sermon series called, The Gospel of the Nobodies. As a congregation we read through one gospel together ever year and this Lent we'll read and study the Gospel of Luke. Luke has a particular interest in demonstrating Jesus' concern for the "nobodies." Every one of us have felt like a nobody at some point in our lives. This sermon series, and our Lenten journey through Luke, will bless you, speak to you and deepen your faith. Plan to join us on Ash Wednesday or next weekend for the first in our series on the Gospel of the Nobodies.
I look forward to joining our other campuses and partners once again as we begin the season of Lent, and I'm grateful for each of our campus pastors preaching during this last month as Resurrection Leawood has been focused on our 10,000 Reasons campaign.
I'm off to a meeting. I want you to know how proud and grateful I am for each of you, and how excited I am about God's plans for our congregation!
See you in worship!
Adam Hamilton
-------
Video Resources for Lent
I am that so many churches are using 24 Hours, Final Words or The Way for Lent this year. 24 Hours is a book, devotional and small group DVD filmed in the Holy Land focused on the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, and the meaning of the crucifixion. Final Words is a Lenten study of the seven statements of Jesus from the cross. It has a DVD for small groups. The Way is a study of the life of Jesus starting with his baptism and ending with the cross and resurrection. Like 24 Hours, the video was filmed in the Holy Land.
you are using these resources this Lent, or are just curious, you may want to check out these videos - you can post them on Facebook or Twitter or use them in worship to create interest in your small group.
for 24 Hours That Changed the World: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=9
--"24 Hours That Changed the World in the Holy Land" features my description of what students will see and study when using 24 Hours That Changed the World.
for The Way: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=13
--"The Way Promotional Video" features my description of what students will see and study when using The Way.
for Final Words From the Cross: http://www.adamhamilton.org/resources/?type=video&cat_id=12
also had several inquiries as to how to download the Leader Guide for The Way. It's a free download here: http://www.abingdonpress.com/leaderguides
I hope you find these resources helpful.
Have a blessed Lenten and Easter season!
-------
an enote from Reverend Adam Hamilton for Friday, 28 February 2014
Dear Resurrection Family,
This weekend is the conclusion of our 10,000 Reasons campaign at our Leawood campus as we return our pledge cards. It's going to be an awesome and inspiring weekend in worship…and, it's supposed to snow, Yikes! This morning I began the day on my knees praying for our congregation, and this campaign, and prayed, "Lord, I know that you've got bigger things to worry about than whether it snows on pledge Sunday at Church of the Resurrection, but I'm worried about this and it's impact upon our commitments to the campaign." I felt God saying to me, "Don't worry Adam, it's going to be okay," and I felt a peace about this, as though God were saying, "I've touched the hearts of my people, whether it snows or not, they will return their commitment cards." An hour later I received a commitment card e-mailed to me from someone who wasn't sure they were going to be able to make it to worship, planned to join us online if not, but wanted us to have their card. The commitment was for a lead gift in the campaign and it took my breath away.
Here's what I'd like to ask of you: If you can safely make it to church this weekend, would you join us? It is going to be a really meaningful weekend. If you can't would you please join us online at 10:45 or 5? You'll be blessed as you do and you can fill out your commitment card online this weekend.
LaVon and I have been surprised by the blessings that have come our way in life. I became a pastor assuming I would make very little money and we'd struggle most of our lives. That's what you sign on for in part when you choose the field over others you could pursue. We never thought we'd end up serving the largest church in our denomination, or that I would write books that people would buy. So we have more money than we thought we would have at this time (or any time) in our lives. I'm guessing many of you could say the same thing in your field - that you've been blessed. So we ask, Surely these blessings are not all for us. Surely we're meant to do something meaningful with these, and to invest in things that matter. We enjoy some of what we have, but we try to live well below our means so that we can invest in things that matter to us. We feel that, in the words of Jesus, "To whom much is given, much more is expected" and, in the words of the Torah, we are blessed to be a blessing. This capital campaign feels like one of those major investments to us. It is our opportunity to do something that will touch others for generations to come. I hope you might see this campaign in this way as well.
One of the reasons I hope you'll be here in person this weekend is that we have a small but pretty cool gift to give each household that returns their commitment for the campaign - a small thank you gift. I'll tell you about it in worship, but I'll give you a hint - you'll be taking home something from the Holy Land from the time of Christ, a 2,000 year old piece of history that comes right out of the text I'm preaching on this weekend. If you turn in your pledge card online, we'll mail you the gift.
Regarding your pledge, you might check to see if you have a matching donation program through your employer. This would, in some cases, double your pledge. For those outside of Kansas City, remember, we have a matching pledge of up to $2 million from a donor encouraging persons who are not members of Resurrection to pledge in this effort.
If you'd like to know more about the 10,000 Reasons campaign check out our website (future.cor.org) where you will find videos, FAQ's, blueprints and more.
Tonight at 5:00 we begin our 49-hour prayer vigil. Thanks to all who have signed up to pray for the 10,000 Reasons campaign and for our congregation. We'll have people here all day and all night for the next 49 hours praying for you and for this effort. I'll be here tomorrow morning at 3:00(or 2:30 am, I've forgotten now what time!). If you would like to come and join us for the prayer vigil, you can sign up by clicking on this link. The vigil is taking place in the Firestone Chapel in the narthex of the sanctuary. Enter through the south-east door (under the canopy) - it will be the only door unlocked at night. Thank you to all who have made a commitment to come and pray!
This coming Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent - the 40 day journey towards Easter. We'll have Ash Wednesday services at all of our campuses, Leawood, West, Downtown, and Blue Springs, all beginning at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 5.
Next weekend we'll begin a new sermon series called, The Gospel of the Nobodies. As a congregation we read through one gospel together ever year and this Lent we'll read and study the Gospel of Luke. Luke has a particular interest in demonstrating Jesus' concern for the "nobodies." Every one of us have felt like a nobody at some point in our lives. This sermon series, and our Lenten journey through Luke, will bless you, speak to you and deepen your faith. Plan to join us on Ash Wednesday or next weekend for the first in our series on the Gospel of the Nobodies.
I look forward to joining our other campuses and partners once again as we begin the season of Lent, and I'm grateful for each of our campus pastors preaching during this last month as Resurrection Leawood has been focused on our 10,000 Reasons campaign.
I'm off to a meeting. I want you to know how proud and grateful I am for each of you, and how excited I am about God's plans for our congregation!
See you in worship!
Adam Hamilton
-------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)