September 29, 2009
Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Stan Mooneyham is a former director of World Vision, a charitable agency that combats global poverty and hunger. At a national gathering of religious leaders from a wide spectrum of faith traditions - Catholic and Protestant, conservative and liberal – conversations quickly devolved into sharp disagreements and fractious arguments. At the end of the first day of meetings, a weary Mooneyham was ready to relinquish to someone else the role of facilitating these discussions.
But the next day, an inspired Mooneyham turned to a flip chart and drew a number of little dots, each with a circle around them. He told the bickering leaders that this was how they perceived themselves and their relationships with others – as isolated individuals hedged by self-protection.
Then, Mooneyham drew a large, all-encompassing circle around all the dots, and read a portion of Edwin Markhams’s poem, “Outwitted:”
He drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
Mooneyham concluded, “I may not be in your circle, but you are in mine, and there is nothing you can do to get out. You can’t resign, walk out, or run away. If you try it, I will just draw a bigger circle.”
Immediately, the bitterness and strain in the room evaporated, as each person recognized their own protective bubbles, and remembered that God’s wide circle included everyone in the whole world. Starting that day and for the rest of their time together, Mooneyham and the religious leaders had the most productive time building relationships that World Vision had ever experienced. [1]
I wonder sometimes if God looks at the global church and wearies of its divisions. Disagreements over doctrine, polity, and liturgy seem to spawn more division and less dialogue, more cracks and less common understanding. As my friend Jim Harnish likes to say, “We all tend to draw circles defining who’s in and who’s out. And inevitably, we draw those circles around ourselves.”
It is in these moments that we can remember the words of the hymn, “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy:”
For the Love of God is broader / Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal / Is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more simple / We should rest upon God’s word;
And our lives would be illumined / By the presence of our Lord.
If God’s mercy is so wide, and God’s love so all-encompassing, why do we try so hard to monopolize it for ourselves? In the end, shouldn’t our efforts to define who’s right and who’s wrong defer to the realization that we are all in this kingdom building business together?
The need for this reminder is what makes observing World Communion Sunday every year so important. It reminds us that our little patch of ground on Sixth and Main has not cornered the market on Christian expression, and that we are connected to a cosmic family that stretches as much across time as it does around the globe. And regardless of the differences we have with other denominations (indeed, even with other United Methodists!), there is a wideness to God’s mercy. A wide, all-encompassing circle of love.
Read this quote by Cyprian, the third century bishop in North Africa. It’s long, but well worth the effort.
The Church also is one, which is spread abroad far and wide into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness. As there are many rays of the sun, but one light; and many branches of a tree, but one strength based in its tenacious root; and since from one spring flow many streams, although the multiplicity seems diffused in the liberality of an overflowing abundance, yet the unity is still preserved in the sources. Separate a ray of the sun from its body of light, its unity does not allow a division of light; break a branch from a tree, - when broken, it will not be able to bud; cut off the stream from its fountain, and that which is cut off dries up. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world, yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor is the unity of the body separated. Her fruitful abundance spreads her branches over the whole world. She broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet her head is one, her source one; and she is one mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness; from her womb we are born, by her milk we are nourished, by her spirit we are animated. [2]
Join us this Sunday as we observe our global connection with the body of Christ around the world. We are grateful once again to Judi Klee, who will be providing breads from around the world made in her restaurant The Spice Rack (www.homemadepizzelles.com). Let’s be the rays of light, united for the world.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org
[1] Toycen, David. The Power of Generosity: How to Transform Yourself and Your World. (Waynesboro, GA: Authentic Media, 2004)
[2] Nicene and Post-Nice Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Vol. VIII (New York: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pubishing Co.) pp. 15-16.
CHILDREN’S SABBATH THANK-YOU FROM LINDA CHRISTENSEN
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our Children's Sabbath a fun and memorable service. It would not have been possible without our Sunday School students and teachers, those who worked the sound booth, our organist, pianist, and bell choir director, the UMW for providing the materials, and of course all those who brought breakfast cereals. 45 boxes of cereal were donated and will be taken to Mid Sioux. We will also be able to count this as part of our Rainbow Covenant Missions program.
PORK FEED UPDATE
Thank you for all you did to support another successful pork feed. Thanks to the Parker’s for the delicious tenderloins, and for the hard work of Jeff Blum, the Adult Class, and the Finance Committee. We raised over $1,000 for the Next Generation Fund, and we congratulate the following persons for their award-winning recipes:
“Pastor’s Winner” (Healthiest and Most Flavorful): Kay O’Connor; Runners Up: Mary Chisman and Bu Fee.
“Congeniality Award” (Best Appearance, and Able to Accompany Everything): Jenny Burroughs
“People’s Choice” (Most Indulgent and Best Tasting, when the Pastor’s Not Looking): Betty Forrest
“Kid’s Choice” (Children’s Favorite) Patty Blum
NEW NURSERY INSTRUCTIONS
We are happy to provide child care for your child, ages 0 to 2nd Grade. 3rd Graders and older are encouraged to attend the worship service with their parents. Busy bags to occupy them are available in the lobby of the sanctuary. In accordance with our new Child Protection Policy, please sign your child in, listing your child’s name and check-in time. You will need to be the one to sign-out your child, unless you give instruction to the staff that someone else will be picking your child up. Also, so that you may be contacted immediately on campus in the event of an emergency, please pick up a pager and write down the number on the sign-in sheet. Alternatively, you may leave your cell phone number.
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