May, 2012

Vol. 38, Issue 5

North Benton Presbyterian Church

Web Site: www.northbentonchurch.org

 North      Benton      Church

Joyfully yours, Pastor Herb

Dear Friends,

   Greetings!  And “MAY” this month be a grand one for you and yours!

   I was looking at an old history of a church a couple of weeks ago.  It was one of those books that have pictures of the leaders of the church back in the 1800’s.  The people, women and men, were all dressed in black and looked as though they last smiled when they were three years old.  They felt that they had to look serious in order to show that they were “holy”.  For sure, there was nothing joyful for them to be in church.

   The book brought to mind memories of my up bringing on the west side of Cleveland.  We went to Rocky River Reformed Church in America and the minister also never smiled.  In fact, he had the voice that sounded like the voice of the Wizard of Oz before he was discovered.  It was deep and loud and sent shivers up and down my spine every time I heard it.

   For sure, there is a lot of things to be serious about.  That is a given because that is part of life. King Solomon wrote of this around 3000 years ago.  In the book of Ecclesiastes, he wrote: “There is a time to die...kill...tear down...weep...mourn...give up...throw away...tear...silent...hate...and a time for war.”  Not very good.  There is the root of solemn.  So, we can say that looking like you are suffering from a major toothache or a stiff neck or having a royally upset stomach is what it means to be a Christian.

   However, that is just part of life. Solomon said that there is “a time” for such things, just PART of the time.  You are missing his point if you don’t see that he also wrote that: “there is a time to be born...heal...build...laugh...dance...search...keep...mend...silent...love...and a time for peace.”  Solomon, the “wisest” man who ever lived, knew that there was time for all manner of things.  If he was writing today, he might say something like, “On the one hand, there is a time...while on the other hand there is a time…”  As if the two were separate and at odds with one another.  If you look at how your body was constructed though, hands can do good work by themselves, but they work better when they work together.  In fact, the best that hands can do is when they clasp together in prayer.  When you are in prayer with God, there is a peace that passeth all understanding.  Yes, there are bad, hard and difficult things.  Yes, there are things that SEEM so big to us.  When we are in prayer, we are reminded that our God is BIGGER than anything, all things, and that HE REALLY LOVES us.  What to us so often seems impossible, we find that instead it is “HIM POSSIBLE.”  That opens us up to the abundant life that Jesus promises us.  So we don’t want to forget that there is a good side to life.  That is important to remember.  Maybe forgetting that was one of the reasons why the Rocky River Reformed Church in America building is now a mosque.

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