2011.1.31 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

How are you doing with your New Year resolutions? You do remember them, don't you? I'm working on one that requires cleaning out my bulging files. I was surprised to find that my first MONDAY MORNING message was sent 9/10/07. In it I assured anyone with a prayer request, or with sugestions relating to these weekly messages, a personal reply. The offer still holds. Let me hear from you.

With the help of Brian Dishman, a son of Pilgrim Church now living in Japan with his wife and daughter, our sharing the good news of Christ is going world wide. Thanks - many thanks - Brian.

One of my early messages, dated 10/29/07, quoted the late William Barclay, one time professor of New Testament at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Writing about happiness, he said three things are needed:

Something to hope for ...

Something to do ...

Someone to love ...

How great the blessing these three things are. They can be yours.


Richard 

2011.1.24 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

Have you ever considered that the instinct "to fight" is strong within the human race? Children play "White Hats/Black Hats" and current TV programs, with the same 'fighting' spirit are popular.

When we get older the instinct "to fight" is carried into sports events. My alma mater has a well known "fight song": "On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin, fight on for its fame; fight fellows, fight, fight to win this game."

The instinct "to fight" is carried into the business world, where it is called "competition."

You cannot breed the fighting, competitive spirit out of the human race. What is important is that we "fight" for the right reason - to fight, to struggle against injustice, poverty and want. These are things we ought to fight.

It will be a bad day when we cease to differ from one another. It will be a great day when we can differ and still love.

Richard

2011.1.17 Monday Morning!

Greetings and all good wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

Today, in the USA, we observe Martin Luther King Day.  A remarkable man of peace and good will, he was flawed like all of us.  We can learn from him that God uses imperfect people in extraordinary ways.  Throughout the Bible one finds God using imperfect people to do his will, which is the well being of all creation.

 

Dr. King's son wrote these words which challenge each of us to live the dream of his father:

    "I pray that all Americans will embrace the challenge of

      social justice and the unifying spirit that my father shared

      with his compatriots.  With this commitment, we can begin

      to find new ways to reach out to one another, to heal our

      division, and build bridges of hope and opportunity

      benefiting all people.  In so doing we will not merely

      be seeking the dream, we will at long last be living it."

 

With blessings and in friendship,

Richard

A PEARL OF VALUE

    When we learn to respect ourselves

it becomes easier to respect others.

               

 

2011.1.10 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, OK.

A good friend in the congregation gave me a story called "Grandpa's Hands." It begins with Grandpa, some ninety plus years, staring quietly at his hands. His grand-daughter said: "I don't mean to disturb you, but you are just sitting here staring at your hands and I want to make sure you are ok."

"Have you ever looked at your hands?", Grandpa asked. The grand-daughter slowly looked at her hands and said, "No, I guess I've never really looked at them," trying to make out the point he was making.

"Stop and think for a moment about your hands and how they serve you," Grandpa said. Then he added: "My hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life." The story continues with Grandpa explaining the many, many ways his hands identified him and helped to serve God and others.

We often take for granted what we have until we lose them.

Look at what you have, not what you don't have, and give thanks.

Cheers,

Richard


A Pearl for the Week:

The Serenity Prayer

"O God, give me the serenity to accept

what cannot be changed, courage to change

what should be changed, and wisdom to

distinguish the one from the other."

2011.1.03 Monday Morning!

All of us at Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma send you greetings and best wishes at the beginning of this New Year.

 

God loves stories.  The Bible revolves around stories, and Jesus was a master story teller.  I hope you like stories.  In reading folk lore you"ll find wisdom to help on your life's journey.

 

The story of Jacob, in Genesis, is about a spiritual traveler.  Like all of us, Jacob was flawed.  After tricking his brother, Esau, and deceiving his father, Isaac, Jacob ran away from home.

 

Decades later, Jacob decided to return to his home and people.  Enroute he spent a long night wrestling with an unidentified man.  Was it his own conscience?  Guilt often ignites civil war within .

 

In that all night nightmare, Jacob realized God's presence was with him.  He asked himself:  "Am I traveling in the right direction?"  And he determined that the right direction for him was to trust God, and to affirm God's presence by practice - to treat others the way he wanted to be treated.

 

Happy travels in the right direction in this New Year.

 

In friendship,

 

Richard

A PEARL OF VALUE

When we learn to respect ourselves,

it becomes easier to respect others.