2012.09.10 Monday Morning Message

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Greetings from Vinita Oklahoma. Around here we woke up this morning to an absolutely beautiful day. As I looked out the window and surveyed the landscape I was reminded of the fact that we need to be good stewards of this creation which God has placed us in charge of. I also thought about how difficult it is to just sit still and be present in the moment. I tried to do that as I enjoyed the view from the bedroom window. In Gardening by Heart May Sarton says,

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of the need for us to slow down enough to be present in the moment. nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. The garden door is always open to the holy.”

I like the phrase “slow circles of nature.” It is so easy for us to get distracted and become emotionally detached from the earth. In doing so we run the risk of moving further away from our connection with the divine. We override the slow circles of nature by creating our own pace and our own path. This makes it easy for us to forget who and whose we are. Makes it easy for us to lose our way or get worn out, or both.

Here’s my hope. My hope is that all of us will slow down a bit and focus on the beauty of God’s creation. I hope we will work to recognize the natural rhythm of life and allow that rhythm to become our rhythm. Oh what a beautiful morning.

This is my first Monday Morning Message. As the new pastor of Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, I am thankful to be here. It’s nice to feel like you are doing what you should be doing in the place you should be doing it. This is a wonderful gathering of people and I am happy to be part of this church family.

Blessings,

Ken Bailey

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011.11.28 Monday Morning

Greetings in the first week of Advent from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

Charles Dickens, in his classic tale, A Christmas Carol, expresses the belief that human nature can be changed, that new beginnings are possible.

 

In the story, Ebenezer Scrooge is the subject of transformation.  A penny-pinching, unpleasant Scrooge is given a new beginning and becomes a good friend, a generous boss, and a genuinely good person.  He is still Ebenezer Scrooge, but with an altered self he becomes engaged positively in his relationships with others.

 

We need to distinguish between a beginning and a new beginning.  A new beginning suggests a fresh start, a second chance, turning elsewhere when the the old way is no longer possible or valuable.

 

New beginnings are fascinating because they up fresh possibilities for the present at well as for the future.  The first day of school, graduation  day, a first job, marriage, the birth of a child are all very exciting.

 

At the center of the Christian faith is the belief that new beginnings are possible, if we meet opportunities knowing that God's will is our well being and the well being of all creation.

 

During this season of Advent turn to Christ and find a new beginning.

 

With blessings and in friendship,

Richard