2012.02.06 Monday Morning Message

　
Greetings and best wishes from all of us at Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Vinita, Oklahoma.  

It may be a sign of old age, but I know that life's arithmetic means that for every new year we celebrate, we can subtract a year from our life.


That sounds pessimistic, but what I mean to say is don't wait too long to do what you want to do.


In too many simple things we wait too long to do them.

• Don't wait too long to show kindness.
• Don't wait too long to speak or write a word of encouragement.
• Don't wait too long to express your love and thanks to elderly relatives.
• Don't wait too long to love and enjoy your children and grandchildren.
• Don't wait too long to read the books and listen to the music that enlarges your mind.
• And of course, don't wait too long to practice a daily quiet time when you strengthen your inner spirits.

Life goes by quickly.   Don't wait too long to do the things you want to do!


With blessings and in friendship,
Richard

"The PAST is where you

learned the lesson

The FUTURE is where you

apply the lesson.

Don't give up the Middle!"

2011.12.19 Monday Morning

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

Are you enjoying your Christmas mail?  Most of the news we get from friends is cheerful, some sad, and of course, some down right depressing.

I got one of those depressing letters last week.  One comes every year from David, a Seminary classmate.  David reminds me of John the Baptist, a good person, but great on denouncing sin and not strong on forgiveness.

John the Baptist was big on repentance, but not so big about what happened after repentance.  Long on condemnation, short on healing.  John could tell what was wrong with the world, but not what was right.  My friend David is like that.

It's true, we're not living in utopia, but we can be thankful, and supportive, of helpful, healing forces at work.  There are plenty of reasons to despair - deaths in war and in protest movements.  We still weep, we still cry.  But, we can still laugh and we can still have hope, kindness and love.

Our spirit reflects an understanding of the purposes of our life, of a deeper inner truth and connection that lies inside us.  Christmas is a good time to re-connect with our soul.  Christmas reassures us that God is with us...always.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, near and far.

Richard

P. S.

At this time Richard is suffering from bronchitis.  Please keep him in your prayers.

2011.12.05 Monday Morning

Pilgrim Presbyterians in Vinita, Oklahoma send greetings and best wishes as you make your Advent journey to the Cradle of the Christ child.

 

Announcing the birth of Jesus, an angel said "I bring you good tidings of great joy"  (Luke 2:10).  Today, the good tidings are communicated by you, and people like you, who are aglow in faith, strong in hope, love and kindness.

 

Often the good tidings are communicated by people who see themselves as co-workers with God in our secular world.  Do you remember Pogo, or Peanuts, or Mr. Rogers?  They were full of good tidings.

 

I remember once when Charlie Brown and Lucy were leaning against a tree, and Lucy asked, "What do you think security is, Chuck?"

 

He replied, "Security is sleeping in the back seat of the car when you're a little kid and you've been somewhere with your Mom and Dad, and it's night.  You're riding and you can sleep without worrying about anything.  Your Mom and Dad are in the front seat, and they've done all the worrying.  They take care of everything."

 

Lucy smiled and said, "That's really neat!"  But a serious look came over Charlie's face and he said:  "But it doesn't always last.  Suddenly you've grown up, and it can never be that way again.  Suddenly it's over and you'll never go to sleep in the back seat.  Never!"

 

Lucy got a scared look and said, "Never?"  And Charlie who got scared himself with a terrible truth said "Never!"

 

In the last picture Lucy, aware of the real world, reaches over to Charlie and said, "Hold my hand, Chuck.  Hold my hand."

 

The good tidings - the gospel of Jesus Christ - tells us that we can hold one another's hand in the midst of discomfort - with love and support, for Christ has come to dwell in us and we are his co-workers in life's adventure.

 

With blessings and in friendship,

 

Richard

Happy Birthday Richard!

　
Dearest Richard,

Everyone at the Pilgrim Presbyterian Church and many more who have been a part of your life both privately and through your blessed ministry...

Would like to wish you a most WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!

Your Birthday Cake from Japan!  :-)

Best wishes on this most Auspicious Day and we all wish you many more Happy Birthdays to celebrate together!

Lovingly Yours,


(From ALL OF US)

2011.11.21 Monday Morning

Greetings from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

In the U. S. Thursday, November 24, is a day of National Thanksgiving.  FOR WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL?

 

In my long ministry, I can reduce reasons people have for thankfulness under three general headings.

        1st - Thanksgiving by comparison.

        2nd - Thanksgiving for specific reasons.

        3rd - Thanksgiving as an attitude.

 

At some time or other we exhibit all three.

 

My attention was drawn to the first, thanksgiving by comparison, while visiting a parishioner in the hospital.  She said, "I certainly am sick, but I'm thankful that I'm not as bad off as the man down the hall who moaned all night."  It's hardly ethical to be thankful by comparison- though often we slip into that mode without thought.

 

Second, it is good and reasonable to give thanks for specific reasons.  We should give thanks for our blessings, one by one.  But, be careful.  If we are thankful for only specific reasons we may one day lose one or more of those blessings and become angry and bitter.

 

The third type of thanksgiving is one of attitude for all life.  Can we learn to pray "I am thankful for who I am"?  That is the absolute character of thanksgiving.  An attitude of appreciation for our unique life and for all creation.

 

Shakespeare captured the truth of a genuine attitude of thanksgiving in Henry VI:

 

                    "O Lord that lends me life,

                     Lend me a heart full with thanksgiving."

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Richard

       

P. S.  You may want to read Psalm 100 at your Thanksgiving Day table.

2011.10.24 Monday Morning

Best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma!

Golden memories are the gratitude of the heart. How grateful I am for the five years (1986-1991) Helen and I lived in her old family home in Wales, that small, beautiful land of song.

I remember one morning sitting along the expansive estuary at Bangor, in North Wales. I saw boats - large boats, small boats, pleasure boats, fishing boats. And, all of them were anchored in mud. Every boat tilted, some to the right, others to the left. It was most definitely not a picture post card. The tide was out. The estuary was a mess, grim and unattractive. But, when the tide came in - and it always does - the mud lost its grip on the boats. They stood straight again. Awake, ready to go to sea! Those boats were free to come and go once more.

Bangor Photo...  Probably not the view referred to by Richard, however...

Our lives are often like the tides; some are tempestuous, while others come and go with the smoothness of silk. I like the words of the poet, Dylan Thomas (1914-1954) as the tides of life envelope me.

"Every morning when I wake,

Dear Lord, a little prayer I make.

O please to keep Thy loving eye

On all poor creatures born to die.

And every evening at sundown

I ask a blessing on the town.

For whether we last the night or no

I'm sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good

Who live our lives under Milk Wood.

And Thou, I know, will be the first

To see our best side, not our worst."

With blessings and in friendship,
Richard

2011.10.03 Monday Morning!

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

We have a choice. We can choose to build up one another, or we can choose to tear down one another. Let me share two encounters to illustrate what I mean.

I stopped at a gas station in Vian, a small town in Oklahoma, near Dwight Mission, our Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center. A gas attendant came out in the rain to pump gas. He smiled, and said hello, and seemed to be genuinely happy to serve his customers. After filling my tank, he did an extraordinary thing: he shook my hand, said "Thank you" and wished me well. He made my day.

Later, in Tulsa, I bought gas at a self-service station. The attendant was in a glassed-in-booth. Her eyes never met mine. Sullen lines marked her face. I felt like an intruder as she cracked her gum, took my money, all the while looking down. She seemed completely disinterested in her job. That young woman made me sad.

Every time we meet another person, each of us is given an opportunity to create or destroy by the way we dignify or deny that person.

Jesus was on target when he taught us to do to others as we want others to do to us.

With blessings and all good wishes,

Richard

www.pilgrimpresbyterian.blogspot.com/

2011.9.26 Monday Morning!

Top of the morning from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

Today, I want to share a story about God's embracing grace and my young college friend, Bill.

Bill and two good friends from his dorm pooled their resources so they could tour Europe "on the cheap." They traveled light, slept in youth hostels, and enjoyed the unique characteristics of every country and village they passed through.

The amazing part of Bill's story didn't happen during a visit to the cathedral; it happened in a pub in Ireland. The thee young travelers were enjoying a meal in a quaint Irish pub when they heard a loud groan. At a nearby table a man struggled to heave himself out of his chair. They saw immediately he had only one leg. He reached for his crutch, but lost his balance and began to fall. Instantly his companion at the table jumped up and caught him.

The man with one leg muttered, "Thanks! I'm as crippled as a blind man."

His friend steadied him while replying, "Well now...come to think of it, who of us here isn't crippled?" A hush fell over the pub as the friend continued, "to lend each other a hand when we're falling is maybe the one kind of work that really matters in the end."


With love, peace and affectionate regards,

Richard

2011.6.27 Monday Morning!

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

In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from a Paris museum, and went missing for two years. In its place hung a frame covering a blank space. It was reported that more people went to stare at the blank space in two years than had gone to look at the masterpiece in the previous twelve years.

It is human tendency to fail to notice and appreciate precious things while we have them, but let one be taken away and we become painfully aware of the blank space in our lives.

Helen Keller affirmed this truth when writing "I have often thought that it would be a blessing if each human being were striken blind and deaf for a few days some time in adult life. Darkness would make that life more appreciative of sight, silence would teach the joys of sound."

Too often it takes a threat to our blessings to make us aware of them.

You are alive and wonderful! Develop a keen awareness of joy in life.

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

Treasure your blessings while you may.

And be assured, each of you is among my blessings which I cherish.

Richard

2010.11.22 Monday Morning!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.  I suggest that at your Thanksgiving gathering someone read aloud Psalm 100.   To give thanks for specific reasons is reasonable.  In good conscience all of us can be thankful for the good things of life which we have received.   If, however, one of those specific reasons for thanksgiving is lost, can we still be thankful?  Yes we can if we cultivate an attitude of thanks toward all life.  An attitude of thankfulness sustains us and enhances purpose and meaning in all the situations we meet.   Shakespeare captured that truth in Henry VI:        "O Lord that lends us life,          Lend me a heart full of thankfulness."   A heart full of thankfulness is an attitude toward life itself. That is the absolute character of genuine thanksgiving.   Consider thankfulness not for a day, but as a life long attitude.   Cheers and best wishes, Richard

2010.02.08 Monday Morning!

MONDAY MORNING greetings from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, in Vinita, Oklahoma.

Last week I got an email from a friend, Don Grant. While riding his motor scooter on East Admiral Place in Tulsa, his wallet slipped out of his pocket. When he returned home and discovered his loss, he wrote "I was sick, sick, sick." When a phone call came from a man who had found the lost wallet, and who arranged to meet Don to return it, Don was well.

Yes, as Don said, "there are plenty of honest folks around."

Truth and honesty are woven into the human soul, but it takes effort to cultivate them. When one nurtures ones inner life, good character results. Our outward, visible life is bound up with our inner attitudes.

For better or for worse, the "stuff" that steers and directs us are the "stuff" of our choice, our decisions.

Here's a "Pearl of Value", sent by Brian Dishman, who lives in Japan: "Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so." (William Shakespeare)

Thanks, Don and Brian, and thanks to all of you in our Monday Morning family.

Richard

2009.08.31 Monday Morning - Recycled!

Top of the morning and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, now in its 126th year of ministry in Vinita, Oklahoma and the surrounding area.

126 years! That is a long time to have informed and inspired generation after generation. Many have written to tell me how influential Pilgrim Church has been in their lives. The latest such note came from a lady who wrote "the church has a special place in my heart and always will." She now lives half a continent away from Vinita.

I have asked myself what is the most striking thing about this congregation which is held with great affection by so many. I have concluded that is a strand of love which has been woven into its life and work, decade after decade, generation after generation.

The strand of love that is present in the Church's mission and outreach programs...

The strand of love that blesses the tie that binds us to Christ and to one another...

The strand of love that loudly affirms that we all need one another!


Peace...fond regards,
Richard

2009.02.23 Monday Morning!

From this small congregation with a big heart, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma, Pilgrim Presbyterian Church sends greetings and best wishes to each of you.

This congregation, which has been around for 126 years, is a good model for all small congregations. Its outreach, in cooperation with another small church in Vinita, St. John's Episcopal, and its ministry to Burroughs Manor, a retirement home for people who can't afford the costs of most high-flying retirement havens, is as close to the heart of the gospel that any "church family" can get.

Congregations that don't squabble can do ordinary things in extraordinary ways. That is why these "Pilgrims" in Vinita are so effective in their ministry inside and outside the walls of their beautiful sanctuary.

Well done you good and faithful disciples of our Master.


With a thankful heart,
Richard

2008.08.04 Monday Morning!

Top of the morning and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

My sole message today may be summed up in four words: "DON'T DESPISE SMALL THINGS!" To be faithful in little things is a great qualification for great things!

Perhaps the greatest fault of our age is that we are in too big a hurry to pay attention to small things which might improve our life.

What are some of those small things?

1. convey congratulations to friends (especially young people) when some success or happiness comes to them.

2. extend a word of appreciation for the work of someone you know.

3. extend sympathy. Comfort comes when one knows that others are sharing their sorrow.

Perhaps being diligent in doing small things prompted Emerson's fable, "The Mountain and the Squirrel."

"The mountain and the squirrel had a quarrel. And the former called the latter 'Little Prig'; Bun replied, 'You are doubtless very big; but all sorts of things and weather must be taken in together, to make up a year and a sphere. And I think it no disgrace to occupy my place. If I'm not so large as you, you are not so small as I, and not half so spry. I'll not deny you make a very pretty squirrel track; talents differ; all is well and wisely put; if I cannot carry forests on my back, neither can you crack a nut.'"

"Talents differ!" Thank goodness we're not all alike!


Peace,
Richard