Spirit of the Eagle – January 2013

Rector’s Reflections
As I look out my window, I see the barren trees, the frigid temperatures and fresh fallen snow. We are in what used to be called the ‘Dead of Winter’. It was called that because it is the very middle of the dead season when we are equally far from the colors of fall and the budding flowers of spring, when everything appears dead and lifeless. But we Christians should not dread this period, for we know that death brings new life. We have Christmas to let us know that Our Savior has come, and the Epiphany to let us know that He has come for everyone. In this ‘Dead of Winter’ we will always have the Hope of Easter and the Resurrection.
Yours-In-Christ, Fr. Bryan Newman

Healing Service for January
Our monthly Healing Service will be conducted on, Sunday, Jan. 20th, after Mass. It is inspired by St. James words, in his New Testament Epistle, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. Pray for one another, that you may be healed.” If you wish to be Anointed and offer your prayers for any that are suffering or are ill please join me after Mass on the 20th for this rewarding and reassuring service.

Vestry Meeting
Our Vestry Meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 16th, at 7 PM. If you are a member of the Vestry, please make plans to be present. If you are a parishioner with particular business you would like discussed or would like to attend yourself, please approach any member of the Vestry or Fr. Newman and let us know that you will be attending.

The Flight of the Eagle
In Fr. Stork’s original newsletter ‘the Spirit of the Eagle’ he had a section called the ‘Flight of the Eagle’ where he related his activities for the past month. Below are the visits I made, among other events during the month of December. I prayed with them and gave them Holy Communion and Anointed them when needed.
11/25 Visited Jim & Toy Hall in their home.
12/2 Opening and Closing Prayer @ Light Up Dayton
12/9 Visited Louise Becker in her home.
12/15 Conducted funeral for Vivian Warner
12/16 Visited Helen Foster in her home
12/19 Visited Ethel Fahlbush @ Villa Springs
12/30 Visited Geneva Schmitt @ St. E’s-Edgewood

Baby Shower on January 13
We are going to have a baby shower for Rachel and Robbie Cornish on Sunday, January 13. We have already purchased two baskets, one for a girl and one for a boy. We thought this would help those who cannot get out to do some shopping, but wanted to be part of this very happy event at St. John’s. If you would like to contribute toward the baskets, please give the money to Judy Hulsey. Since the baby shower will be held during our monthly ACW Coffee Hour, any desserts or snacks would greatly be appreciated.

Spiritual Tidbits for January from Father Tim
Happy New Year! 2012 is now a part of history! Our choices, decisions, and creations for that year have taken their place in the River of Time, where they will be available only to God Almighty on the Last Day. When you think of the previous year in these terms, if you are like me, there are probably a few things you would like to swim back upstream and change. Alas, God did not design Creation in this manner, presumably for our own good. The river freezes behind us, unassailable by mankind. We are to take our experiences learned in 2012 and now look, choose, decide, and create forward into 2013. Let us pray each week for God to give us increased wisdom in 2013 so to make the best choices, decisions, and creations and fulfill God’s will. Thus hopefully and thankfully, fulfilling God’s will, the River of Time will deposit each of us upon the shore of Paradise. ~ Father Tim

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“Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn. My God, do you learn.” C.S. Lewis

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Saint Paul the First Hermit (Paul of Thebes, (d. c.345)
Feast Day 15th of January

Traditionally the first Christian hermit – visited and later buried by Antony of Egypt. He had fled to the desert in persecution (perhaps of Decius) and was reputed to have lived there ever since to well over a hundred years of age. Jerome’s Life of Paul, based on a Greek original and almost the only authority for these details, is a baffling mixture of fact and fantasy. Paul is represented in art usually with two lions, who traditionally burrowed the ground at Antony’s request for Paul’s grave, or else with a palm tree, which provided him with food and shelter during his long life as a hermit.

The legend according to Jerome’s’s Vitae Patrum (Vita Pauli primi eremitae) is that, as a young man, Paul fled to the Theban desert during the persecution of Decius and Valerianus around 250 AD. He lived in the mountains of this desert in a cave near a clear spring and a palm tree, the leaves of which provided him with raiment and the fruit of which provided him with his only source of food until he was 43 years old, when a raven started bringing him half a loaf of bread daily. He would remain in that cave for the rest of his life, almost a hundred years.

Jerome further related the meeting of Anthony the Great and Paul, when the latter was aged 113. They conversed with each other for one day and one night. The Sinxar shows that the saints taking the bread invited each other to bless and break it, each wanting the other to have more of the honor. St. Paul took hold of the bread on one side, and on the other side put the loaf in the hands of Father Anthony, and soon the bread broke through the middle and each took his part. When Anthony next visited him, Paul was dead. Anthony clothed him in a tunic which was a present from Athanasius of Alexandria and buried him, with two lions helping to dig the grave. Then, he returned to his monastery taking with him the robe woven with palm leaf belonging to Paul. He honored the robe so much, that he only wore it twice a year: at the Feast of Easter and at the Pentecost.

January Spirituality Class
Please join us on the 27th of January as the Spirituality Class delves deeper into “fasting, food, fast-days and feasts”. I feel I did a poor job on parts of the December class and would like the opportunity to clarify and redeem myself. I would also like to cover some additional ground so to give you ample opportunity and preparation for the upcoming Lenten Season. Ash Wednesday falls on the 13th of February and I am sure each of us could benefit from the several aspects of fasting. I will supply copies of my December notes for any of you who were absent and would like to attend in January. When we meet in February I believe it will be great fun and a shared learning experience to discuss (this is optional of course for those of you who are shy) our fasting experience thus far in Lent 2013. Will we make it to Easter? ~ Father Tim

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Spiritual reading and examination of conscience – each has its own value, each is only the gateway to prayer. Prayer is the Holy of Holies where God is before us, not as an object of study, but as a presence. On a beautiful winter day one goes out into the sunshine to expose oneself to the sun, not to discuss the sun or to recite all the books on cosmography that one may have learned by heart.* (Fr. Albert Peyriguere – Voice from the Desert)

Fr. Seraphim Hicks note to Fr. Tim Butler on the above paragraph: *as some sun bathe, those who pray “God bathe”, and people can and will take note that you’ve been with Him (Exodus 34: 29-30; Acts 4: 13).

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I pray that 2013 will be a year of “God bathing” for all of us at St. John and that our family, friends, and the world will take note and draw closer to God because of our bright and shining reflection. I also pray that each of you find answers and closure to the trials and tribulations that have carried over from 2012 and happiness and joy going forward into 2013. God bless all of you. ~ Father Tim

And finally for 2013:

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” Julian of Norwich (ca. 8 November 1342 – ca. 1416) was an English anchoress who is regarded as one of the most important Christian mystics. She is venerated in the Anglican Church but has never been canonized, or officially beatified, probably because so little is known of her life aside from her writings, including the exact date of her death.

Sunday School Director Needed
Our Sunday School Program is in need of someone with drive and vision, who has a passion for the welfare of children and a desire to help them come to know Christ. We need an individual who has a gift for organization and leadership who can pull together all of the resources we have available and run a program to educate our children to prepare them for life in the Church. If this sounds like something you may be interested in, Please let Fr. Newman know.

January Birthdays & Anniversaries
Margo Nienaber – Birthday – January 1
Tina Smith – Birthday – January 7
Kelsey Robbins – Birthday – January 8
Eileen Hanson – Birthday – January 14
Odious Hickman, Jr. – Birthday – January 16
Adam Cook – Birthday – January 20
Susan Moore – Birthday – January 20
Kim Marshall – Birthday – January 24
Chris Murray – Birthday – January 24
Devan Smith – Birthday – January 25
Kathleen Hougham – Birthday – January 31

End of Month Club
The St. John’s End of the Month Club has resumed for the month of January. This month we will be meeting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 31 at the Cold Spring Longhorn Steak House. We look forward to seeing you there to share fellowship and a good meal!

Junior Warden’s Report
I would like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone in our family here at St. John’s. The final steps of our plan to address the remaining building maintenance needs have fallen into place quite nicely over the past month. As our roofer is waiting for an opportune time to do the tear-off and replace the parish hall roof, the new carpet for the Church was ordered January 3 with the installation slated for January 28, 29 and 30.

The great news about some generous parishioners stepping up to purchase new chairs for our Parish Hall is just icing on the cake! This will ensure that St. John’s will be in tip-top shape by the time Easter rolls around. Thank you to those generous individuals, from the bottom of my bottom!

There are always little projects around Church that need to be completed every year or so, such as waxing the Parish Hall floor or continuing to sort through unused items, such as moldy books that have been laying around, causing clutter and taking up valuable space within our basement area. I have just started one of those projects Friday; that being the de-cluttering of the copy room. In the process of doing so, I found a box that was filled with 22 brand new Book of Common Prayer books. I plan to paint the room sometime this week.

After the copy room is squared away, the choir room will be repainted and reorganized to allow for a table to be placed with chairs and a TV for some of our older youth to use during the Spirituality Class and other after-Church activities. However, this is going to take some time. First of all, we will need for our choir members to take their garments home on a specified day, so we can dispose of (or at least relocate to the shed) all of the choir gowns that are not being used. There are also many moldy books being stored in the wall shelf unit of the choir room that need to be eliminated for health reasons. They are free to anyone interested until February 1; after that they will become property of Mt. Rumpke.

Until next month… ”Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin

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Explaining an Unexplainable Tragedy
On Sunday, December 16th, I “played hooky” from St. John’s as I took time to visit with some old friends while attending the Christmas Music Program and services at New Beginnings Community Church here in Dayton. The music was tremendous, beginning with the children both singing and “signing” Christmas songs to the congregation, and followed by the choir and some very talented musicians who added their own special touch to the music program. Afterwards, Pastor Roger Lloyd gave the following sermon about the tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut:

“Why would God let this happen?”
A young man in the waning morning hours, walked into the Sandy Hook Elementary School full of children and without regard to life or consequences, killed twenty children and six adults. This has struck a raw chord in our country, as countless tears have been shed and innumerable prayers uttered for those left in the aftermath of such a tragic loss.

The question, spoken and unspoken is, “Why would God let this happen?” The short answer is God put this world into the hands of mankind. Scripture says it like this: “And He gave him dominion over all the works of His hands”. In a simple observation, man has not done real well with the responsibility.

This tragedy illustrates the deep brokenness that exists in humanity. Man alone left to his own devices, is capable of doing all manner of evil. In the name of anger, rage, insanity and convenience; life and treasure are wiped out by thoughtless, broken and confused people.

In this season that we celebrate the coming of Jesus, we must remember the reason that He came. He came to save humanity from this deep brokenness. He came to fulfill the emptiness. He came to bring Peace and purpose to us. He came to save us from our sins.

The answer to “Why” is Free Will. A deranged person can bring havoc. A dedicated teacher sacrifices herself to save children. How can both of these exist in the same world, the same place and at the same time? Free Will.

God is not willing that anyone should perish. People perish, not because of God’s will, but because of the powerful gift God gave us to choose our path, our direction and our destiny. Jesus came to save humanity. As long as we live on this earth, there are going to be mad men, crazy women, evil dictators, selfish children, absent fathers and women who abort their children.

Is this God’s will? NO, 1000 times NO! The angels that heralded the coming of Jesus to simple shepherds, made a glorious declaration; “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth, Peace and good will toward men”. My prayer is that the grace of God that brings salvation would touch our country, calling us to return to the God of all creation. May God grant Peace and comfort to Newtown, Connecticut and the world.

Help Needed on Altar Guild
The Altar Guild is responsible for making the sanctuary ready for all services. Its members maintain the Church’s liturgical requirements for services by preparing the altar, laundering linens, preserving the sacred vessels, and arranging the floral displays that beautify the Church. Joyce Murray and Eileen Hanson are currently the only members of this very important ministry. If you would be interested in joining the Altar Guild, Joyce would be more than happy to train you until you feel comfortable doing it on your own. Just as in the case of our ushers, it would be ideal to have a rotation of four individuals to lighten the workload of duties Joyce has faithfully performed for many, many years.