Volume 1 Issue 18

2003 is nearly upon us. May the New Year be filled with God’s blessings, and perhaps more importantly with our ability to recognize and appreciate them.
*******
There are new postings on the Bulletin Board. Please spend some time with them, and honor the contributors with your responses. After reading today’s sermon you will hopefully understand why your participation in this interactive forum for theological input and response is so critical to the Growing in Christ process.
*******
Thanks to Matt Piper’s skill and dedication, a new page will be available January 1. One of the most meaningful features of the “Science of Mind” magazine is its “Daily Guides to Richer Living”. Those familiar with the publication know that each day a life-affirming devotional provides the reader with words of inspiration, comfort and encouragement. Start the New Year off right by going to the Daily Guide page every day.
*******
Each Daily Guide devotional contains a reference to “The Science of Mind” by Ernest Holmes. This book is an excellent addition to anyone’s library, and the paperback is available for $11.17 from www.amazon.com
*******
The Bush Administration seems bent upon making the Christmas proclamation of peace on earth, goodwill toward humankind nothing more than an empty platitude. Let’s get the Bulletin Board buzzing with your thoughts and ideas about how to transform our “ugly American” image into one of God’s children working for peace. With any luck at all we’ll be intercepted by Homeland Security as a subversive movement that seeks to actually practice the Way provided by the Prince of Peace!
*******
Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 17

Welcome to the “post-operative” edition of the GiC newsletter. I am happy to report that last Monday’s surgery was successful, and that I now sport the latest (and I’m guessing most expensive) titanium/ceramic knee prosthesis available. There have been some unexpected “surprises” in the recovery process, but nothing that will stand in the way of branding the procedure a 100% success. Thank you to everyone who held me in your thoughts and prayers.
*******
For many reasons, Christmas is my favorite of the Christian holidays. Each year the hope of peace and goodwill is born anew, and one of these years we’re going to let it take root and grow. Anyone who had the privilege of attending my father’s church during the time of his active ministry knows what I mean when I credit his legendary candlelight services with revealing the true beauty of this holy day. You will find evidence of his influence in today’s sermon (and I thank you, Dad, for giving me an eternal perspective of Christmas that abides with me even when I find myself outside of the organized church). Since only two of the world’s inhabitants get to call him “Dad”, the rest of you might want to send birthday greetings for tomorrow, December 23, to Earl K. Hanna at erhanna@att.net
*******
When it began as “Easter and Beyond”, GiC was very much a week to week proposition. This has not changed, and so I make no hard and fast promises as we enter into a new year. As time permits, and because I enjoy it so much, the hope will be for something of quality to be published each week. Because quality will always having priority over quantity, however, the possibility will always exist that some weeks will rest upon the support of what has been accomplished in the weeks before. You, the reader, are always in control of how current, stimulating and enlightening the Bulletin Board is from day to day.
*******
May the true blessing of Christmas be born into every heart and mind on earth, and may we find ourselves in the New Year as genuine disciples of the Prince of Peace.
*******
Until next time…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 16

Welcome to the “preoperative” edition of the GiC newsletter. I so enjoyed having my foot reconstructed last Christmas that I’ve decided to have my left knee replaced this year. The surgery is scheduled for 4 PM (PST) on Monday, December 16. Mary, Rachel and Rebecca have made it known that this is going to be the last Christmas focused on me, and that a holiday cruise next year may be a small start toward making amends. Your donations will be most welcome!
*******
Speaking of donations, a generous gift from my mother has made it possible for my laptop to be wirelessly networked. Therefore, in spite of incredible pain and suffering, I hope to continue with weekly sermons and newsletters from the respite of my LaZBoy. It seems to me that I should take full advantage of a legitimate excuse for my incoherency while it lasts.
*******
The words for this week are:
selfish - 1. devoted to or caring only for oneself. 2. characterized by caring only for oneself.
greed - inordinate or rapacious desire, esp. for wealth.
*******
If, for some reason, I fail to make next week’s deadline, let me take the opportunity now to extend holiday greetings with wishes for every blessing of the season. On this Third Sunday of Advent we have every reason to pray that the Prince of Peace will be born into the hearts and minds of every inhabitant of God’s good Earth.
*******
Until next time…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 15

Within the Christian tradition, this is the Second Sunday of Advent, the season of preparing for the birth of the Christ. The aim of Growing in Christ is to help change our focus from a historic event that seems hopelessly ancient to the dynamic and present reality of Emmanuel (Heb., “God is with us”).
*******
For those who enjoy doing word studies, spend some time with these two as they pertain to today’s sermon:
judge – 6. to form a judgment or opinion of or upon; decide upon critically; estimate. 8. to infer, think, or hold as an opinion. 10. to act as a judge; pass judgment. 11. to form an opinion or estimate. 12. to make a mental judgment.
prejudice—1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. 2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, favorable or unfavorable.
*******
For whatever reasons, my friends Bud and Terry Rubenstein gave me “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism” by Rabbi Benjamin Blech. I’ve now added to my collection with “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam” by Yahiya Emerick. Had I done this earlier it might have spared me the embarrassment last week of not acknowledging Ramadan (The Month of Great Heat) along with Hanukkah and Advent. Anyway, “The Complete Idiot’s” series is available from www.amazon.com
*******
It is an ongoing joy to hear from new visitors to the site, and to learn that they were invited by those of you on “the list” to check us out. I continue to be deeply grateful to Matt Piper for his “fine tuning” of the various pages, particularly the Bulletin Board. If you haven’t been to it recently, then you don’t know that Matt reversed the order of the postings so that the most recent now appears first. We’ve decided to leave a posting up for 90 days, and then it will be history. So be sure to get your two-cents worth in before that idea you disagree with disappears! Be watching for the addition of a New Page for the New Year.
*******
Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 1 Issue 14

Baruch ata adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam asher kidshanu
b’matizvotav vitzivanu l’hadik ner shel Hanukkah

Baruch ata adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam she-asa nisim
la’avoteynu bayamim haheym ba-zman hazeh.

Baruch ata adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam shehecheyanu
v’ki-y’manu v’higianu la-zman hazeh.

Praised are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has hallowed us by Your laws and commanded us to kindle the light of Hanukkah.

Praised are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who worked miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.

Praised are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us in life, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this season.
*******
In the advent seasons, when the past has fled, unasked, away
and there is nothing left to do but wait,
God, shelter us.
Be our surrounding darkness;
be the fertile soil out of which hope springs in due time.
In uncertain times, help us to greet the dawn and labor on, love on,
in faith awaiting your purpose hid in you
waiting to be born in due time. Amen.
*******
As the American day of national thanksgiving wanes, there is an almost mystical convergence of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and the Christian season of Advent preparing for Christmas. I regret my ignorance of Islam that prevents me from knowing if there is a corresponding observance in this third of the Abrahamic faiths, but it seems reasonable that with glory being given to the same God there may be some corollary. May this be a season of discovery wherein we truly come to understand ourselves to be the children of the one God of all creation, opening our eyes to the presence of our brothers and sisters in every direction we look.
*******
Today’s sermon concludes my series on The Sermon on the Mount. Those who have followed along have noticed that I relied heavily upon the direction of The New Interpreter’s Bible, recognized as the standard in contemporary biblical scholarship. Individual volumes are available from www.amazon.com and the 12-volume set is available from Abingdon Press for $780 (also available in CD-ROM for the same price) by calling 1-800-251-3320.
*******
Take a moment to visit the Bulletin Board and peruse the growing number of entries and replies. I think you’ll be impressed by the caliber of thought expressed by those who comprise our growing virtual community of faith. You may even be moved to express your point of view!