Volume 2 Issue 29

Holiday greetings from Billings, Montana. A day-after-Christmas snow has turned this into a winter wonderland that is a delightful change for those of us who have been living in the high desert for the past seven years. The reunion of family and loved ones has truly made this a picture postcard experience.
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A new year lies before us, and my GiC resolution is to continue to try to develop a truly meaningful website through which all who seek to live in closer relationship with God may feel free to participate. I invite your comments and suggestions concerning changes you would find helpful to your own faith journey. I am still optimistic that a genuine—albeit virtual—community of faith can be the eventual product of this venture.
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Not everyone has access to the Internet. If you know of someone who does not, but who would still benefit from this ministry, send their name and address to me and I will add them to the list of people receiving printed copies of each week’s newsletter and sermon by mail. Once again I express my thanks to those who provide financial support for this important aspect of reaching out to all.
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The Bulletin Board serves as the forum for your questions and contributions. We seem to experience “surges” of input followed by “dry spells” when little or nothing gets posted. Knowing of the depth of experience, wisdom, and knowledge that is contained within the ranks of our readership, I am going to persist in persuading you good folks to start using this avenue of sharing yourselves with others. I am convinced that the Bulletin Board will someday prove to be the most important component of this ministry.
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As always, I am deeply grateful for the time you allow me to share with you those things that are of importance to me. Our world is filled with turmoil and strife, much of it in our personal lives. As Professor Jack Verheyden of the Claremont School of Theology put it, “Theology is the study of the ultimate.” Even though we may never “know the mind of God,” we can continue to grow in our understanding of the relationship with our Creator that is possible, and as a result come to experience authentic peace on Earth and goodwill toward all humankind.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 2 Issue 28

So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Xmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Xmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Xmas—John Lennon & Yoko Ono, 1971
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The last two Christmases I have spent recuperating from surgery. This year is a welcome change! But as I have been given back the gift of being able to walk again, I lift up a special thanks to my gifted surgeons and their staffs. Dr. Gerald Torgeson straightened out my foot when it was going astray, and Dr. Todd Swanson installed a new knee that doesn’t give me a bit of trouble except at airports. I would be remiss if I failed to express my deepest gratitude to these two talented doctors that gave me Christmas gifts that have kept on giving!
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We continue to receive holiday greetings from across the nation that we are enjoying immensely. To all to whom we communicate through this medium, we extend wishes for holy days that are blessed by joy, peace and love.
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 2 Issue 27

I am reminded of the rock classic “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as I sit with Mary listening to the great music of Christmas performed by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Rachel is finished with the first semester of her sophomore year at NAU and will be home this week, and Rebecca will be wrapping up her final week before Winter Break. A week from today we will all embark on what I’ve designated “The Grand Christmas Tour” during which we’ll spend Dad’s 80th birthday with him in Denver (I know he will enjoy receiving your well wishes on December 23 at: erhanna@worldnet.att.net ). Then we’ll be on to Billings to spend Christmas with Mom and Kim’s family. We cherish this time of year when we receive greetings from those with whom we’ve kept in touch over so many years.
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Try as I might to cleverly disguise it, the preceding is just a fancy way of saying that this week’s sermon is still in progress. It might make it to the website sometime this week, and I’ll just have to hope that some of you will periodically check to find out. My friend from junior high days, Rob, has been with us this weekend and his visit understandably took priority. The holiday schedule will be somewhat irregular (as it should be), but unlike my time on sabbatical I will use the newsletter to provide at least a weekly update on the status of this ministry. As of right now, there have been 2,534 visits to GiC and the goal is to experience continuing growth.
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The emphasis of this Third Sunday of Advent is upon the Christ as our joy. This is so timely as the world watches the joy upon the faces of those who now know for sure that they have been liberated from the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein. My Christmas prayer includes the hope that we may all grow in our understanding that even this kind of joy pales by comparison to that which fills our lives when we discover the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding.
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I close by thanking you once again for your continuing support of this ministry, and for allowing me a few moments of your time each week. I consider it not only a privilege but a sacred responsibility to make available this forum for the subject that ultimately and profoundly affects each and every one of us: our relationship with God!
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Until next week…….Shalom!

Volume 2 Issue 26

I hear the bells
Saying Christmas is near
They ring out to tell the world
That this is the season of cheer

I hear a choir
Singing sweetly somewhere
And a glow fills my heart
I'm at peace with the world
As the sound of their singing fills the air

Oh why can't every day be like Christmas
Why can't that feeling go on endlessly
For if everyday could be just like Christmas
What a wonderful world this would be

I hear a child
Telling Santa what to bring
And the smile upon his tiny face
Is worth more to me than anything

--Red West
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Thank you again for allowing me to share this moment with you. While you’re here, I hope that you will find meaning and inspiration in today’s sermon and that you will be able to spend some time with the variety of interesting and informative postings on the Bulletin Board. I am deeply grateful to those who take the time to “reply” to my messages and the whole cyber-community benefits when you add to the Bulletin Board (I’m told by those who have done this that it is a relatively “friendly” process, so why not take a stab at it?).
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This second Sunday of Advent focuses upon Christ the way. What this means exactly is always subject to interpretation, but today’s sermon posits that the “way” is more meaningfully understood as a process. The explanation of the process that is offered also suggests that community is to be found in the exchange of thoughts and ideas by those who compose it. The invitation is once again extended for you to participate in the theological forum that GiC provides so that our authenticity as a community of faith might be validated.
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Until next week…….Shalom!