Psalm 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.
Oh Friends, another Monday morning has arrived, and a terrible one too, in that there are only four more shopping days till Christmas. Steups! That means the workers of iniquity will be out in full force, enticing us to buy what we can’t afford or really need, then the pushing and shoving in the malls and stores, plus the road rage from the traffic jams in the parking lots and highways, resulting in many negative situations, all disputing and negating what is supposed to be a season of peace, goodwill and good cheer in joyful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now if you add to that, the extremely bad weather along the East coast of North America on the past weekend, the next few days certainly don’t lend themselves to much goodwill and good cheer. However, there’s not much we can do about that kind of negativity since it’s an aggressive, violent and selfish society in which we live. But as believers, we sure can monitor our own behaviour and not get caught up in the frantic last minute rush. It’s absolutely necessary to put on your full suit of spiritual armour before venturing forth to shop in this crazy time. Anyway, there’s a quote I want to share, re change. It’s attributed to Prince Phillip. ‘Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity not a threat.’ Now I don’t totally agree with Phil, for in some cases change does change or kill tradition. And what’s the first one that comes to mind? Hn! The crass kind of commercialism that now surrounds the major holidays, whereby many people have weakly bowed to the enemy and thrown out the traditional reasons for and manner of celebrating them. That means many young people have no clue as to their history of traditions, of what went on before their time. And as the adage says, ‘if you don’t know from whence you’ve come, you won’t know whither you’re going. To the young people, celebrations like Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving are basically times to eat, drink, be merry and spend lots of money on inane, mostly useless or unnecessary gifts. In that way I think it does change tradition, for the real meaning of the celebrations are lost in the change. Using the same logic, change, at times does pose a threat, especially change of a negative variety, but overall it does provide challenges and opportunities to improve in a positive manner. Oh mih people, lemme tell all yuh about one little change that occurred today nuh, that actually bore out the truth of Prince Phillip’s words. And it happened in church too. I practiced what I preached! Glory Hallelujah! Now, I go to the early morning service at 8.30, that has none of the traditional bells and whistles, just a plain Eucharist, with no singing and stuff, unlike the main one at 10.30. That early service, which is more convenient for me, averages about a dozen people. Today though, we began with two. A third person came in a few minutes later. This created a serious change in my seating plans too, for while I’m usually at the back, today I was up front, not wholly comfortable to say the least. I’m like an old cowboy; I like my back to the door, to see what’s happening in the whole picture. Oh, there was also one other significant factor; I was the only male. The other four participants, including the priest and altar person were all female. That wasn’t a change for me though, because from my earliest days, I’ve always been the lone male amongst a household of women. Hn! Now I guess that explains many things eh. (smile) Anyway, during the peace greeting, I mentioned to Rev. Ann that I liked the small congregation, because it felt more intimate. Well then, says she, we can make it even more intimate if we all gathered around the altar during the lead in to the Eucharist. And that’s what we did: five of us, four women and one man on the raised dais, surrounding the altar, celebrating the Eucharist. Wow! I personally enjoyed it due to the more intimate setting, where you’re closer to the action, like she was preaching to me personally, unlike the sort of impersonal atmosphere where several people are spread throughout the church. It raises thoughts of my days as an acolyte back in the large, old Anglican Church many moons ago, in Scarborough, Tobago, when I was an integral part of the action. It also brings to mind the saying that an empty, silent church has more room for God. It certainly did seem so on Sunday morning. Remember too, that Jesus said wherever two or three were gathered in His name, He would be there. Well, with only five people in the church, He was there, and with definitely much more room than normal to envelope us with His mercy and LOVING-kindness. (smile) Now that small change, I certainly consider no threat to tradition since the congregation is seldom that sparse for it to become habitual. It was nonetheless a pleasant challenge and an opportunity to do something different, while staying within the parameters of tradition. In that sense it also strengthened the traditional way of celebrating the Eucharist. Ah Friends, that’s my testimony for today. And having said that, it doesn’t make sense to get into the heart of the Bit now, cause time and space are at a minimum. But we have talked about change, which was our theme for today, and if the Good Lord is willing, then tomorrow we’ll attempt to dissect it and come up with a meaning we can all understand, provided the Spirit doesn’t lead me in a different direction. (smile) Enjoy this short Bit. Hn, hn! Till then, Much LOVE!…please remember…that JESUS…not commercialism…is the reason for the season…and conduct ourselves and our affairs appropriately…
Oh Friends, another Monday morning has arrived, and a terrible one too, in that there are only four more shopping days till Christmas. Steups! That means the workers of iniquity will be out in full force, enticing us to buy what we can’t afford or really need, then the pushing and shoving in the malls and stores, plus the road rage from the traffic jams in the parking lots and highways, resulting in many negative situations, all disputing and negating what is supposed to be a season of peace, goodwill and good cheer in joyful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now if you add to that, the extremely bad weather along the East coast of North America on the past weekend, the next few days certainly don’t lend themselves to much goodwill and good cheer. However, there’s not much we can do about that kind of negativity since it’s an aggressive, violent and selfish society in which we live. But as believers, we sure can monitor our own behaviour and not get caught up in the frantic last minute rush. It’s absolutely necessary to put on your full suit of spiritual armour before venturing forth to shop in this crazy time. Anyway, there’s a quote I want to share, re change. It’s attributed to Prince Phillip. ‘Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity not a threat.’ Now I don’t totally agree with Phil, for in some cases change does change or kill tradition. And what’s the first one that comes to mind? Hn! The crass kind of commercialism that now surrounds the major holidays, whereby many people have weakly bowed to the enemy and thrown out the traditional reasons for and manner of celebrating them. That means many young people have no clue as to their history of traditions, of what went on before their time. And as the adage says, ‘if you don’t know from whence you’ve come, you won’t know whither you’re going. To the young people, celebrations like Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving are basically times to eat, drink, be merry and spend lots of money on inane, mostly useless or unnecessary gifts. In that way I think it does change tradition, for the real meaning of the celebrations are lost in the change. Using the same logic, change, at times does pose a threat, especially change of a negative variety, but overall it does provide challenges and opportunities to improve in a positive manner. Oh mih people, lemme tell all yuh about one little change that occurred today nuh, that actually bore out the truth of Prince Phillip’s words. And it happened in church too. I practiced what I preached! Glory Hallelujah! Now, I go to the early morning service at 8.30, that has none of the traditional bells and whistles, just a plain Eucharist, with no singing and stuff, unlike the main one at 10.30. That early service, which is more convenient for me, averages about a dozen people. Today though, we began with two. A third person came in a few minutes later. This created a serious change in my seating plans too, for while I’m usually at the back, today I was up front, not wholly comfortable to say the least. I’m like an old cowboy; I like my back to the door, to see what’s happening in the whole picture. Oh, there was also one other significant factor; I was the only male. The other four participants, including the priest and altar person were all female. That wasn’t a change for me though, because from my earliest days, I’ve always been the lone male amongst a household of women. Hn! Now I guess that explains many things eh. (smile) Anyway, during the peace greeting, I mentioned to Rev. Ann that I liked the small congregation, because it felt more intimate. Well then, says she, we can make it even more intimate if we all gathered around the altar during the lead in to the Eucharist. And that’s what we did: five of us, four women and one man on the raised dais, surrounding the altar, celebrating the Eucharist. Wow! I personally enjoyed it due to the more intimate setting, where you’re closer to the action, like she was preaching to me personally, unlike the sort of impersonal atmosphere where several people are spread throughout the church. It raises thoughts of my days as an acolyte back in the large, old Anglican Church many moons ago, in Scarborough, Tobago, when I was an integral part of the action. It also brings to mind the saying that an empty, silent church has more room for God. It certainly did seem so on Sunday morning. Remember too, that Jesus said wherever two or three were gathered in His name, He would be there. Well, with only five people in the church, He was there, and with definitely much more room than normal to envelope us with His mercy and LOVING-kindness. (smile) Now that small change, I certainly consider no threat to tradition since the congregation is seldom that sparse for it to become habitual. It was nonetheless a pleasant challenge and an opportunity to do something different, while staying within the parameters of tradition. In that sense it also strengthened the traditional way of celebrating the Eucharist. Ah Friends, that’s my testimony for today. And having said that, it doesn’t make sense to get into the heart of the Bit now, cause time and space are at a minimum. But we have talked about change, which was our theme for today, and if the Good Lord is willing, then tomorrow we’ll attempt to dissect it and come up with a meaning we can all understand, provided the Spirit doesn’t lead me in a different direction. (smile) Enjoy this short Bit. Hn, hn! Till then, Much LOVE!…please remember…that JESUS…not commercialism…is the reason for the season…and conduct ourselves and our affairs appropriately…
SCRIP-BITS 