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from the HillParson
There was
a man who was every Sunday asked by his
neighbor to go golfing
with him. Every Sunday he
politely refused, and he went off to
his church. One
week, his neighbor stopped
inviting him to go golfing. He stopped
really
speaking
to him. The man
was confused, perplexed. He had thought
they were on
good
terms. He decided to
talk to his neighbour and find out what was
bothering
him. “You used
to invite me to go golfing every week,” he said,
and then
you stopped. Why?” “Well,” said his
neighbor,
“I’ve invited you
regularly
to do something that is meaningful to me, and you’ve
always refused.
Yet every
week you go to
your church, and it’s obviously meaningful to you in
your
life, yet you’ve never
invited me.”
Faithfully and in faith, Rev. ChrisitneI think the source you're looking for is in an essay in Essex Conversations written by Barry Andrews.
I remember someone quoting a study ten years or so ago that said something to the effect of most people who go church
shopping are looking for a good religious education program for their children. The Olinda congregation has taken this
truth to heart and our Religious Education programme is growing. Twenty one names of children who have come to services
at least a few times were listed in the holiday order of service. Hooray! Thought the following would be good information. ceh
GRATITUDE
CIRCLE
We've
begun a new ritual around our dinner table in which each
member of the
family
takes a minute or two to name what he or she is grateful
for. No
matter
how yucky our day has been, we try to offer our gratitude
in a spirit
of
kindness and real thankfulness. Often, the ritual's nicest
effect is to
calm the
troops who may be feeling a bit rowdy or punchy. That's
on a good
evening.
Other times, well. . .
"Today,"
said I one evening, trying to model appropriate
behavior (usually a
ludicrous
pursuit), "I am thankful for the wonderful rain we
had this
afternoon,
which watered all the trees and grass and flowers so
they can grow."
"Today,"
said Daughter #1, "I am grateful for the
rain and the trees and
The
flowers. And I am grateful for Mom and Dad and Sister and
Brother and Dog."
(A
not-so-subtle attempt at ingratiating herself, as her sly smile
implied,
but
spoken with heartfelt emotion, nonetheless.)
"Today," said Daughter #2,
"I am
grateful for Mom and Dad and Brother and Dog." A
smirk.
''What?''
Dad and Mom were stunned. ''What about your
sister?" Daughter #1
immediately
recognized the implications of Daughter #2's
statement, which
pointedly
left her out. She burst into tears and ran from the
table.
We
continue to work on gratitude circles at our house. Some of us
find it
hard to
be thankful when we would rather be angry. Sometimes even
I (who
like to
consider myself closer to perfect than many) would rather
give my
husband a
swift verbal kick than words of appreciation.
Yet,
there is something sacred about our gratitude circles.
Gratitude has a
healing
power at our table that is more tangible than forgiveness
or even
ice
cream. We can't honestly nourish a grudge at the same time
that we
nourish
gratitude.
So we
try. Daughter #1 came back to the table and we talked about
forgiveness
as well as gratitude, and we wondered aloud about pain
and
And we
grown-ups gave a silent sigh of gratitude for yet one more
chance to
do our job again and go on.
Joan
McDonald, Director of Lifespan Religious Education
Des
Moines, Iowa
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Tuesday through Thursday 9am – 8 pm 326-4352 or 733-3905 In EMERGENCY: absolutely any time! Email: chillman@uuma.org |