Dear Salem United Methodist Family, On this Veteran’s Day, I am asking that you join with me in a prayer of thanksgiving for the countless men and women who have answered the call to protect and preserve the ideals of liberty , freedom, and the right of self determination for all people. Tragically, this storied day, established to commemorate the end of World War 1, has become obscured amid the tumult of pandemic, partisanship, and ideological dispute that now define our national discourse. Yet, the sacrifice of America’s veterans must never be forgotten nor diminished within our national consciousness. For some, the combining of faith and military service may seem to be an unreasonable juxtaposition of God and government. As a community of faith we stand in opposition to war as the only pathway to resolve conflicts within the global community. War is the profound abandonment of the very ethos of mutuality, peace, and human freedom that binds together human community. Veteran’s Day does not honor nor extol the human tragedy of warfare. Veteran’s Day does honor and extol all of those who have willing accepted the call to stand against the forces that seek to dominate, oppress, and silence the voices of freedom, democracy, and liberty. As United Methodists, we have a long and a proud heritage of military service. Since the Revolutionary War, Methodist chaplains have served America’s armed forces. From Bunker Hill to Gettysburg; from Verdun to Iwo Jima; from Inchon to Khe Sanh; from Desert Storm to Baghdad; from Baghdad to Kandahar American soldiers, sailors, and Marines have served with diligence, faith, and courage. Let us see this Veteran’s Day as a sacred time to remember that the ideals that so many have fought and died for must forever be nurtured and defended. For now the pen that will write the next chapters of human history has been entrusted to our feeble hands. On this Veteran’s Day, let us recall our very ability to write the history of this great nation is due to the sacrifice of the men and women that we honor, prayer for and salute on this day. Blessings, Pastor Tom I love the movie It's a Wonderful Life. That timeless holiday classic that reminds us that every life is a sacred gift. Perhaps the most poignant message of the film is that we often fail to realize how much one life touches, changes, and uplifts the lives of others. This Sunday we will observe All Saints Day. It is a time of remembrance. A time to memorialize our sisters and brothers who passed into eternal rest this past year. This year I want our celebration to be a time of healing and hope. A time to remember the very specific ways in which our departed loved ones changed our lives and the lives of others. Like venerable George Bailey we need to stop and consider what our lives would have been like if those we now mourn had never been born. In each life God bestows a certain and a real giftedness. That giftedness is then shared as a person walks this earthly journey. Let us all stop and think of those we have lost this past year. In ways large and small they made an impact on our lives. That is what we remember, That is what we celebrate. That is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. |
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October 2022
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