This is a test.

Hmm.  It seems to work.


Well, this is another "Dear God" letter.

					Sunday, February 25th, 1996
					1st Sunday of Lent

Hi, God.

Some stuff from today's sermon as preached by Rev.  James Snedeker.

     "Forced Options" in making decisions.
     Decision - sometimes waiting to make a decision is a decision 
     of itself.  Example- You're driving a car.  A kid runs across
     the street in front of you.  Waiting to make a decision about 
     whether or not to apply the brakes can have the same catastrophic
     effect as consciously making the decision not to apply the brakes.

     Assertion- It's either Jesus or something else.  Jesus makes this
     clear in his words.  It's "either-or" and nothing in between.
     Jesus says, "Whoever is not with me is against me." He also says,
     you cannot serve both God and Mammon (money).  "Choose this day
     who you will serve."

     Some pledge loyalty, but they withhold some part.  An example- 
     armies being baptized in early Christianity's appearance in nor-
     thern Europe.  The men went entirely into the water, all except
     for their right hand.  This is so they could pledge their soul
     to Christ, and yet still be free to swing their swords as they 
     had before.

     We humanly call religion ONE INTEREST in a well-rounded life.  
     Implication (from the sermon) is that it is wrong to do so.  In 
     the course of everyday living, the fact that the loyalty is 
     pledged may well be there.  But the tendency is to hold on to 
     the unbaptized parts -- perhaps even so much as to let them 
     dominate our life outside of church.  This is the "fence-strad-
     dling" I believe Rev. Snedeker was talking about, much to the
     confusion and devastation of our own souls.

     Other random quotes/thoughts:  "Do we use our Christian faith to
     win ideological wars?"  "Christianity has rejected heresies that 
     say that all creation is evil."  "Securities- a type of monetary
     investment.  Can any wealth give us peace of mind?"

     An example was given of an insurance company's slogan that goes
     something like this:  "No unforeseen tragedy should affect human
     life."  (A misquote, I'm afraid.)  

     Our tendency to run away.  

     Another quote:  Linus said, "There is no problem to big that it
     cannot be run away from."


     Now some personal observations.

     Well, God, I really appreciated your servant's sermon today.  It 
     really seemed to summarize, in a thoughtful, thought-provoking way 
     some of the more uncomfortable of Jesus's teachings, particularly 
     those that deal with a man's pocketbook, or moreover, what it is
     that man tends to treasure:  power, prestige, along with money.
     It was (and was meant to be) a challenging sermon, and it helped 
     me in restoring some focus.  

     One of the things I feel humans also tend to serve, along with
     Mammon (or perhaps this is part of the category of items we can 
     place into the concept of Mammon) is self-pity & self-importance.  
     One who is into self-pity really wants others to share their 
     misery with, and can use self-pity as a tool or weapon.  Some-
     times a lack of sympathy from the world around one who is into 
     self-pity is construed as the cruelty of the world, the lack of
     listening that the world has for that one.  

     Sometimes those who demonstrate self-pity earn the right to
     others' derisions or lack of attention.  Sometimes not.  But 
     derision is a decision (perhaps in some a habit) of revocation 
     of another's right to feel what they will.  It is not an under-
     standing.  But the pain of misunderstanding can inculcate growth, 
     if only it will.

     Growth seldom happens well in the wallowingnesses of self-pity.

     "Choose this day who you will serve."

				See ya, God,
				David E.