March 24, 2009
Spiritually Speaking
Plenty to Fear?
I am putting pen to paper on Tuesday,
March 24, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. A few
of today's headlines are:
-More Madoff Assets Found
-Biggest Rally on Stock Market in 4 Months
-Furor over AIG Bonuses
-$50 Million of AIG Bonuses Returned
-$9 Trillion Debt in our Future?
-NATO Troops Kill Afghan Driver
-North Korea Reasserts Right to Satellite Launch
-Youth in Court over Killing in Northern Ireland
-Kurdish Rebels Won't Stop Fighting in Iraq
-Missing Woman's Body Found in Antwerp, NY
-Health Insurance Squeezes U.S. workers
-What We're Splurging and Skimping on Right Now
-Blizzard Shuts Down Parts
of Wyoming and South Dakota
Large corporations are laying people off daily.
Small businesses are floundering. Unemployment is
rising. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan continues
to keep our troops in harm's way. The coffins
continue to come home. Closer to our communities,
crimes and violence pepper the evening local news.
Granted, there are glimmers of hope - the bonuses
being voluntarily returned by AIG employees and the
rally in the Stock Market, but for the average family
trying to make ends meet - often with one or both
parents unemployed or underemployed; for those
who are watching their retirement nest eggs shrinking,
their investments dwindling, or even
disappearing all together - along with those who
feel the pinch more intensely each day as they fall
further and further behind on fixed incomes- the future
can look bleak and frighteningly hopeless.
Many people draw comparisons to
The Great Depression. Will this or won't it turn
into a second Great Depression? There are similarities:
unequal distribution of wealth, excessive speculation
on the Stock Market, and bank failures. While not
exactly the same causes and/or consequences, it is
similar enough to raise fear and anxiety. Hopefully, we
can glean good knowledge from those Depression years
and thereby avoid the most dire consequences of the thirties
as we face today's economic crisis.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt set in motion the New Deal.
It's measures put homeless, hungry, unemployed men
to work on construction and conservation projects across
the country. There are many alive today who can point
with pride to projects they helped to build or forests they
helped to plant. Eleanor Roosevelt, frustrated because the New
Deal did not help women, set in motion her own New
Deal for the homeless, hungry and unemployed women
of the day. Both Roosevelt's received plenty of criticism for
their attempts to restart the economy. Until their measures
kicked in and the economy turned around, there was
a high level of fear and anxiety for the average American,
suspicion and skepticism about the President's actions
and our country's future.
It took FDR four hours to draft his 1933 inaugural speech.
His words offer as much encouragement and support
today as they did when he first spoke them.
This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive
and will prosper. Let me assert my firm belief that the
only thing we have to fear is fear itself- nameless,
unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyses
needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
H.W. Brands, author of A Traitor to His Class:
The Privileged and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
observes:
Before long this line about having to fear only fear would be hailed
as a landmark of presidential rhetoric. At the time it didn't seem so...
not the least since it was patently false. Americans had plenty to fear....
By 1933, one quarter of all American workers were unemployed.
Thousands were underemployed. Five thousand banks had failed.
The Stock Market had lost 75% of its value. A half million home
mortgages had been foreclosed. Without property taxes, municipal
governments and even public schools were ailing and failing. Many
staunchly refused any government relief. Those who accepted it found
it was, at best, inadequate but better than nothing. A tide of
homelessness swept the country. The birth rate fell by one third.
Americans had plenty to fear starting with massive unemployment,
widespread hunger and a collapsing financial system. Yet coming from
one who had just survived an assassination attempt following a decade
long battle with polio, it struck a reassuring tone.
Roosevelt's reassurance about fear did not make the headlines the next
day. His attack on the money changers of the day did. People wanted
to know that the President was taking action. They needed to see justice
coming to the greedy ones who had created the crisis. The newspapers
read:
Roosevelt assailed the unscupulous money changers of Wall Street
as those responsible for America's plight. He said, "Plenty is at our
doorstep but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.
...Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple
of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths.
The measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social
values more noble than mere monetary profit. ...Our greatest primary task
is to put people to work."
Today his words about the only fear we have to fear being fear itself
is what we remember. Good words. Sound sentiment. But we,
like those who lived through the Depression era, have plenty to fear.
Unfortunately fear will paralyze us in the past, or at best in the present
moment. Or we can face that fear and find our faith. Faith that we can
work for good, faith that the good we do will make a difference - that
is what will move us into the future with hope. Fear holds hope hostage.
Faith frees it. Fear hoards things, makes us look out only for ourselves.
Faith frees us to share whatever we have, committed to improving the quality
of life for as many as possible - not just for ourselves.
President Roosevelt appealed to the people for a unified
support of his leadership. He knew that there would be
criticism no matter what he tried to do. He also recognized
the dire needs of the nation and did what he could to
alleviate the homelessness, hunger and unemployment.
He learned from his own mistakes. We can look back and
learn - from what worked and what did not.
We must face our fear, then wade through it and climb out
of fear to stand on the solid ground of hope, committed to
walking forward with faith - faith that we can do good, that
the good we do will make a difference - and even the mistakes
we make will provide valuable learning - for us - for all future
generations.
Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the
moment. And yet our distress comes from no failure
of substance. We are stricken by no plagues of locusts.
Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered,
because they believed and were not afraid, we have still
much to be thankful for. ...Plenty is at our
doorstep but a generous use of it languishes in the
very sight of the supply.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Look Down, Spring Has Sprung!
On Mon, 3/16/09, Connie wrote:
Monday, March 16, 2009, 12:26 PM
Rev. Connie Seifert
527 County Route 54
Pennellville, NY 13132
cseifert@twcny.rr.com
March 16, 2009
Spiritually Speaking
There are super streamlined, stripped down, fairly highly
evolved critters who will be appearing on the scene any
moment now. The first one you see is a guarantee
that spring is truly here. Simple and slippery,
they have played a major role in the history of
the world. In fact, the world would not be what
it is today if they were not doing their thing all
over the world. Do you know what silent, almost
unnoticed creature I'm talking about?
There are 23 families, 700 genera and 7000 species.
They range in size from one inch to two yards long.
On one acre of land, they are known to plow up,
ingest and eliminate 16-30 thousand pounds of
soil. There may be as many as eight million of
them in this one acre. Their tunnels prepare
the ground for crop roots, aid in water circulation and keep
the soil supplied with pockets of oxygen. They feed
on the bacteria and fungi in the soil, digest it and then
excrete it as rich topsoil. Their poop is rich in nitrogen,
calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. The grass truly
is greener wherever they are living. They are a blessing to
gardeners, farmers, landscapers and those who do a lot
of fishing.
They have no bones but they do have quite complex muscles.
They hug the ground with one end, pull along the
other end which then hugs the ground so that the
front end can stretch out again, repeating this
process for as long as they live. They can be long
and slender one minute and look like a little grayish
brown super ball the next.
They have no eyes but they have light sensitive cells.
They are also sensitive to touch and chemicals (which
some of us shudder to remember from High School biology
labs.) Their brains control their movements and
their ability to detect light. If their brain is removed
however, their behavior does not visibly change. They have
no lungs. Oxygen passes through their skin.
They have five hearts. I have no idea why.
Between their hearts are glands which process
the excessive amounts of calcium they ingest
with all the dirt they eat. They are both male
and female at the same time. Their reproductive
antics are fully described on this web page:
http://www.backyardnature.net/earthwrm.htm
They are much too x-rated for this column.
Most of us collected them when we were children.
They would come out by the hundreds after a
rainstorm. The biggest and fattest
ones called night crawlers were prized by
people going fishing. They make great bait.
As long as they remain underground, they are
safe from predators but pesticides can do them
in along with killing the weeds. Once they surface,
birds and other small mammals may make a meal
of them. And we, pluck them up to feed to
the fish. The jury is still out as to whether or not
their burrowing enables pollutants to enter into
ground water. Their beneficial disposal of bacteria
and fungi enriching the surface soil is invaluable for
farmers, gardeners and those who prize a lush, green lawn.
You can even buy them for indoor/outdoor composting
all year round. They will eat your garbage and give
you a nutrient rich compost to use in the garden.
I've been toying with the idea of purchasing them for
years. These composting worms are called Red
Wigglers. You can buy 500 of them for about $30.
This spring may be the year I actually order them.
The geese have been hogging the limelight this
past week as a sign of spring's arrival. Spring begins
on Thursday just before you will read this column.
It has been hard to miss the geese. They are noisy
and numerous. The snow geese were in Pennellville
on Saturday the 14th of March. I missed them this year.
But Rich didn't and he shared his sighting with me before church
yesterday. During worship, the pasture next to the
church was filled with Canadian geese. They left before
the last hymn. I don't think they were paying much attention
to the sermon either. But, now that spring is officially here,
instead of looking up to see more flocks of returning geese,
look down at the ground in the hopes of spotting an earthworm or two.
Once they come out into the sun, winter is officially
over and spring is officially sprung. Let the planting begin!
Thank God for earthworms!
Dotty shared during our Joys and Concerns that her
crocuses were already up. Mine are still buried under
five feet of snow. I will be watching for the first robin
to hop across the lawn. I've ordered a basket of pansies
for Easter which will then need to find a permanent home
in my flower bed. And now, I will be watching and waiting
to see my first earthworm of 2009. I'll let you know if
I find the courage to order the Red Wigglers. Happy Spring!
Some of the above facts were also gleaned from:
http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/earthworms.html
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/red-wiggler-worms.html
With Angels' Whispers,Connie
When the love of power is overcome
by the power of love,
then we will have peace.
Jimi Hendrix (actually he just
sang this - now I can't remember
who actually said it.)
Monday, March 16, 2009, 12:26 PM
Rev. Connie Seifert
527 County Route 54
Pennellville, NY 13132
cseifert@twcny.rr.com
March 16, 2009
Spiritually Speaking
There are super streamlined, stripped down, fairly highly
evolved critters who will be appearing on the scene any
moment now. The first one you see is a guarantee
that spring is truly here. Simple and slippery,
they have played a major role in the history of
the world. In fact, the world would not be what
it is today if they were not doing their thing all
over the world. Do you know what silent, almost
unnoticed creature I'm talking about?
There are 23 families, 700 genera and 7000 species.
They range in size from one inch to two yards long.
On one acre of land, they are known to plow up,
ingest and eliminate 16-30 thousand pounds of
soil. There may be as many as eight million of
them in this one acre. Their tunnels prepare
the ground for crop roots, aid in water circulation and keep
the soil supplied with pockets of oxygen. They feed
on the bacteria and fungi in the soil, digest it and then
excrete it as rich topsoil. Their poop is rich in nitrogen,
calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. The grass truly
is greener wherever they are living. They are a blessing to
gardeners, farmers, landscapers and those who do a lot
of fishing.
They have no bones but they do have quite complex muscles.
They hug the ground with one end, pull along the
other end which then hugs the ground so that the
front end can stretch out again, repeating this
process for as long as they live. They can be long
and slender one minute and look like a little grayish
brown super ball the next.
They have no eyes but they have light sensitive cells.
They are also sensitive to touch and chemicals (which
some of us shudder to remember from High School biology
labs.) Their brains control their movements and
their ability to detect light. If their brain is removed
however, their behavior does not visibly change. They have
no lungs. Oxygen passes through their skin.
They have five hearts. I have no idea why.
Between their hearts are glands which process
the excessive amounts of calcium they ingest
with all the dirt they eat. They are both male
and female at the same time. Their reproductive
antics are fully described on this web page:
http://www.backyardnature.net/earthwrm.htm
They are much too x-rated for this column.
Most of us collected them when we were children.
They would come out by the hundreds after a
rainstorm. The biggest and fattest
ones called night crawlers were prized by
people going fishing. They make great bait.
As long as they remain underground, they are
safe from predators but pesticides can do them
in along with killing the weeds. Once they surface,
birds and other small mammals may make a meal
of them. And we, pluck them up to feed to
the fish. The jury is still out as to whether or not
their burrowing enables pollutants to enter into
ground water. Their beneficial disposal of bacteria
and fungi enriching the surface soil is invaluable for
farmers, gardeners and those who prize a lush, green lawn.
You can even buy them for indoor/outdoor composting
all year round. They will eat your garbage and give
you a nutrient rich compost to use in the garden.
I've been toying with the idea of purchasing them for
years. These composting worms are called Red
Wigglers. You can buy 500 of them for about $30.
This spring may be the year I actually order them.
The geese have been hogging the limelight this
past week as a sign of spring's arrival. Spring begins
on Thursday just before you will read this column.
It has been hard to miss the geese. They are noisy
and numerous. The snow geese were in Pennellville
on Saturday the 14th of March. I missed them this year.
But Rich didn't and he shared his sighting with me before church
yesterday. During worship, the pasture next to the
church was filled with Canadian geese. They left before
the last hymn. I don't think they were paying much attention
to the sermon either. But, now that spring is officially here,
instead of looking up to see more flocks of returning geese,
look down at the ground in the hopes of spotting an earthworm or two.
Once they come out into the sun, winter is officially
over and spring is officially sprung. Let the planting begin!
Thank God for earthworms!
Dotty shared during our Joys and Concerns that her
crocuses were already up. Mine are still buried under
five feet of snow. I will be watching for the first robin
to hop across the lawn. I've ordered a basket of pansies
for Easter which will then need to find a permanent home
in my flower bed. And now, I will be watching and waiting
to see my first earthworm of 2009. I'll let you know if
I find the courage to order the Red Wigglers. Happy Spring!
Some of the above facts were also gleaned from:
http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/earthworms.html
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/red-wiggler-worms.html
With Angels' Whispers,Connie
When the love of power is overcome
by the power of love,
then we will have peace.
Jimi Hendrix (actually he just
sang this - now I can't remember
who actually said it.)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Easter Eggs
Do you have happy memories of
coloring Easter eggs? Is this activity
still part of your Easter preparations?
Alas, it is no longer part of mine. But I
still have many blown out eggs which
Fran and I decorated in years gone by.
They are packed away somewhere.
Many have loops of thread and buttons
so that they could adorn a naked
branch brought in from the outdoors
in early spring. We had as many
Easter decorations as we did for
Christmas.
Throughout the year, we would
painstakingly prick a hole in both
ends of the eggs used for baking
or scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Blowing the insides out of the eggs
required tremendous lung power.
It was worth the effort. The eggs
accumulated until we had two dozen
or more to color just before Easter.
Of course, we had to do at least a
dozen hard boiled eggs as well.
One can never have too many eggs
when it is time to decorate them.
The containers which held the dye
had to be just right - deep enough
to cover the entire egg with color.
We had a set of Corning cups which
worked like a charm. Included in with
the dye, there were always those wax crayons
and paste on decals to add to the creative
fun. We had a special tray where
the eggs could dry. It was always
a highlight of Lent, coloring those
Easter eggs and anticipating the
jelly beans and chocolate which
would magically appear on Easter
morning - BEFORE Sunrise worship.
At one point in our Christian history
it was believed that eggs boiled on
Good Friday, if kept for one hundred
years, the yolk would be transformed
into a diamond. There are no known
diamonds actually created this way
but it is an interesting theory.
Supposedly, if Good Friday laid eggs
were cooked on Easter, they were
believed to promote the fertility of
a farmer's trees and crops. They
were also said to prevent sudden death.
If you found two yolks in an egg on
Easter, it meant you would soon be
rich. Since I've never found an egg
with two yolks on Easter - nor do I
know anyone who has, I cannot
vouch for or against the truth of this
traditional belief.
In the early years of the observance
of Lent - the forty days and nights
preceeding Easter minus Sundays
which are considered mini-Easters -
both eggs and meat were forbidden.
This may be where the whole Pancake
Tuesday tradition got its start. Folks
had to use up all the eggs in the house
before the sun set on Ash Wednesday.
The egg itself has always been a
symbol of Christ's Resurrection - his
rising from the dead on Easter morning,
an empty tomb proving that he was
not dead. Egg rolling contests are
based on the act of rolling away the stone
blocking the entrance to the tomb
on Easter morning to discover that it
was empty. The most famous Egg Rolling
Contest takes place on the White House lawn each year.
President Obama's daughters, Malie and Sasha
are probably excited about their first one.
Wonder if they get to color Easter eggs?
Some believe that eggs made their way
into our Christian Easter celebration by
way of Pagan customs. This may or
may not be true. There are many creation
stories in other cultures where the
entire world comes from a single egg.
But the egg has been part of the Passover
since the earliest times recorded in the
Bible. It is dipped in salt water to remind
us, as we eat it, of the tears cried by the
Hebrew people when they were slaves in
Egypt. In the Passover meal, as it is in
our current customs, the egg was a sign
of new life associated with spring - a season
when the world comes back to life after
the winter rest.
I cannot wait to see the crocuses pop their
purple and gold blossoms into the world.
This has been a long, hard winter. I will
be watching for the tulips and daffodils
to add their delightful colors to the world
once more. I'm already planning this
year's crop of sunflowers. I won't be
coloring Easter eggs, but the memories
of doing so always come to mind when
we begin that count down to Easter morning.
I pray that all the snow is gone before
our joyful Easter celebration begins!
From my lips to God's ears.
coloring Easter eggs? Is this activity
still part of your Easter preparations?
Alas, it is no longer part of mine. But I
still have many blown out eggs which
Fran and I decorated in years gone by.
They are packed away somewhere.
Many have loops of thread and buttons
so that they could adorn a naked
branch brought in from the outdoors
in early spring. We had as many
Easter decorations as we did for
Christmas.
Throughout the year, we would
painstakingly prick a hole in both
ends of the eggs used for baking
or scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Blowing the insides out of the eggs
required tremendous lung power.
It was worth the effort. The eggs
accumulated until we had two dozen
or more to color just before Easter.
Of course, we had to do at least a
dozen hard boiled eggs as well.
One can never have too many eggs
when it is time to decorate them.
The containers which held the dye
had to be just right - deep enough
to cover the entire egg with color.
We had a set of Corning cups which
worked like a charm. Included in with
the dye, there were always those wax crayons
and paste on decals to add to the creative
fun. We had a special tray where
the eggs could dry. It was always
a highlight of Lent, coloring those
Easter eggs and anticipating the
jelly beans and chocolate which
would magically appear on Easter
morning - BEFORE Sunrise worship.
At one point in our Christian history
it was believed that eggs boiled on
Good Friday, if kept for one hundred
years, the yolk would be transformed
into a diamond. There are no known
diamonds actually created this way
but it is an interesting theory.
Supposedly, if Good Friday laid eggs
were cooked on Easter, they were
believed to promote the fertility of
a farmer's trees and crops. They
were also said to prevent sudden death.
If you found two yolks in an egg on
Easter, it meant you would soon be
rich. Since I've never found an egg
with two yolks on Easter - nor do I
know anyone who has, I cannot
vouch for or against the truth of this
traditional belief.
In the early years of the observance
of Lent - the forty days and nights
preceeding Easter minus Sundays
which are considered mini-Easters -
both eggs and meat were forbidden.
This may be where the whole Pancake
Tuesday tradition got its start. Folks
had to use up all the eggs in the house
before the sun set on Ash Wednesday.
The egg itself has always been a
symbol of Christ's Resurrection - his
rising from the dead on Easter morning,
an empty tomb proving that he was
not dead. Egg rolling contests are
based on the act of rolling away the stone
blocking the entrance to the tomb
on Easter morning to discover that it
was empty. The most famous Egg Rolling
Contest takes place on the White House lawn each year.
President Obama's daughters, Malie and Sasha
are probably excited about their first one.
Wonder if they get to color Easter eggs?
Some believe that eggs made their way
into our Christian Easter celebration by
way of Pagan customs. This may or
may not be true. There are many creation
stories in other cultures where the
entire world comes from a single egg.
But the egg has been part of the Passover
since the earliest times recorded in the
Bible. It is dipped in salt water to remind
us, as we eat it, of the tears cried by the
Hebrew people when they were slaves in
Egypt. In the Passover meal, as it is in
our current customs, the egg was a sign
of new life associated with spring - a season
when the world comes back to life after
the winter rest.
I cannot wait to see the crocuses pop their
purple and gold blossoms into the world.
This has been a long, hard winter. I will
be watching for the tulips and daffodils
to add their delightful colors to the world
once more. I'm already planning this
year's crop of sunflowers. I won't be
coloring Easter eggs, but the memories
of doing so always come to mind when
we begin that count down to Easter morning.
I pray that all the snow is gone before
our joyful Easter celebration begins!
From my lips to God's ears.
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