A Note From Pastor Ben
Dear Friends,
In 1888, in an essay written for Scribner’s Magazine the great Scottish writer (and Northern California sojourner) Robert Louis Stevenson wrote:
…the racy sermon against lust is a feature of the age. I venture to call such moralists insincere. At any excess or perversion of a natural appetite, their lyre sounds of itself with relishing denunciations; but for all displays of the truly diabolic--envy, malice, the mean lie, the mean silence, the calumnious truth, the backbiter, the petty tyrant, the peevish poisoner of family life--their standard is quite different. These are wrong, they will admit, yet somehow not so wrong; there is no zeal in their assault on them, no secret element of gusto warms up the sermon; it is for things not wrong in themselves that they reserve the choicest of their indignation.
There is something timeless in Stevenson’s denunciation of Victorian moralists, who cared so deeply about what traditional Christian language refers to as “the sins of the flesh” while turning a blind eye to what must certainly be the more serious human failings. Things really haven’t changed so much. Many Christians today talk a lot about “family values” (by which they mean things like opposing gay marriage and the administration of vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus), but in the process spend little time promoting values that actually add value to the life of a family or bring happiness to the home.
Whatever you may or may not think about the issues many modern Christians gather under the banner of “family values” (and I know we will have our differences of opinion on such issues) I hope you will join me in making this Lent about pursuing the kind of morality that makes us better people and better Christians. The forty days (plus Sundays) that lead up to Easter are meant to be a season of penitence—not just in order to feel guilty, but so that we might rededicate ourselves to living righteous lives—and I hope the morality we seek to achieve will be marked by such virtues as kindness, patience, goodness, forbearance, forgiveness, compassion, generosity and relating peaceably to everyone around us. If we can pull off that kind of virtue, we will be living as Christians ought to live—and not just because Robert Louis Stevenson said so 132 years ago, but because Jesus himself said so many years before that.
Blessings for the Season of Lent,
Ben
Photo Directory
Peg Nickl, Office Administrator
The Membership Committee has purchased directory publishing software so we can create and publish our own 2012 directory.
How will this directory be different?
• Publishing our own directory gives us more flexibility.
• No portrait appointments or publisher deadline.
• Each person and family will have an opportunity to submit a favorite photo.
• Photos can be changed or updated at any time to keep the directory current.
• Directory is available in hard or electronic copy (eDirectory)
• Unlimited copies available
Thanks to David and Isabelle Taylor's hard work taking pictures after worship in January, we have a great start to our 2012 directory. But we still need pictures from more than half of our congregation.
How do we get the rest of the pictures?
For anyone who isn't able to travel, David and Isabelle have generously offered to come to you. Call the church office or the Taylor's directly to set up a time.
We ask that everyone else PLEASE submit a picture to the church office. The picture can be emailed or you can bring in a print to be scanned. Pictures can be formal portraits or candid shots. All we ask is that the photo be current and that faces be easily seen and recognized. Look through your pictures from Christmas or last summer vacation and send us your favorite. If you don't have one photo with all of your family members, you can send us several different photos. Want to include your entire household including your pets? Great! We'd love to include everybody.
The church office will be contacting families to encourage participation. If you need someone to take your picture, please let us know and we'll make arrangements. If you are able to help us get pictures of our members in care homes, please let us know.
An updated photo directory is a wonderful resource for our church community. Being a smaller church we should have no trouble putting together a complete directory that includes all of our members and friends. You don't need to be a member to be in the directory. Please help us and submit your photo as soon as you can.
Here’s a little update on how we’re doing. Luckily we have a fifth Sunday in January which is not yet included below, but as you can see, we need your help. The roof repair this year was a substantial bill that we need your help paying back. It’ll take at least two years of special appeals to meet the goal. With a little help from each of us, we can meet our goals. Thank you in advance for your extraordinary help with this challenge.
GIVING SUMMARY - THANK YOU!
As of January 23, 2012 Month Fiscal Year To Date
Offering needed 19,188 134,316
Offering collected 13,098 112,568
VARIANCE 6,090 21,748
It’s February and our Per Capita assessment is now due. Here’s where we are:
PER CAPITA SUMMARY - THANK YOU!
As of January 23, 2012 Fiscal Year To Date
Per Capita assessment 5,626
Per Capita collected 1,670
Still to go 3,956
Please submit your Per Capita support as soon as possible. Each person is asked to contribute $30 of per Capita support. If you are able, consider donating a little extra for those in our congregation who may not be able to afford it. If you don’t have the blue Per Capita envelope, please mark your check in the memo section “Per Capita”. And for those who have already contributed, many thank yous!
Thank you for your faithful giving. We’ve been able to open our facilities to so many community activities as well as to our worship community. We are blessed with your faithful commitment. Thank you.
Humbly,
Sue Williams
Silk Painting Class
March 6, 13 and 20, noon to 3 PM in the Fellowship Hall
East Valley Artists are once again presenting art classes on Tuesdays in the fellowship hall. Carolina Mueller will kick off the series with a silk painting class that will last 3 sessions, March 6th, 13th and 20th, from noon to 3 PM. The class fee is $30 ($10 per individual session). There will also be a materials fee. For details about the class, contact Carolina Mueller. To register, send a check for $30 to Clyde Stout, 2817 Evergreen Way, San Jose, 95121. Please include your contact information (either an e-mail address or phone number) and indicate that you are registering for the silk painting class. The check should be made out to East Valley Artists. The registration deadline is February 28th. The materials fee will be collected during the first class. The class will be limited to 10 students. Only pre-registered students may attend the class, no drop-ins.
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*Bible Lesson*
Chapel Day with Pastor Ben
Thursday, February 2
Spiritual Message is LoveGod’s Love Scriptures
For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Special Days in February
2/14 Valentine's Day Party
2/20 Presidents Day, Preschool is Closed
2/24 Field Trip to Disney on Ice
The Semibreve
Jay Jordana, Director of Music Ministries
RAGNOLIA RAGTETTE
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH, 3 PM
Sparkling and lively ragtime music is coming again when duo pianists Jack and Chris Bradshaw team up with the Drivons, Robyn and Steve (adding tuba, percussion & vocals). Their program, The Joy of Ragtime, covers 100 years of toe-tapping, rib-tickling, smile generating, heart bursting ragtime pieces including favorites such as Willie Anderson's Keystone Rag, Henry Lodge's April Fool Rag, and Charles L. Johnson's Stop It! This is a program that will appeal to all ages. Families welcome! Come and bring a friend. Suggested Donation: $10
MUSIC SERIES SNEAK PEAK
South Bay Philharmonic - Fri, Mar 2nd, 7:30 PM
Monteverdi Brass Quintet - Sat, Mar 3rd, 7:30 PM
Camerata Moresca - Sat, Mar 10th, 3 PM
Flauti Dolci & Amici - Sat, Mar 17th, 3 PM
Flauti Dolci & Amici II - Sat, Mar 24th
Chinese Dulcimer Musician Junko Aono - Sun, Mar 25th, 3 PM
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DEATH AND TAXES? DEFINITELY NOT!"'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
-Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789 >
I would have to disagree with Mr. Franklin because although tax day is on April 15th, we will not be celebrating death here at Foothill. Instead, we will be celebrating the renewal of life. As part of Eastertide, we will be offering special music during the April 15th worship service. Alongside semi-professional and professional musicians, our chancel choir and a few members of the FPC Brass Ensemble, soloists Anne Daniel and Ronn Ealy will present the Resurrection part of Handel’s Messiah.
We are very grateful for the generosity of members of the congregation who are making this possible. Through very generous donations, we were able to create a fund called Psalm 150, which allows us to present special worship service music. With this fund, we were able to present Vivaldi’s Gloria for last year’s World Communion Sunday, for which we are truly grateful. We welcome donations to the Psalm 150 fund for the longevity of this endeavor.
WHAT’S UP IN THE HOOD?
*Dawn Imada’s ukelele class is up, running, and thriving! For having just very recently started this class here at Foothill, she is now up to 4 diligent students who come to the sanctuary every Tuesday from 9-10 AM. Aside from teaching this class, Dawn also plays in the bell choir. We are very grateful to have Dawn as part of our music ministry.
*Members of our newly formed FPC Brass Ensemble have been invited to play at the Lantern Festival sponsored by the South Bay Taiwanese Association. It will be held on the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino on Feb. 11th at 7 PM.
*Members of our chancel choir have taken a personal hiatus and will be back. We look forward to their return.
*Our Vivace numbers in the Intermediate class have increased! From 3, we are now up to 7 students! The Intermediate class meets every Tuesday from 5:30 – 6:45 PM in the sanctuary and is taught by me. We teach healthy vocal production/technique in the context of choral singing, and we use the Kodály system to teach music theory. Most of all, we keep it fun! Word-of-mouth is working! Our goal is to build a strong Vivace Youth Chorus presence here in the East side. So please, keep talking!
LAST MESSENGER’S TIDBIT
What is the third partial in the harmonic series? Explain.
Answer: The third partial in the harmonic series is the 5th.
Congratulations to Ronn Ealy for answering this question correctly.
When a vibrating body (i.e. a piece of string, reed, vocal cords, etc…) is struck, we usually hear one audible pitch/tone. In actuality, even though the human ear does not usually perceive them separately, a vibrating body produces various pitches, simultaneously. These pitches are called partials. Theoretically, these partials go to infinity, but the human ear is insensitive to frequencies above 20,000 Hz. (That’s why Spot gets very excited when he hears the postal worker several blocks away).
So let’s take a piece of string... When we pluck it, the following partials are produced in exactly the same order every time (Isn’t that amazing?!):
1st partial – called the “fundamental.” This is the loudest partial that we hear and is what we say the pitch of the note is.
2nd partial – the octave above the fundamental
3rd partial – the fifth
5th partial – Major 3rd
6th partial – Minor 3rd
And so on….
So you have to answer this now: If a piece of pipe produces a C pitch/fundamental when you hit it, how much do you have to cut to make it be a G? Just kidding… You don’t have to answer this, but can you believe that this was my first test question in my first theory class?!!
FEBRUARY TIDBIT
What was used by Joshua’s army that successfully collapsed the walls of Jericho? Be specific. Who used them and for how many days? Please email me your complete response. If yours is correct, you get to choose the closing hymn of the final worship service this month. First one to let me know the correct answer gets the prize! Hurry!
The Life of a Chaplain
Maxine Millender
You cannot touch your neighbor’s heart with anything less than your own- Sim K. Tee
During the month of January, I worked a total of 9 nights. During this time I had many calls which consisted of strokes (2), motor vehicle (4), crisis calls (7), deaths (7), withdrawals (2), heart (5), assaults/domestic (3), miscarriage (1), baby deaths(1), gunshots (2), falls (2), autoped (1), and pastoral care visits (7). One night was for blessing of the hands for staff.
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When I walked into the room of the young couple whose 22 week old baby boy had just died, I felt so sad for them. She was holding her baby and her boyfriend was leaning over her. Both were crying. After introducing myself to them as the Chaplain, I expressed how sorry I was for their loss. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said she knew there was a God, loved God, believed in God but her baby died. She said, “I really wanted him.” She spoke his name to me and said how beautiful he was and he was going to be tall like his Dad. The baby weighed 1# 13 oz and was 13” long. I listened and thought about their disappointment, suffering, and no matter what I said, it would not be enough. After she finished talking, I said, “I don’t have the answers to your question about why, I have no response to why your body could not carry him to full term but there is one thing I can tell you. God loves you all very much. God’s grace is sufficient because his strength is made perfect in our weakness and you can rest assured that God is suffering with you. I also said that suffering is one of the hardest questions to answer.”After encouraging them to share things about the baby, I asked them to call their baby by name and talk about him. I explained that I was there for them, as long as they needed me. When prayer was offered, I blessed the baby and blessed his Christian name. I explained what would be done for the baby (foot and hand prints, photos, certificates) and they could hold him as long as they wanted. I discussed grief with the baby’s Mom and shared how grief is unique for each person. I also shared that this death was unexpected and could possibly result in a longer grieving period. I hugged them and let them know that Jesus wept and in his weeping he understands and comforts those who mourn. Baby deaths are still difficult!
A 75 yo man tried to cross the street before the car reached him but he was not successful. He was hit but EMS had no idea about the driver’s speed. He was brought to the hospital with EMS personnel giving him CPR because the stress caused him to have a heart attack. After rushing him to catscan, he immediately went to trauma/ICU. I called the police dept. to get next of kin information and they finally located his spouse. When she called me, she wanted to know how he was and the only thing I could tell her was he had gone to catscan and would then go to ICU. It would take her 2 hours to drive to the hospital, from where they lived. When I returned to work the next night, I was informed he had died from internal injuries and complications. I was also informed how devastated she was when she arrived and received news that her spouse died and she was alone.
A 35 yo woman was brought in by careflight because she was involved in a motor vehicle collision. She had been drinking and was unable to move her legs. When I spoke to her, she told me how embarrassed she was because she and her spouse had argued. She left the house upset and went to a bar to drink but should not have gotten behind the wheel. I tried calling her spouse but he did not answer the phone. I called her Dad and it took him 1.5 hours to arrive. The state trooper arrived and asked for her blood to be drawn because she would be charged with DUI and reckless driving.
Guns are not a toy! This is funny but also sad. A 21 yo man bought a gun, took it home and tried doing what’s called quick rounds-when you are twirling the gun around and around on two fingers. He accidentally shot himself in the thigh. He said he had no idea the gun was loaded. When the careflight crew was coming down the ramp with him, they had to suppress their laughter. A Fort Worth policeman asked me to tell him how dumb it was and of course I didn’t share any of this.
When a 45 yo man was brought in because he was having a massive heart attack, his wife cried/sobbed as the CV clinician explained what was happening. She could not believe how or why her husband was having a heart attack at his age. I spent 45 min with her trying to reassure her he was in good hands with the great physician (God) and the heart specialist. She only wanted to know if her spouse would live and I explained that it was not in our hands but in God’s. He did live, he is doing fine, and I spent 45 minutes with her.
When a Doctor gives you a diagnosis that you have cancer, it is scary. A worker at the hospital (44 yo F) was diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live. She could not believe it. She yelled at her husband and asked him to leave the room. When I spoke to her she told me how angry she was about the prognosis. She said her husband did not say a word. I asked her if he was scared and afraid of losing her but could not express it at the time. When she said, “whatever,” I knew she was in the denial, shock, and angry stage.
Grief is very difficult for everyone! I don’t believe there is a standard for emotional expression of loss nor a timeline. It’s personal, it happens with all ages, backgrounds, health status and if it is sudden or unexpected, grief takes longer. De Haan says that “Love feels the sorrow others feel and it longs to give support.”
I was given the opportunity to work one night to bless the hands of staff. This is an annual event but is difficult at night because of crisis and trauma calls. I was able to bless a total of 144 hands throughout the hospital. Warm water is poured over their hands, anointing oil is poured over them, and then a prayer is said with each person. Each prayer consists of a blessing for years of service, compassion, and their healing touch. It was a pleasure to do this all night while the other Chaplain had the pager.
Ordination Status
On Monday January 23rd, I had my final ordination interview with ~21 Pastors. It was very enlightening, engaging, heartfelt, and incredible. I felt comfortable with everyone, was truthful in my responses, and at times asked for clarity. I was calm and relaxed as I shared about theological things such as Suffering, the Cross, Pastoral Care, and Abandonment. I was asked questions about the Bible, my theology, my work as a Chaplain, Sacraments, and Resurrection of life. I shared about baptizing babies who would die and the comfort it brings to parents. When my mentor and I left the room for 5 minutes, we were called back. I felt the presence of God and was informed that I was affirmed for ordination. I was given many positive affirmations. Also, I was asked to share about my trip that I took to Amarillo, TX in June of 2011. You see, things don’t just happen! There is a reason and God placed me where I needed to be. Ordination: April 29th at 3pm
~ to be continued~
Worry is pulling tomorrow’s CLOUDS over today’s SUNSHINE-Adrian Rogers
