Dear Friends,
A bicycle should fly. There should be a certain amount of magic to the way it glides. To ride a bike should be a joyful thing. Of course, it helps if the bike itself is a object of beauty - as many bikes, especially older ones can be - but the first step in becoming an avid cyclist is finding a bike that makes you want to ride it.
About a year ago someone stole my bike. It was my commuter bike, and while it wasn’t much to look at, it was a pleasure to ride and it had been in my family since my older brother bought it in 1983. I knew it would be hard to replace, but I made my best effort when I convinced Jay Jordana, our music director, to sell me a 1973 Schwinn Suburban that once belonged to Herb Miller.
It was a beautiful bike, with a design that took European elegance and tweeked it, just slightly, so that it reflected the straight lines of Cold War American industrial design. The paint was in excellent condition and the chrome sparkled.
But there was very little magic in the bike’s ride. I loved the bike’s retro look, and I wanted the bike to be as fun to ride as it was to look at, so I decide to do whatever it took to give the bike wings, to make it fly.
I started by putting new oil and grease in places that hadn’t seen lubrication since the days when hostages still resided in the American Embassy in Tehran. That helped a lot, but I was only halfway to where I wanted to get, so I started obsessing about weight.
The beautiful bike was made of gleaming steel which was beautiful, but it kept me from riding at speeds that made me happy. So I got new aluminum-alloy wheels. The result was a loss of some shine, but I also lost a lot of weight. I was now feeling about 75% of the joy I wanted to feel when I got on the bike. Careful to preserve the retro-look, I switched out steel handle bars for aluminum ones, and I did the same with the old goose neck. But still I was only at about 80% of my goal for a sweet ride.
All along I kept the bikes old parts, in case I ever wanted to restore the bike to its original form, and as I continued to use the ever-evolving bike I decided to purchase new pedals. This had nothing to do with weight—in fact the new pedals were larger and heavier than the old ones—I just wanted to save the original pedals before they fell apart under my feet.
But then something strange happened. Once I rode the bike with new pedals (and after I added a few drops of oil to the thirsty chain), I found the magic. The bike finally flew. The missing piece was the pedals. For all my years of riding bikes, I’ve never paid much attention to the importance of pedals.
Now the bike rides as it should. It calls out to me in the morning when I’m getting ready to ride to work, and, more often than not, I ride the long way, so that I can enjoy a few more miles of magical flight. The paint is getting scratched and the bike needs a serious cleaning. Before long I will need to give it new grease. It’s old and it needs a lot of adjusting, but the way it glides over the road that separates my home and my office makes me very happy.
I think there is a correlation between bicycle mechanics and the Christian life. We know that a living faith should feel a little bit like magic. It should give us joy for living when life is good and strength when life is hard, but it doesn’t always work that way.
Our lives are full and complicated and our faith gets affected by our cares and it gets neglected when we are distracted. It doesn’t always fly like we want it too.
But the good news is that we can always work on our faith. We can change it where it needs changing; we can give it grease where it is stuck. And some times, like the pedals on my bike, the most important changes are things we didn’t even know we needed to change.
We can adjust our spiritual lives with added prayer, a little more time spend reading the Bible, and more frequent attendance in worship. We can decide to set aside behaviors and attitudes that weigh us down. We can commit ourselves to noticing the beauty of the world around us and we can take time to listen for the Spirit’s still, small voice.
With time, if we keep our hearts and minds to the task, our faith will ride with joy, and covey us with happiness from where we toil in life to the place where our hearts are at home.
Peace,
Ben
Lock the Doors - Keep Foothill Safe
Peg Nickl, Office Administrator
Finding doors unlocked in the morning is something that happens here at Foothill more frequently than you might think. Most recently the library door was found unlocked. Doors that are most frequently left unlocked (and sometimes standing open) are the women’s restroom and the doors to room 8&9.
It is very important to the safety of those who arrive first in the morning that all doors are locked at night. There is nothing more unnerving, and potentially dangerous, than having to enter a building that has been left unlocked all night. If you are here in the evening for a meeting, please check all doors before you leave. Even if you are not a key holder, if everyone is aware of the importance of locking the doors, there will be less chance that any door will be left open.
In addition to safety, we must all be aware of the increase in burglaries in this area. Many burglaries are opportunistic, meaning that the burglars look for easy targets such as open windows and unlocked doors. We need everyone’s help to make sure that Foothill isn’t an easy target for thieves.
Feeding the Homeless
John Belz, Deacon Moderator
| Volunteer, Shirley and Director Greg Plant |
We have recently discovered a wonderful opportunity to minister to the homeless and hungry in our community. For the last month, a number of us have gone downtown to First Pres to participate in their Lunch Bag program. We would love to have you join us.
The opportunity is weekdays except Thursday from 9:00 – 11:30. You make about 100 bag lunches with food they provide and then at 9:30 you hand them out. We stand inside the door and it is very safe. You simply ask their first name and then hand them a bag. They are all very nice. Besides food, we can give out socks (courtesy of our deacon fund) and some other toiletries. I brought some old t-shirts. They went quickly. Darlene is getting toothbrushes.
So far Darlene does every Tuesday for now. Ben, Jane Wallace, Ronn Ealy, my ESL student Shirley (in the picture) and I have also done it. Without help, Greg Plant (also in the picture) does it every day. Ideally, we are looking for sign-ups for 1-2 days a month (e.g., Second Wednesday) but we will take anyone who wants to try it even once. The program operates on donations so if you wish to help from afar, please put a check in the plate to the church marked Lunch Bag Program.
Interested? For more information, contact me or talk to Greg directly at 408-702-7183. You will leave feeling very fortunate. As Ben said at session, over the last 60 years people have moved to the suburbs leaving our downtown churches to minister to many of our needy people. This is a rewarding ministry that needs our help.
Take a Minute (Excerpts from recent meetings)
Darlene Ristrim, Clerk of Session
• Congregational meeting
- Estie Joubert elected to serve as congregational member on nominating committee
- Ratified a budget of $306,006
- Received Clive Veerapal into membership
- Foothill membership is 193
- Received reports from Church Operations Committee and Preschool
- Navin Veerapal to coordinate Treasurer Seeking Task Force
- MEAC Phase One Roof replacement loan period was been extended for 48 months, Monthly payment is to be $758.
- Jan Miller to represent Preschool on Church Operations Committee
- Preschool upgrades in planning stages: replace hot water heater, upgrade electrical system rooms 1-7,upgrade metal fencing, install 3 benches in front of classrooms 1-7
- Summer enrollment is 36
- Director authorized to purchase computer not to exceed $600
Peg Nickl, Office Administrator
Effective July 2012, the city of San Jose has granted a 15-year exclusive franchise to Republic Services to collect most standard garbage, recycling, and organics from businesses. This is for all businesses in San Jose. For more information visit http://www.republicservicesscco.com
Going forward we will separate all of our trash into wet and dry recycling. Wet recycling will go into the bins that are marked green. Dry recycling will go into the bins marked blue. Refer to the illustration below for lists of what recycling goes in what bin. If you have any questions. please contact me in the office. I will be happy to place a call to Republic for clarification. Items that are not on included on the list for the wet bin are yard waste and dog waste. Items that are not included on the list for the dry bin are diapers and sanitary products. Items that are not to be put in the bins include batteries, florescent light bulbs, paint, and any item considered hazardous waste.
The Semibreve
Jay Jordana, Director of Music Ministries
SEPTEMBER 2012 MESSENGER
MANY THANKS…
to the Steve Turner Jazz Combo, Julie Cline and the East Valley Artists, Anne Daniel and the Stanford Blood Drive, Food Master Clarissa Moore and her crew, Gourmet Sue LeValley and her crew, Go-getter Dana Marino and her crew, and all the other folks who helped in making the 12th Annual Jazz On the Grass a huge success. I’d like to give a special thanks to Pastor Philip and the Thai congregation. Not only did they bring food and help in the Fellowship Hall, but they also were very accommodating and flexible in moving their social time, usually done in the Fellowship Hall, to another location. Thank you so much for your flexibility and understanding.
Thank you to Pastor Ben Daniel and the Session and to the Foothill church family and the community for your continued support.
We’ll see you at next year’s 13th!
IN RETROSPECT…
Music Appropriate for the Circumstances
Reviewed by Tom Frey
Playing a set where the audience gets in free can be challenging enough, playing to a crowd that is there for the barbecue instead of the music can be even trickier. The Steve Turner Jazz Combo at Jazz on the Grass handled this problem by presenting a show of older, popular music (e.g., “Autumn Leaves”) and jazz standards. The plan appeared to be to create a pleasant musical environment for those in attendance, while not interfering with conversations or the meal experience. The band did a very good job of this, but the trade-off was music without, for the most part, much change in tempo or dynamics. The relative lack of these expressive elements led to the creation of ambiance rather than a strong concert set.
The folk group performing inside the fellowship hall on Saturday, Kathy Sherman and the Good Folk Collective, faced a similar situation. Their audience was there to view art rather than to listen to music. Sherman’s group made fewer concessions in their performance than the jazz band did. They presented songs from a fairly wide variety of sources, including traditional songs, songs from the folk revival of the 60s, and songs from folk/rock performers like Richard Thompson and Van Morrison. The group was not entirely familiar with some of the songs they performed, and the use of sheet music or written lyrics was sometimes necessary. In these cases it was not always possible for the performers to give a relaxed and expressive rendition of the song. All in all, the music on Saturday and Sunday was fairly well suited to the environment, but It would have been nice to have had a taste of what these bands could do if they were performing for truly attentive audiences.
JON ROBLIN JAZZ QUARTET
Sunday, September 30th, 3PM (DATE CHANGE)
With Mike Galisatus on trumpet, Terry Rodriguez on keys, Randy Barber on bass, and Jon Roblin on drums, the Jon Roblin Jazz Quartet will feature classic jazz standards by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk as well as original compositions by the group founder Jon Roblin himself.
A master of all trades, drummer/percussionist, pianist, composer/arranger, singer/songwriter and teacher Jon Roblin has been a professional musician for many years. Working show band production groups aboard major cruise liners, playing percussion with Bay Area orchestras, writing and producing the gospel jazz group Loyalty Band, and performing with the Toronto Optimist Drum and Bugle Corps, Roblin also teaches music in the Alum Rock School District.
You’ll certainly enjoy a unique blend of rhythmic and harmonious colors. So mark your calendars! We’ll see you at the concert!
ONE TWICE?!
Foothill Presbyterian Church will be presenting Part 1 (Advent) of Handel's Messiah twice this coming December!
Sunday, December 2nd, 4 PM (TIME CHANGE)- The Foothill Music Series will be presenting its first Annual Foothill Messiah Sing-a-Long. YOU (yes, you!) and your friends get to sing along with a professional orchestra! Rehearsal with the orchestra for the sing-a-long will be on Saturday, Dec 1st at 11 am. We encourage you to attend.
Sunday, December 9th, 10:30 AM – With the help of generous donations into the Psalm 150 fund, professional and semi-professional musicians will once again present Handel’s Messiah at the worship service.
Stay tuned for more details.
2012-2013 MUSIC SERIES CONCERT SEASON*
12th Annual Jazz On the Grass – Aug 12th, 12:30 PM
Jon Roblin Jazz Quartet – Sept. 30th (Date change)
Schola Cantorum – Oct 28th , 4 PM
South Bay Philharmonic – Friday, Nov 2nd, 7:30 PM
Kathy Sherman and the Good Folk Collective – Nov 11th
Foothill Messiah Sing-a-Long – Dec 2nd, 4 PM
12th Annual Festival of Carols – Friday, Dec 14th, 7 PM
Albany Consort – Saturday, Feb 9th, 3 PM
Lawrence (Ronn) Ealy – Feb 10th
South Bay Philharmonic – Friday, Mar 1st, 7:30 PM
Flauti Dolci & Amici I – Saturday, Mar 9th, 3 PM
The Bradshaws with the Ragnolia Ragtette – Mar 10th
Flauti Dolci & Amici II – Mar 23rd, 3 PM
Monteverdi Brass Quartet – Saturday, Apr 13th, 7 PM
National Association of Composers USA (San Francisco) – Apr 28th
South Bay Philharmonic – Friday, May 10th, 7:30 PM
Musica Della Doria – Saturday, May 11th, 3 PM
Jewish Music & Poetry Project – May 19th
Travis Band, June 9th
*May be subject to change, all concerts are on Sundays at 3 PM unless specified otherwise.
WHAT’S UP IN THE HOOD?
*Vivace Youth Chorus (East) classes and choirs have resumed on Sept 4th. Preparatory classes meet in the sanctuary on Tuesdays at 4:15 PM, Intermediate classes and Rising Notes begin at 5:30 PM and meet in the sanctuary and library, respectively. For more information, check out vivaceyouthchorus.org, or contact Jay and Anne.
* Jay has completed (more like survived) Level II of her Kodály training at the Kodály Summer Institute held last July at Holy Names University. Stay tuned for more in the next edition…
* Dawn Imada’s ukelele group and Jay to bring back the good ole hymn sing days. Stay tuned…
SEPTEMBER TIDBIT
True or False: Dixieland is a kind of chocolate-covered Twinkie.
And the reason for this is...
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!
Flea Market and Clothing Drive
Saturday, September 15 from 8AM to 12PM
Flea Market Start cleaning the garage, attic and closets—the next all church Flea Market is happening soon! We need your items to make this event a success and we could use your help too.
Please bring your items to the narthex the week of September 10th, and if you can spare a few hours sorting and pricing on Friday, September 14 and or selling, setting up and packing up on the 15th please let the office know of your availability.
Clothing Drive All donated clothing, shoes and coats will be put out for sale during the flea market. What’s left will be sorted with the new and like new items going to Inn Vision, the slightly worn to Hope Services, and the very worn to USAgain.
New Socks We are also collecting NEW SOCKS to be donated directly to the homeless through the Bag Lunch Program of First Presbyterian Church. New socks will not be put out for sale at the flea market.
Class of 2015 Nominations
The nominating committee needs your help finding people to fill the positions of Elder, Deacon, and Auditor for the class of 2015.
They also need nominations for 2013 church treasurer. Please contact Dana Marino with your suggestions.
We Need Your Help on Sunday Morning
Please sign up to be a greeter, to serve coffee hour, or to bring flowers. These jobs are very important to the Sunday fellowship of our church.
We especially need people for coffee hour. It’s not hard, just bring in some treats and brew some coffee. If you need help, just ask.
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