Sunday Homily, July 17, 2016, 16th Sunday Ordinary Time

Readings:

Acts  13, 14, 43-52,  Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga.

Psalm 100,  We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Revelation  7, 9, 14-17, I, John, had a great vision.

John 21, 19-31,  My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.   

 

         

Genevieve welcomes all you folks and says, "Welcome in!"   Guess who is 1 year old.

 

 

Genevieve in May 2015.

 

Acts observations:

More of the same, Paul's travels.

 

 

Kevin, too, says, "Come in, Everybody.  It is only rain out there.   Not even any hail.  Just a bit of flooding.  No need for an ark yet."

 

We are a Team

Boston Marathon is tomorrow.  Who is going from our community?  Tom & Lynda.  Paul & Carrie did it last year. 

See the article in the Dallas Morning News yesterday?  About Carol Ann Taylor running for her husband Sterling Proctor.  Sterling is, or was, a CO hiker and a French horn player in the F.W. Symphony.  He also biked The Lake, White Rock. 

He now has a worsening degenerative muscle condition that  has him relegated to an electric wheel chair.

 

 

The Great Candle Lighter at work.  Do not disturb.  

 

Carol Ann, Sterling’s wife, is running The Boston to earn money for more research into Sterling’s condition.  It is her first.  She runs “for my heart, for my Sterling,” she said. 

The reporter noted how they listened to each other, how they were in sync with each other.  When they said of themselves, “We are a team,” I thought they have The Karma.  They are a team.  Carol Ann runs tomorrow and Sterling will watch via satellite. 

Rosemary & I know another couple who has had The Karma, Carl & Barbara Castille. 

 

 

 

Offertory, John & Jim, Karen & John.  Thanks.
 

 

Carl is one of my best Jesuit buddies.  Carl is a Cajun (like you, John), growing up near Opelousas, LA.  We entered the Jesuits together in 1958 (60 years this 2018), and we lived together in the same large houses for 7 years. 

Carl was coming to our Spring Hill College reunion last weekend.  He & Barbara live in a suburb of Pittsburg.  He had come early to visit his family around Opelousas.  I knew Carl had attempted and failed to book into the same Fairfield Inn as I and my companion, Francis Vanderwall, the guy who spoke to us some years ago.  So I did not really notice Carl’s absence the first night. 

 

                   

The Best, Mary & Bethany & Ray.

 

 

Somewhere during Saturday we heard that Carl had returned to Pittsburg because Barbara had a stroke and was hospitalized.  The guys and I, we were all stunned.  I began to phone.  In fact, the first time I phoned I got Barbara’s phone with her voice message. 

Day by day I called, mostly talking to Robbie, their son who was handling the phone.  And day by day Barbara got worse.  She had more strokes and Robbie said each day that she was losing ground.  At one point Robbie told me that Barbara was going into Hospice and that the family was telling her she did not have to fight to stay alive.  She could let loose.  Finally I was home and called again.  This time Carl answered and said Barbara had died. 

 

 

                         

 The A Team, including Buddy.

 

 

I was in tears, Carl was in tears, and we could hardly speak.  Barbara and Carl had The Karma.  Rosemary & I could sense it when we stayed with them last year in Pittsburg.  They were a team like Carol Ann and Sterling.

Carl is a Good Karma guy.  He has other teams he can rely on, like their 3 grown kids.  I hope to help out, even from a distance. 

 

 

 Sisters, Victoria and Zoe.

 

I would suggest that we all need to be part of a team.  Rosemary & I are a team.  I would also suggest that we have a team in this community.  I am humbled by this every time we come together and I am grateful. 

And you.  Who makes up your Team?

 

 The Butterlies, caught in the act of having too much fun at Mass,  Kara, Denise, and James.

 

Readings: Acts 6, 1-7; Psalm 33; 1 Peter 2, 4-9; John 14, 1-12.

Acts:  This is another example of stories from the early Christian Community.  On this occasion, the community is selecting from the community seven people, men, who will help free up the priests to do preaching.  The seven chosen are like deacons.

A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood

Two things happened to me in Italy that came to mind when I saw this line in Peter’s letter about being a chosen race and a royal priesthood.

First, in Rome on our last evening before departing this past Friday.  It was about 6:30.  All four of us were planning to celebrate sunset at 7:45 and the end of our trip with a glass of wine on the rooftop of our 4-5 story, 500 year old palace & convent.  A great vista point for the city.

Rosemary & I had taken a stroll and were coming home crossing the little plaza next to our convent, when a young Italian boy about 17 came up to me and in Italian asked me where the Pantheon was.  This delighted me for two reasons.

First, he must have thought I was more of a local, not an American tourist.  Ever since my time in East Africa I have always tried to blend in, not stand out as from elsewhere.  That was hard in Tanzania. Secondly, because of the first, he spoke to me in Italian. I both knew what he asked, and I knew how to respond and guide him to the Pantheon, which I half walked him to because it was fairly near.  For a last nighter, this was a gift.

The other event took place on a high point in Florence a week earlier.  Again Rosemary & I had taken a stroll in the early evening while others rested & before going out together.  I was exploring and had climbed a hill to see if I could spot a good place to see the sunset over Florence.  I had heard about this place from one of the sisters at the Florence convent we were staying in.  There were a series of steps in a switch back pattern leading up to a secondary basilica, called St. Miniato.  The steps were quite a climb, with the basilica steps going straight up.

At one point Rosemary is wandering around & I am sitting at the very top, my legs hanging over the marble balustrade.  I am looking over Florence & watching a rain storm approach from the west when I see a little man stooped with osteoporosis start to climb the steps way below me.  He has a dark overcoat on and he uses an umbrella as a cane.  He leans on the balustrade on his left.  Slowly & steadily he climbs until he reaches the top, turns right, and starts to pass near me. 

As he approaches I say in Italian, "Congratulations on climbing the steps."  I reach over and shake his sweaty little hand.  Bent over, he looks up and says, "What?"  I repeat and he asks me who I am.  After I tell him he says, "Are you Italian?"  I am complimented, but say, "No, I’m not Italian.  I am American."  "Oh, bahh," he exclaims and goes on his way.  I am slightly deflated. 

As Peter says in his letter, we are all chosen, we are all a royal priesthood.  Royal does not grab me, but priesthood does.  Sometimes we feel more chosen, more priestly, sometimes we feel more rejected and certainly not royal. 

The 17 year old boy chose me out of all the people in that plaza and asked for help.  In the priest context, I was able to help & guide him.  This experience is common to all of us.  I chose to compliment the little man in a priest context, but he rejected me.  Another common experience to all of us.  Because we are all chosen by God, we are all called to priesthood.  The challenge is to continue to congratulate, help, & guide the next person.

How are you doing this?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-04-20.mp3 

Readings:

Isaiah   53, 10-11,  The Lord was pleased to crush him.

Psalm 33,    Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you

Hebrews  4, 14-16, Let us approach the throne of grace.

Mark 10, 35-45,  Whoever wishes to be great will be your servant.  

 

                     Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

Isaiah:

A review:  

Authors: at least 3 because there are 3 distinct parts to Isaiah the book.    Today's author is number 2.

Time of Composition: near the end of the Babylonian Captivity, i.e., ca. 555 Before Christ.

 Subject Matter: part 1 up to chapter 39, warnings about impending doom because of the badness of the people.  The remaining two parts are called the Book of Consolation, letting the people know that a more peaceful &:prosperous time is coming.     

One exception: 4 Suffering Servant passages in writer number 2, plus today's passage.  

 

Emma and her buddy, too, say, "Good Morning, Folks."

 

Today’s Selection:   Isaiah number 2.  Pretty nasty treatment being dealt to someone.    4 observations—         

          A. This chapter in 2 Isaiah is not included as one of the 4 Suffering Servant Songs, even though it presents the same theme.           

          B. The he, the servant that is talked about is

                    –for the Hebrews, the Jewish nation/people;

                    –for Christians, Christ.         

          C.  False Belief number 1?  The Jews thought Yahweh demanded suffering or sacrifice of valuable items ( e.g., sacrificial lamb, scape goat ) as payment for badness or for favors.   

          D.  False Belief number 2?  The early Jews & Christians believed that an original great sin had been committed by our ancestors & that sin could only be paid for by a human-divine hero, Jesus.  He had to be sacrificed to this god.  Or as the first line of our official reading says, “The lord was pleased to crush him with infirmity.”  

Do you think God crushes people with infirmity?   Was there really an original sin?   Contemporary theology says no.

 

       And not to be left out, Buddy says, "Welcome, Everybody."

 

If I don’t want to be 1^st, do I have to be a slave?

I want to talk today about being first and being a servant or slave.   Or if I don’t want to be first, do I have to be a slave?  I am uncomfortable with the either or.  I have seen good people get obsessed with serving.  Can there be a healthy middle ground?  I would say, yes, and it is self acceptance of myself as I am.   A story. 

You all know that Rosemary & I love to ride our bikes around White Rock Lake.  We go south on the White Rock Creek Trail from Royal Lane.  The second bridge we go under is the bridge where David Stephens was killed Monday Mmorning, 7:45.   Then circle the lake clockwise with a break at the boat house at the south end, near the dam.  All together about 20 miles.

 

                                     Zoe, the Candle Lighter

Homeward bound from the boat house we use West Lawther Drive, a beautiful little lane running between the lake and gorgeous mansions. Lots of bikers use this road and walkers and runners use the path meandering along closer to the lake.

There can be mini, spur of the moment competitions on this road among northbound riders like we are.

One day I am cruising along Lawther, when I am passed by 4 young kids about 13 years old, 3 boys & a girl.  “Whoa,” I think, “How can these kids

 

                      Genevieve says, "It is nice to be baptized."

 

do this to me?”   “I am going to pace these kids.”  

 I discover that these kids are well coached by somebody.  They are drafting and they are changing leader every mile or so.  Plus, they are flying.  I don’t draft, but I stay behind enough.

We fly under the bridge that is Nwst. Hwy and race up the White Rock Creek Trail.  I keep up with them, but don’t like it.  They are going too fast, especially on curves, doubly especially on curves that involve shaded tunnels under bridges, a bit like Walnut Hill.

Finally, about half way up the trail to Royal Lane, I Iet them go.  I never see them again.

 

                           Is it Hug Your Gorilla Sunday today?

 

I decide two things:

1. I will not race with people on the White Rock Creek Path.  Too dangerous.  Both West and East Lawther Drives, okay.
2. Give up trying to be a great biker or first.  I am a B level biker.  I am a B level athlete and a B level intellectual.  In fact, one of the therapeutic values of biking is that, just after I think I am hot stuff because I have passed some young dude in all his fine bike clothes, along comes someone, like a girl, who passes me like I am waiting at the DART station.

 Anybody not want to be first once in a while?  Be best in something?  Absolutely normal.  Look at sports, academics, appearance.  So does that mean I have to be a slave or servant?  Very tricky statement psychologically. 

 

                          The Team, Georgie & Kevin.

 

2 Observations:

1.  It is normal and okay to want to be first. I hope so.   Certainly I know kids at 75 who have it.
2. When Mark says “servant” and “slave,” do you see Mark’s hyperbole, his exaggeration, and his use of infinite demand?   This is his literary tool to make a point. 
3. From my experience, the danger is…  A person who is religiously obsessed, poorly trained, spiritually & psychologically insecure, or scrupulous, this poor person can take the servant idea to an extreme.  The motto is, “Always better to give than to receive.”  No way.

 

                      The best music, Mary, Bethany, & Ray.

 

I have known & worked with people with this mentality.  We had them in the Jesuits.  The person cannot allow anyone to do anything for them.  Sometimes it is called scrupulosity.

For that matter, I have some of that stuff.  I don’t always like to be on the receiving end.  Giving and serving can be quite comforting.

 

                   Rosemary reading her Blessing of The Week.

 

Spiritual health avoids extremes.  It helps me to accept myself as I am.  It also challenges me to make a difference in our world.

On the one hand, how do you handle not being number one?  On the other, how do you help others healthily? 

 

 

 

                      

Readings:

Isaiah 60, 1-6,  Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem.

 Psalm 72,  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 Ephesians 3, 2 & 3, 5 & 6, The Gentiles are coheirs.

 Matthew 2, 1-12,   The visit of the Magi to Bethlehem.

 

 

Welcome in Everybody.

 

Isaiah observations & reminders:

Who.  This is Isaiah III, the third of three.  

Time.  The Jewish people have been released from slavery in Babylon and are back in a devastated Jerusalem.  Around 555 before Christ.

Message:  consolation and encouragement.   The splendor of Jerusalem will shine again.

 

 

"And from me, too," says Leo, "Welcome in, Folks".

 

The Epiphany, a Cornucopia of Symbols:

2 observations–

Where to begin, folks.  There is so much symbolism in this liturgy, in Matthew, for sure, and in the combination of Matthew with Isaiah and Psalm 72.  Matthew carefully crafted this story to appeal to both his fellow Jews and the Gentile population.   I'll touch 2 points, each with 3 subdivisions..         

 

 

Hi, Folks.
 

 

1.  The Wise Men have a double & triple significance because they are

a. Gentiles

b. They come from the east, considered the source of wisdom in the world of that time.  Where does the sun rise?  Where do stars rise?  A new son has been born and like the sun in the east or a star he will bring new light. 

c. They are searchers & symbolize every man’s search for meaning in life.    Remember Matthew speaks to two audiences, his fellow Israelites, whom he is chastising for not searching, and the Gentiles. 

 

 

A future musician with her daddy.

 

2.  The 3 gifts. 

 a.  Gold is given because it signifies royalty. 

 b.  Frankincense, or incense, signifies divinity. 

 c.  Myrra signifies medicine.  Myrra is for the human.  It comes from a bush like tree that has a yellow, sticky sap on its bark.  The sap was good for skin infections and acne, asthma, colds, and flu.  It is found in Saudi Arabia & Somalia.

 

 

Our Candle Lighter of the Week, Buddy.

 

 A post script.  People in Europe used to write an inscription over their doors, e.g. 20+C+M+B+17.  The numbers are our year.  The letters are Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, supposedly the kings' names.   Christians made it say, “Christ & you 3 kings bless our house or Maison the year listed."

 

 

Who is that under that beautiful, white hat?
 

 

 Another post script.  In New Orleans Epiphany starts Carnival season, which leads up to Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  The parades start, folks.  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler.

 Sources: Reginal Fuller, St. Louis U. Liturgy; Biblical & Theological Resources, the Voice Institute, on line; Wikipedia; and other sources.

 

 

Hi, Harper, so nice to see you.

 

An Epiphany Story

Rosemary & I once went to the exposition of some paintings of about six or eight artists. Among the artists and the reason we were there was my childhood buddy, Ed Lamberty.  He was presenting some of his works.

 As we were wandering around we ran into another couple who are old friends.  We ask what brought them to this exposition.  They pointed across the room to a middle aged, middle class, blondish woman who was standing by some of her works.

 

Some of the people who attended Frank Reyes' Memorial, Saturday evening, The Resource Center in Dallas near Love Field.

 

 Here is the story the wife told me.

The couple we know are both academics on the university level.  Some years ago the wife had been teaching and came to know one of her students.  The student was a mother with a son about 8 years old.  At some point in time the father had abandoned them and left them with nothing.  They were living in the mother’s car.

 

 

The Beautiful women of our Community.

 

My friend says to me that this so shocked her and she thought this cannot continue.  An Epiphany moment.  She described the situation to her husband and two sons who were about 10 & 12.  Guess what they did.

They invited the mother & son to live with them until they got on their feet.  The two sons moved into one bedroom and the mother & her son took the other.  Here they lived for almost a year until the husband found the woman a job. 

 

 

And more of the beautiful Juliettes.

 

The woman now is successful and is developing as an artist, selling her works for big sums.  The son graduated from Jesuit, graduated from college, and now is married with a couple of his own kids. 

 Obvious from the fact that they were at the art exposition, my friends are still quite close with the mother & her son. 

 

 

 

And talking about beauty, Wow!  Does it get any better than The Romeos??

 

I would propose that this is what epiphany is, a light shines on a presence, like Mike talked about last week.  The presence is a challenge and, perhaps, involves care for others.   The presence may be the example of another person.

 Who is an epiphany for you?

 For whom are you an epiphany?

Readings:  Isaiah 63, 16-19 & 64, 2-7; Psalm 80; 1 Corinthians 1, 3-9; Mark 13, 33-37

Isaiah: One of the big 3 Prophets, mostly because of the size of the book.  At least 3 writers put this book together and this is number 3.

Thanksgiving History: Everyone knows about the first Thanksgiving in 1602 with the Pilgrims and the Indians eating together, the Mayflower, and Plymouth Rock.   Here are 5 facts that people do not hear about usually.

1.  When did Thanksgiving begin?  Our ancestors have celebrated end of harvest feasts of gratitude for centuries.  Lincoln first focused on a national feast; FDR established the national holiday in 1941.

2.  The pilgrims did not know they were pilgrims.  They called themselves saints, and non-saints were called strangers.  The word pilgrim came along in the 18 hundreds, 2 centuries later.  They were not even Puritans, but separatists.  They split off from the Church of England, old Henry VIII's church, and the Puritans did not split off.

3.  The Separatists did not come to establish religious freedom.  They came for religious freedom for their religion and only their religion.  The Separatists demanded everyone belong to their program.  Failure to conform could result in execution, ala inquisition.

4.  The Mayflower returned to England, was torn apart, and its beams were used ot build a barn in Buckinghamshire (just north of London & east of Oxford).

5.  How did the Indians & Separatists communicate?   The Indians were Algonquins & one of them, Squanto had actually lived in Briton some years.  He returned to his tribe and taught his friend Samoset English.  It was Samoset who communicated with the Separatists, & the Indians taught them to raise corn, to fish, and to hunt.  In the first winter half of the 100 Separatists died before the Indians taught them how to survive. 

 

How to Prepare for a Marvelous Christmas

For the first ten years of my life as a Jesuit and the ten years I was in East Africa I think every Christmas I was homesick.  This was true despite my efforts to make the event a lot of fun.  One year when I was in Tanzania I brought a frozen turkey down from Nairobi, Kenya, across the border into Tanzania, and threw a party Christmas day on the roof of our house, inviting friends and neighbors, many of whom were Muslim. 

Because of this and because we are just beginning the season of Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas, I would like to review some ways to prepare ourselves for a marvelous Christmas.  I have 5 observations.

1.  First, beware of fear and depression.  You read Mark's story about the man traveling abroad and you get spooked into thinking God is going to grab me when I'm not looking.  Nonsense.

Depression seems to surface more during the Christmas season, because of at least one reason.  Expectations.  We expect more out of the Christmas season, peace, love, warm relationships, gifts.  When the reality comes in below the expectation I have, I get disappointed and maybe depressed.  Memories of disappointing Christmases past can also depress me. 

2.  Unlike Mark's warning about sleeping, I would propose that we need more rest at this darker time of the year.  Our ancestors used to sleep when it went dark.  Today we force ourselves to stay awake and lights keep us awake.  Doctors are saying we need more sleep in the dark days of winter and are recommending, get this, 9 hours.  Maybe try an extra hour.  How about a nap?

3.  Along with more sleep, exercise.  My internist tells me that he wants me to exercise every day.  I do.  Walk through the neighborhood.  Ride a bike.  Along the way look at the colors of the red oaks and Bradford Pear trees. 

4.  Have you got anything special you do every year for Christmas, during Advent?  Something to get you into a Christmas spirit?  If not, what about finding something?  Two things I have got to do every year: take in a performance of Handel's Messiah and take in the Dallas Symphony Christmas concert.  I may get in an extra one or two of these, but I find this so touches my spirit.

I know a few families who tour Christmas lights.  Here in Plano is Deerfield.  Among the best is Highland Park, Beverly Drive and Armstrong Parkway, both east and west of Preston.   In Deerfield, you may walk around.  In Highland Park there are horse drawn carriages. 

5.  Finally, in line with Mark's gospel, watch, watch for the daily miracles and blessings.  Review your year for the biggest blessings, like I mentioned before Thanksgiving.  Write a blessing on one of the pieces of paper by the blessing tree.  I will include one or two in each Sunday's blog.  Your blessing will be a gift to someone who cannot get here to Vines for Mass and has to pick up our celebration via the blog.

I thank God each year now that I am no longer homesick at Christmas.  I am home.

How are you putting together a Marvelous Christmas?

Picture 1.  17 years old, Renee Bresson, plus T.J. & Lorynne & Lacee serving

Picture 2.  Barb & Ron, Diane, Mary & Frank, Anniversaries & Birthdays

Picture 3.  45th Anniversary: Mary & Frank Esparza

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-11-30.mp3

  Blessings under the Tree:

1.  My biggest blessing of the year was my mom's recovery & being able able to be there for her.

2.  One of my blessings is to turn 70 years of age and have my mother call at 8 A.M. and sing Happy Birthday to me.

3.  A special blessing is my daughter.  She has adjusted to college life so well, emotionally, physically, adademically, and much more.

 

Readings:

Zephaniah 2, 3; 3, 12-13,   They shall do no wrong and speak no lies.   

 Psalm 146,  Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

 1 Corinthians 1, 26-31,   God chose the foolish of the world.

 Matthew 5, 13-16,    You are the light of the world.

 

 

 

Welcome in, Everybody.

 

Zephaniah observations:

What:  a tiny book of only 4 chapters.

Who: a prophet in the typical mode, criticism of current bad behavior, promise of punishment, a better day after repentance and purification.

When: about 600 years before Christ.

 Today's selection: A promise of better days in the future.

 

 

And from Kevin, too, "Come on in, Folks."

 

The Lord will give Sight to the Blind (Psalm 146, verse 8)

I have talked the past two Sundays on how I was given light to find my way by various people.  I would like to continue this theme this morning because I am struck by the line in the Psalm that says the Lord will give sight to the blind.   Another story.

When I was ordained at St. Rita’s in ’71, I returned from Toronto where I had been studying theology to my mother Jesuit province, called the New Orleans or Southern Province.

 

 

Hi, Kara, Hi, Denise, daughter & Mom team.

 

For about 4 years I gave spiritual retreats mostly to nuns and priests, retreats which were individually directed instead of preached to large numbers.  To do this I established a base and a team at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, LA, a beautiful place where Jesuits were trained for the first 4 years of their times as a Jesuit.

There was another center like ours in Wernersville, PA.  I would go there once a year to consult with their team and director, George Schemel.  He was maybe 20 years older than I and a sage in my eyes. 

 

 

 

Hi, Cole, Hi, Erin, son & mom team.

 

At some point on one of my visits there, George asked me to be part of a team he wanted to send to East and West Africa to give these directed retreats to the religious over there.  Would I go? 

I was stunned that he believed in me so much.  I was both scared and honored.  What does this guy see in me that he would ask me to be part of this team?

 

 

We are loaded with great Candle Lighters, this week Brandon.

 

I checked with my home province, got the okay, and went off for a year with another young Jesuit, Bob Hamm.   While there I got asked to come back after the year to set up a permanent spiritual center.    Guess what I did.  Yep, I came back.

As a result of George Schemel believing in me, a number of things took place.

 

 

The Offertory Team, Mike & Geri, Connie & John

 

I spent ten years in East Africa, mostly in the country of Tanzania, where I coordinated a team going to about 4 centers in the country to give seminars and retreats, some lasting a month. 

I also had the privilege of setting up a spiritual center in Nairobi, Kenya, and working there for about 4 years.  I found a plot of 39 acres & two houses on the edge of town.  On one side was the town, on the other, the Nairobi game park.  One night we came home and a giraffe was walking casually across our yard. 

 

Hi, Zoe, you look beautiful.

 

While doing this, I discovered I had a talent hidden up to then.  I learned Swahili and discovered through the language I could really enter into the cultural fabric of the people. 

Once when I was at the little town of Moshi, near Kilimanjaro, I went to the local market.  I knew an old man who sold fruit and veggies.  I loved the old guy and we would chat up a storm when I was in town.  I could also leave my motor cycle near him, so he would keep thieves away. 

 

 

The Play Station.
 

 

At one point after chatting with him, I was picking up some fruit while he talked with a little old lady.  She asks my friend about me, “Is he one of us,” using a word I would never presume to use for myself, ndugu, meaning brother, but more than that.  She had overheard me talking Swahili with my old friend.  He responded, “Yes.” 

 

 

The Best, Bethany (plus 1 soon to arrive) & Ray

 

Talking about Kilimanjaro, I climbed that old mountain 5 times

After all this, I finally returned to the States, and what did I encounter? Two more lights who, incredibly, believed in me.  Who? Bernadette and Carol.   Because of them we are here this morning.  What a Blessing!

 

 

I think, Ray, we may have another understudy here.

 

George Schemel believed in me and showed it.  Because of his believing, I was able to accomplish things I never would have dreamed about.  Plus, I lived a marvelous 10 year adventure.  George was a light to me.  As are  Bernadette, Carol, and you people.  

Who has believed in you?

Whom do you believe in? 

 

Yeah!   It is Girl Scout Cookie time again and Harper is ready to supply all your favorite flavors.  Good work, Dear Harper.