My Take
DiVoran Lites
A few weeks ago our two adult Sunday School teachers sort of retired. After twenty years of teaching, it was time for something new. Our pastor’s wife said we were all saturated in the Bible, and it was true. At first we just talked, but to me it seemed we were saying the same things over and over. They were the best things you could say, full of faith and hope, but still…
Bill and I recalled a time when we were in a Bible study where we all sat in a circle and read the Bible aloud in segments – the reader might make comments. Anyone could comment. Nearly the whole church attended that study. It was a very small church; we turned on porch lights and read on porches or read in living rooms. We all loved it. One time when we were at our house it suddenly grew cold and not wanting to re-locate everybody I ran into the house and found sixteen sweaters for the men and women who had come.
The idea to read with the present group was one of those out of the blue ideas that just seemed right. When I presented it to the group, though, (there are six regulars) there didn’t seem to be much interest. I missed the following week because of a bad cold, but Bill said they wanted to discuss it after all. After quite a bit of discussion, they decided to begin with the book of Acts. Today was our first time of reading together. Most of us had read the introduction and the first chapter and were ready with comments. Bill said he’d read first, but Norma asked if she could share something first. I was astonished when she read, from the introduction, and I recognized the exact word she was reading. Here’s why: I chose to bring my J. B. Phillips New Testament translation. I have loved it since I first bought it (on Bill’s dad’s recommendation) in 1962. I had covered it several times, and although I had not thought about it for a while, I wanted to share the oh-so accessible translation with my friends. Strangely that was the same book Norma had chosen to bring as well. We have a lot of translations among us. I was so pleased that God was directing with what we sometimes think of as coincidences.
Anyhow, there were many such serendipities as we read and discussed. We all felt the ministrations of the Holy Spirit among us as we received new information, revelation and insight.
You probably already know this; I don’t know how I missed it all these years, but Dr. Luke, who wrote the gospel, also wrote The Acts of the Apostles. Apparently he was present for the experiences of Acts and took notes. Dr. Phillips said he might have planned a third book as well. I can’t wait to hear what else God has to share with us as we go along. The unity is so beautiful; we have no argument and no disagreement, just the sweet, sweet spirit.
“My dear Theophilus,
In my first book, I gave you some account of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the time of his ascension…” The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1 verse 1.
some of the hangers where the museum’s aircraft are now housed. Among notable aircraft built by Fairchild during and shortly after WWII included the PT-19/PT-23/PT-26 Cornell trainers, the AT-21 Gunner twin-engine trainer, the C-61 Argus (For the RAF), and the C-82 Packet, C-119 Flying Boxcar and the C-123 Provider cargo planes. The museum wasn’t officially open, but one of the guys working at the airport hangar (where “Greta” delivered me) agreed to show me the museum’s aircraft collection and tell me a little about Fairchild’s roll in wartime Hagerstown.
medical treatment used on the fighting men during the Civil War. It is surprising to me that as many men as did, survived their treatments, surgeries and amputations during that war. I guess the main reason for their survival rate was that they were young and healthy when they went into the war. It makes one appreciate modern medical practices such as the advances in cleanliness, antiseptics, surgical applications and especially prosthetics technology.
front of the museum just long enough to go in and ask where to park. I couldn’t have been in the museum more than 3 or 4 minutes, but when I came out to move my car I had a parking ticket and the writer of that ticket was nowhere to be seen. He/she must have been lurking in some doorway, close by, just waiting for me to walk away from my car, because the ticket was a computer print-out with a “lot” of automobile information that had to have been observed and entered into their hand-held device. Man, was that fast! Needless to say, that was a costly museum visit.
Many years ago, when we attended Park Avenue Church a man came to speak. His way of doing things changed many lives – mine was one.
resist. I had to have a bite.The next day he came down with a stomach bug, feeling all nauseated and yucky, and guess what I have today? You guessed it! The next time I ask for a bite of his hotdog or any thing else he’s eating, I’m going to bite from the opposite side.
Old Things R New 