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GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

Reflections by Elder Jean Worshington:

 

"GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS"  Someone used this phrase several months ago and I thought it would be a good basis for my devotion but wasn't quite sure how to use it.  I did want to bring to mind to  some of the ordinary people in the Bible with whom we're familiar who did extraordinary things.

 

Noah who argued with God about building an Ark until God said (to paraphrase). . . how long can you tread water? So backed up against a wall, he built the Ark, a very ordinary man who argued with God about what he was called to do. . . sound familiar?

 

Of course there is David, a man after God's own heart so the Bible tells us. Not only an ordinary man but also a flawed man capable of adultery and murder but used by God in such extraordinary ways and a progenitor of Jesus.

 

The disciples, all ordinary fisherman just as we encounter on the Belmar , Brielle, Point Pleasant docks. They were just ordinary men doing their ordinary jobs until God got hold of them and then they walked with Jesus and what extraordinary men they were.

 

What really prompted this devotion is that over Christmas we were at relatives who live in Fair Haven and they were discussing  Holy Cross church in Rumson which is going to be demolished to make way for a new, larger building. It is a beautiful church about 100 years old. The feeling in the community is that this decision has split the congregation. I couldn't help but think of  our congregation and and all the ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, not only to expand the church building but also to expand the church.

 

The long range vision of the Planning Committee, the By Faith We Build committee, the families who have been in this church for many years, generations even who were willing to see this beautiful old building changed because unselfishly they knew it was needed for future generations.

 

A Pastor and a Staff with the ability to help carry out the vision. The Transition Team, who organized and did the leg work for finding storage, all those who dismantled and helped with that project, Bob Burkitt who retired just in  the nick of time, to become the Project Manager. And once we moved Marcello and  the choir, Cathy Gaestel at the 8 AM service the worship committee,  the flowers and all those volunteers who set up and break down each Sunday which has transformed a theater into a place of worship. A special thank you to Sean and Todd. The Children's Committee, Sunday School superintendent (and wife) teachers, parents and children, young and older, who adjusted to tremendous changes. The Finance Committee that keeps our noses to the grindstone. And all members of  Session who for 3 years have made decisions that have effected the entire congregation and  these decisions have not been easily made.

 

 There are also the Deacon's and  the ongoing work of the church while the building project continues. The food pantry,  and their work but especially at Christmas and Easter, the Community Supper, 105 lunches packed by our  youth for the Asbury Park Center and the homeless in Lakewood, the lay Pastors who care for our shut-ins, 157 shoe boxes filled for Operation Christmas Child. Time does not permit mentioning all those who deserve recognition but God knows who they are. Christ's work has not stopped by this project, if anything it has expanded.

 

 Bill Hybels  devotes one chapter of his book to a concept “this is church”. We are expanding a church building but this year we are also expanding a church as he defines it: quote“a community of real people with real, beating hearts who are attentive to each other and responsive to each other and quick to extend grace and mercy and love”. Unquote. In Esther 4:14 Mordecai's answer to Esther's reluctance to go into the king was “. . . . who can say but that God has brought you into this place for such a time as this”. Who can say but that God has brought all of us into this church for such a time as this.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

 

May God continue to bless our efforts to serve Him.

 

 

First Lunch in Florence

We went to a charming little trattoria for lunch. I had ravioli with a walnut cream sauce.  Cindy had some sort of pasta with herbs.  Great food.  When the waiter gave me back my card and receipt he had over charged me 8 euros.  That's the second time I've been over charged accidentally.  If it happens again, I'm going to think Italian waiters don't know how to add, or that I have some kind of mark on me. 

Florence

Today we arrived in Florence on a fast train from Venice. As all the carnival celebrators were coming into town we were heading out.  Florence is a city famous for Gothic and Renaissance buildings, art galleries, museums, and parks. Michelangelo Park, provides a glorious view of this historic city and all around you can see signs of the influence of Michelangelo who was not only a sculptor and painter, but an architect and poet as well.  The city is dominated by the towers of its many palaces and churches and by the huge dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Uffizi is a fortress-like building that houses the Uffizi Gallery. The gallery’s large collection includes works by artists such as Raphael, Titian, and Botticelli.  The other major museum of town is the Academia.  It houses Michelangelo's David, one of the artist’s best known creations.  One of Lane’s art professors was commissioned to do restoration work on the Sculpture and as a part of the arrangements was given the opportunity to make a cast of it that is in the cast hall in the Museum at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art.  The Santa Maria Novella in Florence is one of Florence’s most beautiful churches. The church, built from the 13th to the 15th century, sits on the north bank of the Arno River and houses many famous frescoes and paintings of the late 1400s and early 1500s.

Venice

 

Yesterday we arrived in Venice .  This is a unique town made up of 120 islands and 177 canals.  There is no place like it on earth.  The Grand Canal, is about two miles long, and winds through Venice

as the main traffic route for the city.  There are no motor vehicles permitted on the narrow, winding lanes and streets that penetrate the old city.  Flooding has become a major problem in the city and this has been the worst year ever.  Saint Mark's Square is in the heart of the city with the majestic Cathedral of Saint Mark's towering over this administrative center of town.  There is also the Doges’ Palace with  two famous granite columns erected, one bearing the winged lion of Saint Mark and the other Saint Theodore of Studium on a crocodile.

Vatican City

 

 

Yesterday was a visit to the Vatican City.  Although this is within the nation of Italy in the city of Rome, this region is an independent state under the absolute authority of the pope.  It is situated on a hill and is surrounded by medieval and Renaissance walls. Many of the most renowned artists and architects of the Italian Renaissance worked on the Vatican's buildings. The most imposing edifice is Saint Peter's Basilica. This was built between the 15th and 17th centuries, and designed by artists, including Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini.  Also on this site is the Papal Palace with the Sistine Chapel and its great ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo.  There are rooms of the palace with frescoes painted by the Raphael.  The Vatican's museums are also outstanding.  Among them are the Gregorian Museum of Egyptian Art; the Gregorian Museum of Etruscan Art; the Pio Clementino Museum , with a great collection of intiquities; the Chiaramonti Museum ; and the Vatican Pinacoteca, with works from a number of Italian masters. The Vatican Library also has a collection of precious ancient manuscripts.

Rome

We arrived in Rome yesterday.  This is a city filled with great history.  It is an unparalleled repository of monuments from many periods. Roman monuments include the almost perfectly preserved Pantheon which was founded in 27 bc and rebuilt in ad 118-128.  This is considered one of the finest surviving temples of antiquity.  Then there is the Colosseum which was opened ad 80.  Although it is partially destroyed, this huge amphitheater that was the scene of gladiatorial combats and other spectacles, stands as a testimony to the roll of brutal entertainment in western history. Other impressive sites are the great ancient city walls, triumphal arches, great public meeting places, churches, and palaces all about the city.

Airport to hotel

We arrived in Rome this morning. Got 4 hours of sleep on the plane and I'm raring to hit the town. Instead I'm in a little bistro sipping cappicino while Cindy takes a nap. Travel to the hotel from the airport was a lot of fun. We hunted down the train station, caught it to a dumpy graffiti laden stop where we meandered our way around busy streets to a tobacco shop where a bought tickets for a bus. We road that to our hotel area in an old part of the city. Cobblestone streets, bars on windows, graffiti every where. The Hotel Santa Maria is on a long back ally, through a locked wrought iron gate in a charming enclosed courtyard area. We asked several people directions on the way. Real nice people. My friend Tim who lives in Turkey tells me people will give you wrong directions on the streets in Istanbul just to save face. People here gave us great help. Cindy just showed and we are on the road. Yea! something to

ART: Italy and PAFA

I had planned a study leave to Israel for the second week of February, but it was recently canceled.  So I’ve adjusted my plans and will be going to Italy instead.  I’m looking forward to doing a study of the religious art and culture of Rome, Florence and Venice.  If you’d like to follow any of my travels, I will be making some posts on this blog.
  

If you are interested in more local art, our son Lane and fellow artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art are opening their studios to visitor on the 13th of February from 5:30 to 8:00.  This is a great way to preview the preparation work of artists for the Spring Exhibit at the Academy.  You may want to go early and visit the Academy Museum.  They have on display many fine early American pieces.  One painting of note is the recently acquired masterpiece called Gross Clinic, by the Academy’s most renowned past teacher, Thomas Eakins. It was recently purchased for $60 million. There is also a side cast hall off the Museum that has a rare cast replica of Michelangelo's David done by a professor who was doing restoration work on the original in Florence.  You can find more information about the Academy at www.pafa.org.