Items of Interest 
Contributed By Our Members
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This page is for our members and friends to write or contribute articles concerning our belief in God, our faith in God and to witness to those that visit this congregation by way of this website.  This website is owned and operated by The First United Methodist Church of Union Springs, Alabama.  Please feel free to contribute without fear of any rebuttal from various groups or newspaper editorials.  We also reserve the right not to publish articles that conflict with our Mission Statement and our beliefs in God.  Our congregation is a member of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, and the Montgomery-Opelika District of the United Methodist Church.

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This page was last updated
  Saturday, January 31, 2004 05:27 PM

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                                                Our Changing World

                                                               By

                                                  Queenelle P. Stone

           

          When Jimmy McDaniel first asked me to write an article for this Web Page my first reaction was, I can’t do that! But he insisted I could so here goes. On first thought it may seem like an article for Senior Citizens, after all I am a senior citizen. However, really it applies to everyone old enough to read, it just that I have seen more of our changing world than most of you.

So much has changed since I was born in 1928. Our means of transportation, our means of communication, the way we dress, the way parents raise their children, the things taught in school. The entire medical field, just think of all the changes in medicine, how much longer our life span is today because of people who worked hard in the laboratories throughout the world.

Then there’s our language - there are words in the English language that were unheard of in 1928, some that were heard of but surely would not have been heard in polite society! The way wars are fought. Even right and wrong is not the same. Things accepted today would have horrified most people in 1928 and I must admit some of them are hard for me to accept today. I could go on and on but I think I have made my point. We indeed live in a changing world. Some of the changes are for good, some are not. Even our churches have changed in a lot of ways, take the Union Springs First United Methodist Church for example. Today we have a woman minister (and a very pretty, very capable one I might add). That was unheard of back in l928.

The one constant, unchanging thing in our world is God. He is just as he has always been. He is there when we need him. He is there even when we tend to forget him, to think we don’t need him, he is still there, just waiting for us to realize how much we do need him. He never turns away from us, it is us who turn away from him. He waits patiently, still looking after us.

No matter how much we change, our dress, our manners, our speech God is patiently waiting for us. He is there in times of trouble and in times of joy. Some of us may forget to give thanks to him for our joys. Remember him the next time something good happens to you, not just when something bad happens. God enjoys good news too! You might even want to thank him for just being God - and for taking such good care of us.


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Since the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer are not allowed in most schools anymore, because the word “God” is mentioned a kid in Arizona wrote the following.  

New School Prayer

 

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of his name odd.

 

If Scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And any time my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now.

 

Our hair can be purple, orange or green.

That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.

That law is specific, the law is precise

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

 

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate,

God’s name is prohibited by the state.

 

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They’ve outlawed guns’  but first the Bible..

To quote the good book makes me liable.

 

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the “unwed daddy” our Senior King.

It’s “inappropriate” to teach right from wrong,

We’re taught that “judgments” do not belong.

 

We can get our condoms and birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed

No word of God must reach this crowd.

 

It’s scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school‘s a mess.

So, Lord this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; My soul please take!

                                         contributed by Queenelle P. Stone



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"A Brokxn Kxy"

Evxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works quitx wxll xxcxpt for

onx of the kxys. I havx many timxs wishxd that is workxd pxrfxctly.

It is trux that thxrx arx forty-onx kxys that function wxll xnough, but just

onx kxy not working makxs thx diffxrxncx.

Somxtimxs it sxxms to mx that our church is somxthing likx my typxwritxr --

not all thx kxy pxoplx arx working propxrly.

As onx of thxm, you may say to yoursxlf, "Wxll, I am only onx pxrson, I

don't makx or brxak thx church."

But it doxs makx a big diffxrxncx, bxcasx a church, to bx xffxctivx, nxxds

thx activx participation of xvxry pxrson.

So, thx nxxt timx your xfforts arx not nxxdxd vxry much, rxmxmbxr my

typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf, "I am a kxy pxrson in thx congrxgation and I

am nxxdxd vxry much."

This is what happxns to thx wholx church, and multiply this by many timxs --

thx whole thing just doxs not makx sxnsx!

So, don't be a broken key - be a useful one.

--Author Unknown
                                         Contributed by Mary Chapman

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     While going through a box of Richard’s old photographs from WW II, (l943 – l945) I found a small paper back book given to all the soldiers by the YMCA in conjunction with the Christian Commission For Camp and Defense Communities entitles “A SPIRITUAL ALMANAC FOR WARTIME. The following are just a few of the things included in the book.

     A SOLDIER’S PRAYER

 

Captain of my soul, lead on;

I follow thee, come dark or dawn.

Only vouchsafe three things I crave:

Where terror stalks, help me to be brave!

Where righteous ones can scarce endure

The siren call, help me to be pure!

Where vows grow dim, and men dare do

What they once scorned, help me to be true!

                        Robert Freeman ,(written during WWI, l915-1917)    

 

WASHINGTON’S PRAYER AFTER HIS INAUGURATION

 

“Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow

citizens of the United States at large.”

 

THE BIBLE

 When I am tired, the Bible is my bed;

Or in the dark, the Bible is my light;

When I am hungry, it is my vital bread;

Or fearful, it is armor for the fight.

When I am sick, “tis healing medicine;

Or lonely, good friends I find there.

 

“Should I be lost, the Bible is my guide;

Or naked. it is raiment, rich and warm.

Am I imprisoned, it is ranges wide;

Or tempest tossed, a shelter from the storm.

Would I adventure, “tis a gallant sea;

Or would I rest, it is a flowery lea”.

                                         Contributed by Queenelle P Stone

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A Silent Sermon

 A member of a certain church, who previously had been
 attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks,
 the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The
pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him,
 led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

 The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In
 the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around
 the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire
 tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it
 to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his
 chair, still silent.

 The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As
 the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a
 momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and
 dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The
 pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave, he
 slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back
 in the middle of the fire.

 Immediately it began to glow, once more with the
 light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor
 reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down
 his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the
 fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

Contributed By Ray McDaniel

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