FALSE START! PROMISE, PREPARE, PRINCE, PEACE . . . THE PRINCE OF PEACE WILL COME AGAIN! THE COMMUNITY CHURCH OF PEACE, SPOKE FEST: ROCK MUSIC, ALL VOLUNTEER WORK FORCE, CITY COUNCIL WOMAN, NATIONAL ANTHEM, AND THEN 2,200 BIKERS OF ALL SHAPES, SIZES & AGES, WHERE OFF FOR A COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE OF 9 TO 21 MILES ON THE CENTENNIAL TRAIL! WAY TO ROCK SUNDAY, SPOKANE! CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH & THE ETIENNE FAMILY, FROM BOTSWANA, AFRICA, ROCKED SUNDAY TOO, WITH A MESSAGE OF PEACE--THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD! SUPPORT NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCHES, THEY CAN BE SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR YOUR CHILDREN & FAMILY, A PASTOR CAN GO WHERE A COP CAN'T . . . IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO RAISE A CHILD, GO FOR A BULLY FREE, SHOOTER FREE SCHOOL YEAR . . . LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS, HE HAS LOVED YOU! DO NO HARM--TODAY'S MESSAGE!

The Lord's Prayer Is Universal

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day, our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen! 

I Considered Becoming a Woman of the Cloth . . . But Only in Sin City, Las Vegas!

When I was in Las Vegas, with my cousin, I was reading one of his books, written by a former pastor, of some evangelical church, and both Ed and I were looking for a new start, so to say in life, he had been in real estate and me law, so when I read, in this book, that the money just flows in if you start a church, with a little bit of an Oriental flare, the money will start flowing in . . . I said, to this former, heretical cousin of mine, that has long been cast aside by our more faithful, Mormon extended family, with me bringing up the rear, and joining him as a Christian, that we should start a church, why not.  We have both been religiously groomed for the ministry, so to say, depending on which segment of the population is our target group . . . you know, kind of the congregation that Christ, himself, went after, the prostitutes, the sick, the lame, blind, the lepers, tax collectors, and physicians, who have lost their licenses.

Ed said, you know, I have thought about that, and didn't laugh at all, and neither did I . . . both of us have been overly religious in our lives, Ed setting his watch on the hour, every hour, to go off, asking himself, if what he was doing, was for Christ, or for his selfish interests.  I on the other hand, was and still am, much less disciplined, same root word as disciple, than Ed, but have read the scriptures, since I was a young child, much like Timothy, in the New Testament, so we have the Church aspect covered, and I said, as far as the Oriental flare, you went on a Mormon mission to Japan, so we have that too, and we both need money.  He said, I will have to think about it.  We have not gotten back to that topic yet, and for good reason.  Although, I did talk to the pastor of the Central United Methodist Church, that starts at 10:00 a.m., with the Botswana version of Church, at 5:00 p.m. located at 518 West Third Avenue, and asked him, how, he, chose a career so different from his career Marine, brother, we had been talking about ISIS and I asked him in the community prayer to pray that President Obama would make the right policy decisions, in this complicated situation, that has roots in the days of the Ottoman Empire.

He told me that he kind of fell into the career in the ministry by accident, and he actually, is married to a female pastor of a college campus church, somewhere in Washington state that I have no idea, where it is, but he said, when he realized that the pastors he knew, were not perfect, and didn't claim to be, he decided that if Christ would take him as he is . . . he would go to seminary, where he met his wife, also in the seminary, and become a pastor, trying to help, through the teachings of Christ, bring about peace in homes, communities, the country and the world.  And he is definitely doing just that, the Etienne Family Praise, was awesome, rocked, and brightened up the already bright Sabbeth morning, with their praises in their native tongue, wonderful, fun, I wanted to get up and dance, as they did, and they had the other members clapping to the interesting beat of the electronic piano!  I swear, every time I see this prolific family, there are 2 more babies!  A great addition to the Church, and a great contribution to the community, loved it!

Racism, or Us . . . Them Mentality?

As the Pastor and I engaged in conversation, cookies, punch, plums, crackers and cheese, snacks, and talked everything from politics to religion, to the fact that the Northwest, is ranked the lowest for church attendance, other than, now, Columbus, Ohio, has that honor, with less church attendance, we talked about a great, convergence, and I mentioned the fact that the community church, Spoke Fest, had their meeting just down the street at the River Front Park, and it was wonderful, families, peace, sharing resources, talents, kids, with parents, learning, enjoying, perfect whether, and that I as a mother, would have had a much easier time getting my kids, sons, especially, to the community church and a Sunday morning bike ride than the Sunday School!  He agreed with me, and the Church and the Shalom, part of the Church, that feeds the hungry on the streets of Spokane, the service arm, is going to integrate with the Church more, because he sees how great the people of Spokane are and really ready, willing and able to serve their community!

I became a Sunbeam teacher in Mormon primary, when my three year old son, Chris, kicked his teacher . . . and he has been bucking traditions ever since!  But, and amazing man, father, husband, like his name, Christian, maybe he doesn't need formal church, he knew how to swim without formal lessons, scored in the 11th grade math level in first grade, so . . . this just fits a life pattern.  Elliot, who is either an atheist or an agnostic, is one of the best Christian living humans I know.  The girls, kind of went along with the program as my father would say, but by junior high, Greta was bucking young women meeting, saying she was sick of cookies and collages!  I think she overheard her mother, call Relief Society, the woman's homemaking meetings, sewing sequence on fly swatters!

Nicole, on the other hand, was by far the wildest of the 4, but she is stayed active in the Church, the longest after her parents divorced and it became more difficult, to stay as active, or keep the kids active, and she is the most active in the Mormon Church, today.  They say, when you are most like yourself, you have gone full circle back to who you were in high school, and that seems to be particularly true, with activity in religious activities as teens, if your parents could get you to high school, active in any religion, you tended to stay there, even if you left it for awhile.  That seems to be the trend with my kids too, but they are all, absolutely, great human beings, law biding, good citizens, responsible worker, cool parents, just outstanding in whatever they do!  And for that, I am grateful, and find joy and rejoicing in my posterity . . . thank God!

We, as both active and inactive members of the community, regardless of which church we go to, need to stop looking at people, as either, part of us . . . or part of them, are all part of we!  We are all children of the same God, with the same Savior, and part of same body of Christ, we need a great convergence, and come together for peace everywhere, home, community, country, world.

I Was Tempted To Skip Church, Stay at Spoke Fest, and Rock Out

The beautiful fall day, perfect temperatures, tons of great parents, teaching their children, to join a community by participating in its events, learning to green-up America, ride a bike, with a focus on safety, education and love of biking, taking an active support in the city council, making appropriations for bike trails, funding, sponsorship, befriending donors and contributors, who help pull of these events, and the natural infrastructure, be it, the beautiful scenery, the mountains, the weather, conducive to outdoor activities like this, plus all the volunteers, to make it happen, and carry off a fun event like this, cooperation from the community, creating generations to come of bikers, outdoor lovers, and the next city fathers and mothers, to carry on the legacy of those who have passed before them.  Simply, joy, joy and more joy!

Men are that they might have joy!  Double-decker bikes, homemade, low riders, tandem, baby carriages pulled by either mom or dad, babies in backpacks, on parent's backs, friends, families, a great fun event, and so, so, so, tempting to stay and just hang at the park, listen to the music that was pumped around the park, but, the one thing, and gratefully so, that I am glad I learned as a child, among many lifestyle things that I got from my upbringing in the Mormon Church, besides the health aspect, is the habit of going to church!  I don't have trouble missing it, every once in a while, but there is always, always, always, some really good lesson, I needed to hear, that day, that time . . . and this is no exception, from the Central Christian Church in Vegas, to the Catholic Church at St. Helena's Cathedral, to this Methodist Church, that I have attended on 2 other occasions in my travels, between Montana, Washington, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and wherever, or the Lutheran Church in Helena, Montana, or the Fresh Life Church, in Kalispell and Missoula, or the Mormon Church in Whitefish, Montana . . . I always come out filled with an inspiring lesson, message, thought, and music that makes me think, and it makes my week.

They say, that church goers, are happier people, live longer, and enjoy better health, statistically.

A Plug For Your Neighborhood Church

In the fasted paced, over stimulated technological world of today, often disconnecting and connecting us both, with challenges our parents, grandparents didn't have, I believe that your local church of your choice can serve as a support center, for you and your families.  I remember taking an education class, and studying support systems, and the more support a child has, and the study sheet listed 28 such areas of support, the better adjusted, happier, and healthier a child is, the more support they have, the more role models, the more parents figures, friends, and surrogate family structures.  Our Pastor today, mentioned that he had attended a seminar, with a local policeman talking about domestic violence, and when I was involved big time in domestic violence, the one group we wanted to get involved, was the clergy, because they had access to educate families.

The cop presenting, said, when he gets a call, and it is the first time they have been called, that even though the couple were fighting, a man and his wife, have a right to yell, scream, and even fight, as long as it doesn't get physical.  A couple fighting is not against the law, even normal, happens with every couple, at one time or another, kind of the nature of marriage, learning to blend, deal, with differences, but while there is no law against fighting, there is still damage being done!  Hurt feelings, children learning patterns of relating to the opposite sex, how to get along, or no get along, how to resolve conflict, and the model is not always good. So a pastor, a priest, a bishop, and member of the clergy can go where cops can't, they can teach, love one another, do no harm, peace, love at home . . . how to resolve a conflict, without a lawsuit, or the law getting involved, as we were taught in the lesson today, from Matthew 18:15-20 and Romans 13:8-14.

It Takes A Community To Raise A Child--Church is Part of that Equation

School starts tomorrow, with excitement, new clothes, new school supplies, and the possibility of meeting new friends.  It will either be a wonderful experience, that we hope it is for all children, all over Spokane, where school, starts tomorrow, and all over the world, where much conflict exists.  And with a separation of church and state, and for damn good reason, sometimes those lessons of loving your fellow men are harder to get through kids heads, where a church, can have smaller classes, more one on one, and the kids see moms and dads learning too, right there with them.  As love one another, as I have loved you, is taught, a child can work miracles with a mother or father, just looking over and saying, see, you need to knock that shit off, dad, or mom, take it easy on us!

May every school child, feel safe in our schools, from bullies, from shooters, from discrimination, from hate . . . teach your children to love one another, and the rest will fall in naturally.  The scriptures teach, don't let your children contend one with another; a soft answer turneth away wrath; fathers treat your children kindly, lover your wives, as Christ loved the church, even to laying down your life for her; wives obey your husbands, in righteousness!  There is tons of good parental advice in the good book!

Shalom, Peace, Have a Great New School Year, Everybody from Elementary to College!