Who would have thought the two would stand in the same sentence? Newtown is an Andy Griffith type community. Homey. Comfortable. Safe. Clarksdale is Deep South America. Mannerly men and soft-spoken women. Old homes with expansive porches and pillars. Visitors come from around the world to see and experience where "The Blues" began.
When the school children and staff were killed, the shots were heard around the world. When a local 80 year old woman's home was broken into in Clarksdale, she was robbed, beaten to death and set on fire. And the suspect stole her car. It all makes us sick. All life is connected. When one hurts, we all hurt. Patrick Marshall, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wahoo, NE, says, "Make your concern active: Do something to comfort the living." They are creating a banner for locals to sign. Cards and letter, money, toys and other items are headed their way and from many other communities, too.
I found this article comforting. If you can't access it as is, copy and paste.
http://lightworkers.org/channeling/173312/message-matthew-december-15-2012
Grace, Love and Peace to all.
2012 Red Convertible Travel Series
Showing posts with label 1st Presbyterian Wahoo NE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1st Presbyterian Wahoo NE. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sunday, December 09, 2012
The X in Christmas
I was accused of being lazy when I used Xmas for Christmas. Patrick Marshall, our Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Wahoo, NE, wrote about its history in the December newsletter.
"Centuries ago, when Christianity first started taking root and growing, the dominant language of our faith was Greek (the whole New Testament was written in Greek). In Greek, the word for Christ is Christo. The Greek alphabet doesn't have a C in it. So when you want to say Christo, you had to use the Greek letter X, which was pronounced Chi (not ch like chair, but more like the ch in how we say Christ). In Greek then, the word Christ looked like this: Xpistou.
"When it became illegal to be a Christian and the Roman Empire started persecuting, arresting, and killing Christians, they had to be a little more discreet about the fact that they were talking about Jesus. So instead of spelling out his name, they would simply abbreviate it with an X, the first letter in Chirst. When the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in 313 A.D., he did so, in part, becuase he had a vision before a major battle of a shield in the sky with Greek letters XP on it (chi and rho, the first two letters of Christ).
"So for over 1700 years, the letter X has been used by Christians as an abbreviation for Christ. The word Xmas, then, is not an attempt to take Christ out of Christmas. Christ is right there in it. You have to look for him.
". . . Christmas (and Christianity) isn't about finding Christ in the obvious places. We have to search for him in this world and in our lives. Because then and now, God always shows up where we least expect him: in a manger; a conversation with a friend, or in something as simple as a letter. Merry Christmas."
Merry Xmas and Best Wishes for the New Year.
Grace, Peace and Plenty to you and yours now and always.
Love,
Maeann
2012 Red Convertible Travel Series
"Centuries ago, when Christianity first started taking root and growing, the dominant language of our faith was Greek (the whole New Testament was written in Greek). In Greek, the word for Christ is Christo. The Greek alphabet doesn't have a C in it. So when you want to say Christo, you had to use the Greek letter X, which was pronounced Chi (not ch like chair, but more like the ch in how we say Christ). In Greek then, the word Christ looked like this: Xpistou.
"When it became illegal to be a Christian and the Roman Empire started persecuting, arresting, and killing Christians, they had to be a little more discreet about the fact that they were talking about Jesus. So instead of spelling out his name, they would simply abbreviate it with an X, the first letter in Chirst. When the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in 313 A.D., he did so, in part, becuase he had a vision before a major battle of a shield in the sky with Greek letters XP on it (chi and rho, the first two letters of Christ).
"So for over 1700 years, the letter X has been used by Christians as an abbreviation for Christ. The word Xmas, then, is not an attempt to take Christ out of Christmas. Christ is right there in it. You have to look for him.
". . . Christmas (and Christianity) isn't about finding Christ in the obvious places. We have to search for him in this world and in our lives. Because then and now, God always shows up where we least expect him: in a manger; a conversation with a friend, or in something as simple as a letter. Merry Christmas."
Merry Xmas and Best Wishes for the New Year.
Grace, Peace and Plenty to you and yours now and always.
Love,
Maeann
2012 Red Convertible Travel Series
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