...a violent wind

Hurricane, Tornado, Cyclone, Nor'Easter, Santa Ana, Sumatra, Squamish, Typhoon... A meteorological sermon..maybe? I am here to discuss WIND.

How is wind measured? Any sailor or meteorologist knows... by knots of course! Anything above 40knots is considered the beginning of danger. 80-90 wind speeds indicate a violent storm of kind. Any of the above will do. So what happens when wind exceeds the level of danger? Well... we readily see its effects. Trees are not just swaying they are perhaps losing branches and limbs. The waters begin to swell and foam. Unsecured items begin to blow down the road..trash barrels, plants, lawn furniture. Humans can barely walk against the wind..some have been known to be lifted off of their feet! Look what happened to Dorothy's house!!
Yes, that is a violent wind.

Okay. "...a sudden rush of violent wind..." the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles recounting what happened at that first Pentecost. The disciples that day were literally thrown and motivated by a rush of violent wind and then transformed through the Holy Ghost/Spirit to go out and baptise the world...build a new church...proclaim Jesus' word...but most importantly, be inspired with the courage to do the will of the spirit. God's Will.

WOW!!! I was windswept after reading that this week. Trust me, I have read this Acts reading countless times. I, for whatever reason, somehow overlooked the word "violent" as the descriptive word used to convey how powerful His spirit is. When teaching Pentecost I often look to the descension of the 3rd party as the symbol of fire. And mind you, it does manifest itself in that incarnation upon the disciples. However, it comes in unexpectedly as a violent and forceful way. (Thank God).

As I dissected this Pentecostal meteorological discovery, I began to think back to other times I remember the use of the word violent to describe a life-altering moment or two in scripture...yes. the resurrection. Easter morning! The tomb is removed through, "... a violent earthquake". Again, God unleashes a natural disaster to shake us up! Remove a tomb stone to uncover the grace of seeing the risen Jesus for Mary Magdelene. A moment she never forgot. Who does forget violent acts of nature?? No one. They change us forever.

Again, I am reminded that Peter was fishing when Jesus began to walk on the water toward them. (Can you imagine??) A miraculous act. As I tell the children this week at EDS, a miracle is an act from God that can be seen. Peter doubts and jests at the thought that he can do this!!! (Imagine whatever feat that is for you...) and Jesus says.."Come on Peter". Peter reluctantly takes the invite, (secretly wanting so badly to get to Jesus), and climbs out of the boat and begins to walk on top of the water!! You know why? Because as I always tell the children,
"..you must keep your eyes on your fries..." Peter did that. His "fries"... was Jesus...where anything at all was possible. The minute a violent storm popped up , (and they will in real things that are worth their while)....Peter turned his eyes away from his fries, and sank into the drink!!! Jesus was there to immediately throw him a life jacket and began to teach Peter about having faith. The beginning of a very important piece of acceptance of the Trinity. Accepting the spirit's presence in our life.

I asked the EDS students to define "violent". The said words like "bad"..."dangerous"... "being in trouble". So I asked "why would the gospel writers use this word to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit?" No one knew... why? is a good question...that I answered..."really it must mean how powerful it was??" And yes- how powerful it really is. People do change when they are "knocked off their feet." Sometimes this is exactly what needs to come into our midst to erase what is old not working and and replace it with what God knows is best for us... Not what we think we know. hmmm... a violent wind for sure could only be the answer to one who can be so blindsided to God trying to manifest His goodness in to life.

I read that the Holy Spirit can do three things: (of course 3...it is His favorite number).
a.) It is present in the "Unpredictable" ..."We do not know what is going to happen..."
We are afraid but fear should lend and conform to faith for resolution.

b.) It can be present in the "Place of Risk"... "Where are the risky places in your life?"

c.) It appears in "Areas We Have No Control"....We do not like to be out of control. We like our own control...so as we THINK we will never get hurt. (huh!!)

What did Dorothy offer after the wind of change came out of no where to sweep her off her feet and transport her to another place that was full of goodness and lots of fear too...
"There's No Place Like Home".... she "willed" this spirit of change initially. It came and took her and forced its will onto her and reformed her. She had a change of heart. She was filled with courage, and realized all long that she now and always did possess the power to will good things to herself...but not without a few trials along the way. A great story about the will of the wind.

This Pentecost, I have become aware of not taking my eyes off my fries. I remember when I willed the power of the Holy Spirit into my life. I have also felt Peter's fear and doubt and looking behind me when faced with the love of Jesus right in front of me. Falling into the drink!!
I sometimes need to remember that a violent wind storm is the beginning of the possibilities that God intends for me... for all of us.

Miss Dawn
Director, Emmanuel Day School

Mission Trip Presentation

It seems hard to believe that a month has past since our mission trip to New Orleans. How ironic, that the daily devotional reading the day after I returned home from the trip was written by a woman from Louisiana. This was the scripture for that day: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9. She wrote that despite their losses, God’s presence remains today in the stillness of their souls. I would like to invite everyone to attend a slide presentation on Sunday, May 18th at 11:15 a.m. or Wednesday, May 23rd at 7:30 p.m. Come for coffee and dessert and come to hear the stories and share the experiences of our group of twenty missionaries. We worked for an incredible organization called Hands on New Orleans, an affiliate of Hands on Network. This organization is precisely run, well organized, and should be commended for their efforts in helping the various agencies in the City of New Orleans. We left our comfort zone that week and joined Americorp workers, college students, and people that just showed up at HONO because they felt the need to help others. There were various work projects scheduled for us and every evening we were able to pick a project for the next day. The following is a list of agencies that we worked for:

Singleton Charter School – Teacher’s Assistant
Lazarus Home for Aids patients – visit with patients
Miss Evelyn’s house – rebuild historic home
Animal Rescue of New Orleans – work with the rescue animals
Carver Elementary School, Lower 9th Ward – paint mural
Martin Luther King School, Lower 9th Ward – Help catalog over 4,000 books in the school library
Louisiana Children’s Museum – Help with school groups visiting the museum
Green light bulb project – Install energy efficient light bulbs in homes of residents
Unity of Greater New Orleans – Help organize donations for the homeless
Beacon of Hope – Clean debris from yard of local resident
Lower 9th Ward Association – cut lawns to save the residents $100/month fee

I feel that the children have suffered the most since Hurricane Katrina. Some children were out of school for almost two years after the storm. Families have been torn apart and scattered all over the country. Many parents have divorced, leaving their children even more distraught. Some children live in shelters with teenage siblings because their parents are still displaced; some have been discovered living in the back seats of cars.
Homelessness has increased in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from 6,000 people to 12,000 people today. They live in abandoned housing, on the streets, in cars or in homeless shelters. The homelessness crisis is a result of the persistent housing shortage and drastically inflated rents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Neighborhoods are still boarded up, lives are still torn apart but in the midst of it all we found people full of hope. Their spirit, their music, their food, and their culture goes deep down into your soul. You return home with a feeling that is difficult to explain. You only know that you will return to New Orleans someday because the need is so great. I look forward to seeing everyone at our presentation. Thank you for your support. Carol Dutton +

Impressions from Joyce

While our arrival in New Orleans was a success our adventure was about to start. My account of our adventure was mostly with the animal rescue called ARNO. But before we start there our young adults and I headed off to the French Quarter Festival on Sunday for most of the day. Taking the cable car down St. Charles St. to Bourbon St and walking down Bourbon St. was great local flair. We then decided to have some lunch at a café on Jackson Square where we did all New Orleans style food including Gator, Gumbo, Crawfish Poyboy, Smoked Cajan Sausage, and some others. We then crossed the square and watched some street vendors perform. After that a trip to Café du Monde for Beignets and a few more street vendors we headed home.



Monday morning found Tarin, Morgan and I on am KP duty and the Spice Girls were playing to wake the troops. Then some of us got ready to go to ARNO, which is the Animal Rescue of New Orleans. We went and worked with the 2 staff members and others volunteers to take care or several animals including dogs, cats, kittens and puppies. We walked the dogs and cleaned cages and pens for 4 days. You get very attached to these animals and you know their mannerisms and personalities. They are all sweet and you want to just bring them all home. I of us did, good job Anna.



On Friday I went to the Children’s Museum with Debbie, Anna, and Krystal. Debbie and I painted faces for 4 hours of all the children visiting the museum that day. We now see Saints, Dragons and Spiders in our sleep but, we had a lot of fun.



The group we stayed with at Hands On New Orleans were a great group. They have this volunteer thing pretty down pat and what a wonderful location they are in. It was a great experience to share with friends.

Strength in Unity

"I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together"...recognize it?? it is the opening set of lyrics from the Beatles song, "I am the Walrus"...

(a personal favorite) but nonetheless a very real statement in being applicable to this week's gospel...John 17:11 "...so that they may be one...".

hmmm. Interesting to think that we cannot be alone. There is indeed strength in numbers! We see that manifesting everyday. People working together, living under the same roof... phrases such as "no man is an island", "no one should live alone"..or the phrase I related to my children yesterday...from the 3 Musketeers ..(don't laugh but I heard 4 children say I love that candy bar!)..."all for one and one for all". This is indeed John's message-

Not one of us was intended to stand alone. Jesus is praying for his disciples to be strong...to pull it together after his ascension...he realizes that he has left a "big job" for his friends to manifest now that he will reside with the Father for good...and he knows they are scared. Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit...thank goodness Jesus did not wait long before completeing the Trinity- they needed this piece to move one... Starting a new church is a very big deal nowadays still, let alone in ancient Hebrew times...remember they were the only monastic religion existing then. Hmmm. Competition...yes a problem...but more importantly, to defend and honor this Jesus would put us...well....on a cross??? maybe. The problem? Not one of them could do this alone. Not one, (Not even Simon-Peter), ...but banded together many good and wonderful possible choices now existed. "Strength in numbers" yes?

I gave the children of EDS some options for our weekly sermon. I asked who was my strongest candidate in the crowd? of course hands flew up...and Ichose one to come up and break one of my Popsicle sticks. A hardy and formidable opponent stepped up and in second..."snap"went that stick! Great...breaking one isn't so hard is it? Then I offer a bundle of Popsicle sticks bound together by a lovely red ribbon..(gotta fit my Holy Spirit in there somewhere), and present our newly tied bundle of sticks to the crowd for breaking.... (surely a lesson in physics was also present)...but regardless...the entire class takes the challenge. Guess what? No one could break my bundle. What did this prove? Well...that strength, did in fact, lie in numbers. One was easily broken, but more than one... well nearly impossible.

I say nearly impossible...as I will relate this same sermon to the children at Chapel yesterday. We did the same story...and all the children took a turn at trying to break the bundle...until the bundle was turned over to my assistant Ben. (He is a big 18 yr old guy). He actually broke the bundle. I sat for a moment..and I sighed and thought..."Did you have to break the bundle?" Then I thought, (as I most often do in my sermons), this is God's message to me... that even though the bundle was strong..very strong mind you..after many attempts of wearing it down it did finally break. A good and valuable lesson in life. One is weak obviously.But many under the "right/wrong" motives/conditions can snap too...it obviously takes a much longer time...(also a valuable lesson)...but it proves that it can happen.
That is why Jesus prayed for the disciples to be strong after his Ascension. That is why!

God has important work for us all. Building churches, not from mortar but from love, requires the strength of many, not few. It needs to be as strong as it can be to sustain any and all outside forces that attempt to weaken its foundation.

Please think about that when the next moment of your life may be too scary to withstand...and you prefer to go it alone- just know that your stick may be easily broken by not finding strength in numbers...

"I get by with a little help from my friends"...The Beatles.

Miss Dawn, Christian Formation Director

Miss Evelyn's House

Miss Evelyn, as far as I can make out was not affected by the flooding to any degree. Her house was a 19th century three story building in the Upper Garden Ward but being higher up caught the full force of the wind and rain. In a few hours the roof was gone, the windows were shattered, much of the clapperboard facing was ripped or gone and the torrential rain saturated every exposed piece of wood every piece of furniture and wood in what remained of the house.

Being a “listed” historical building, the city authorities decided that its renovation should be in line with historical authenticity and accuracy. But that put several 00’ in the bill for making it habitable again.

Hence the involvement of Hounds On New Orleans (HONO). They have taken it on as a long term project to make it habitable again for Miss Evelyn who for the moment (!?) lives in a trailer beside the house.

Under the eye of several professional advisors, HONO has taken on this long term project. Gutted I think is the word but the roof is on. Things are dry and work progresses.

Give these kids a chance

The Kindergarten class under the direction of Miss D Young
rehearsing the "graduation" poem

The Party's over...

,,, but not for the people of New Orleans!

We all ( I think) had a great time down there as a group but were moved, saddened and heart torn by the scale of the tragedy that still surrounds many of the people of New Orleans.

The projects we were involved in this year were unexpected I think but much has happened in the year since we last went. Much more effort and energy is going into the social needs and even the educational psychological and spiritual needs of the people.

Don't get me wrong, housing is still a major priority. There is still some demolition going on and reconstruction too, but other needs arise as some of these priorities are to a cirten extent alleviated.

But that's just me. Hopefully other members will contribute their considered thoughts as the experiences of the last week sink in.

In the meantime...well done Emmanuel for a great bit (or is it bite...remember the elephant!) of Christian love and ministry.

Peter