The Price That They Paid

King of Peace's Memorial Garden with the flags out for Memorial Day

The following poem written by King of Peace's own Dale Bundy is one to share this Memorial Day as we remember all who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.



You rest now dear,
She told him,
As she sat down,
On the bench nearby.

Every day,
She'd make the walk,
And this time she swore,
She'd not cry.

But the memories came,
Of their life.
And their love,
'Till a war took his life away.

And the tears that she shed,
Every time she came here,
Meant more,
Than could words ever say.

Sometimes she brought flowers,
To place on his stone,
Or she'd read him,
A letter she wrote.

And when she got to the end,
It was always the same,
An "I love you",
Would catch in her throat.

It was hard to leave him,
Alone in that place,
But she carried him home,
In her heart.

When he died,
She vowed,
To never forget,
His sacrifice and she did her part.

This Memorial Day,
Remember the ones,
Who may be forgotten,
And gone.

Take a moment,
And remember,
The price that they paid,
Don't leave their memories alone.

Prayer of a Magnanimous Heart

Oh God, keep us from all pettiness:
Let us be large in thought, in word and deed.
Let us be done with fault finding and
leave off all self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and
meet each other face to face
Without self pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment
and always generous.
Let us always take time for all things,
And make us grow calm, serene and gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses,
To be straight forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize that it is the
little things that create differences,
That in the big things of life we are as one.
And, Oh Lord God, let us not forget to be kind.

~Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)

Both/And

105 years ago, Albert Einstein wrote a scientific paper that changed the world of physics. Among other things, Einstein proclaimed that light was both a particle and a wave. This notion was so radical that it took 20 years to really be acknowledged and even longer to be adequately validated by research to become part of a scholarly consensus.

Einstein's work was at the forefront of what we now call Quantum Physics. As physicists dove under the layers of the visible world to explore subatomic particles, they found in their mathematic equations an interconnectedness that surprised and sometimes frightened them.

The problem with light had been described in either-or terms. Light was either disconnected particles or an interconnected wave. But Einstein theorized and others proved that light is both particle and wave. Neither particle theory nor wave theory can describe light. This understanding of light has now become scientific dogma. In fact, this discovery has been part of the push in Quantum Physics to understand the interconnectedness of all things.

In the Quantum universe, relationships are more important to study than the particles themselves. We once saw the world as filled with more than 90% dark matter, or the absence of stuff. But now scientists can find and show connections between particles where no matter connects the two. There is an essential connectedness among all things.

I write this as tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, the only day of the church year devoted to a doctrone of the church. The readings for tomorrow from the New Testament are ones in which references to Father, Son and Holy Spirit are named in one passage. The word Trinity itself does not appear in scripture, but the idea of the one God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit does. And so I look to scientific understandings which show both/and as possible as I prepare to speak of God as both three and one.

These understandings from Quantum physics would not surprise St. Patrick, or early Christians for that matter, who understood God to be both three persons and one God. Neither the idea that God is three, nor the idea that God is one, could work alone to describe the attributes of God. God is three persons so completely interconnected as to be one. And we, who are made in the image of God, long to be part of that interconnectedness, that koinonia (the New Testament Greek word for communion). This is why St. Augustine wrote, that our hearts are restless until they find rest in God. We who are created in the image of God’s communion long for communion with God and with others.

We act out this Christian belief in koinonia each time we celebrate a communion service. Each of us comes as an individual (particle). We bring our own uniqueness. Through the words and actions of the service we are drawn together (wave). We say the same words, in order to commune with God. Through that communion with God, we realize that as children of God, we are brothers and sisters to all the other people on earth. Our connection to God allows for a deeper connection to other people. This is how we in our imperfect ways participate in the very life of the Trinity.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

God gives us a family

Our Kids in the Kingdom Week finished with a day devoted to how God gives us a family. We learned how Joseph regained his brothers and his father through forgiveness and how as children of God we are part of a big family. To share the love of the big family, the kids tied knots onto the edge of a blanket being sent to keep kids warm on cold African nights. And so we share the love of God with the larger family of God in a tangible way as we close out our Kids in the Kingdom Week.

God gives us forgiveness

Today in our Kids in the Kingdom Week we discovered how God gives us forgivness. Along the way, we learned how difficult it was for Joseph to forgive his brothers. We also made a Walk Like an Egyptian video embedded above at the blog and for those on Facebook, it is here: Walk like a kid in the kingdom

God gives us wisdom

Today in our Kids in the Kingdom Week, we have discovered through the story of Joseph found in Genesis how God gives us wisdom.

Joseph is now known in Egypt as Zaphenath-Paneah, but he still worships only the one true God and trusts in God to give him the wisdom he needs to prepare Egypt for the coming famine. He also prays for his family, Israel, his wives and children.

God gives us special abilities

We had a second great day with Kids in the Kingdom. Today we learned how God gives us special abilities. We discovered how Joseph's God-given ability to interpret dreams was used to save all of Egypt. We continue the story tomorrow.














Kyle dumped water on his face while acting in a skit.