[amc] a note from the pastor
- From: "garland robertson" <pastor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 09:40:17 -0600
Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church
I pray you are refreshed and comforted by God's provisions for our journey
of faith.
With only a brief reflection we realize that everything we have available
for our use comes to us from resourcefulness and labors involving others.
Whether the house we live in, the food we eat, and the provisions that keep
us warm and clean, the way we travel, all these represent the contribution
of many persons working to fashion materials from substances present in the
created order. People do not actually create anything; however we do
arrange and combine and coordinate elements already in existence in order to
produce countless beneficial effects. When this practice is confined to a
designated group without regard for the wellbeing of those not included, the
product is called 'privilege.' When this practice is extended to all
members of the human family, it is called 'compassion.' Recognizing that we
only manage resources, we can learn to be better stewards of that which has
been assigned as our portion of Adam's task of caring for the earth and all
who live in it. We either use these provisions to make a statement of
privilege or to make a statement of compassion. Observing how the creator
God supplies benefits for sustaining every person's human journey teaches us
how to respond. These thoughts will compose the sermon for this next
Sunday, 'Resources as currency of compassion.'
May it go well with you. Sincerely,
Garland Robertson
...always hold firmly to the thought that each one of us can do something to
bring some portion of misery to an end
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