Becoming A Family
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Becoming a Family" by Frank Ramirez
"Chateau Naboth" by Timothy F. Merrill
* * * * * * *
Becoming a Family
by Frank Ramirez
Luke 7:36--8:3
...some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities... provided for them out of their resources.
-- Luke 8:2-3
Regardless of what you might think about the cause, the weather is changing. Storms are harsher, summers are hotter, winters colder. Scientists are beginning to study how to prepare for climate disasters, in the hopes of reducing the number of fatalities.
It is not a situation that favors quick answers. Sometimes it takes a while for patterns to emerge. But a study of the 1995 killing heat wave that left 739 people dead in Chicago has raised some interesting questions -- and in the process challenged Christians to consider the place churches have in preserving life. It's not the obvious answer you might think -- of providing relief supplies and sending willing workers to disaster sites to rebuild, of packaging clothing and food, bottled water and medicines, or even of commissioning doctors to provide relief. These are all important, but a better question is how to prevent the deaths before they happen.
One way to prevent heat deaths was obvious – air conditioning saves lives. As you might imagine, the poorest neighborhoods, where many of the deaths took place, had no air conditioning. So it was seen that more affluent neighborhoods were more immune to the heat wave. But did this mean that those who were poor were doomed to suffer more?
That's where the research got interesting. Chicago is often called a town rather than a city, and the truth is that it consists of many towns and small neighborhoods where people of various ethnicities and nationalities congregate. Of the ten communities with the highest death rates during the 1995 heat wave, eight were almost completely African-American, suffering from poverty and high crime rates. But of the ten communities with the lowest death rates, three were also almost completely African-American, and also suffering from poverty and high crime rates. So one could not say that poverty, high crime rates, and African-American communities by themselves were deciding factors.
What was the difference? Two communities, Englewood and Auburn Gresham, which were side by side in Chicago's South Side provided the greatest contrast. Both fit the profile mentioned above, but Englewood had one of the highest death rates in Chicago, while Auburn Gresham one of the lowest death rates. Scientists were astounded to also discover, studying the data, that Auburn Gresham's residents lived five years longer than Englewood's even in normal circumstances.
What was going on? Simply this -- people were out on the sidewalks of Auburn Gresham. There were stores in their community and local people shopped there. There were restaurants, community centers, and -- very important -- churches. All this meant that people went to places where they recognized each other, knew each other, and, if someone wasn't there -- missed them! As a result, during the heat wave people in places like Auburn Gresham, checked on each other. Church members checked on other church members and folks in the community. If people needed help, had no air conditioning, needed fresh water, were struggling medically, someone else knew about it and took action.
By contrast people who lived in places like Englewood had no stores or restaurants or community centers. Their neighborhoods had been abandoned by businesses. People stayed at home, and they did not know each other. No one checked on those who were really suffering.
The implication is that regardless of what is causing climate change, being church, being community, being concerned, and caring about each other, saves lives!
In today's scripture text the women who have been cured by Jesus become part of a community of caring that included rich and poor, male and female, those recovering from illness and those made well by Jesus. Resources are shared for the benefit of all. People knew each other. They were being church before there was a church. We are challenged to be church not only for a small circle, but for a whole world, because we are as much connected to each other as folks in a small community, especially when we care.
(Want to know more? See "Adaptation: How can cities be 'climate-proofed'?" in The New Yorker, January 7, 2013, pp. 32-37).
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
Chateau Naboth
by Timothy F. Merrill
1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a
Bob and Patty Brower had a dream. The dream came to them in the '70s after they had visited and enjoyed some of the chateau wineries in a number of the wine regions of France in 1982. Originally from the East Coast, the Browers headed to California to fulfill their dream of beginning a winery. They found sixteen acres in Monterey County at the foot of the beautiful Carmel Valley Mountains. There they built a French country chateau to create an Old World atmosphere of warmth and hospitality. The building itself is a replica of a home on the French/Swiss border. The warmth and hospitality exude from the moment guests enter the chateau. A magnificent grand fireplace, open beam ceilings, and well-appointed antiques set the stage for tasting Private Reserve wines. A hand-blown stained-glass window sits majestically at the opposite end of the tasting room or "Great Hall." There is no tasting bar in the Great Hall, but rather an eighteen-foot antique mahogany table for tasting wines. A comfortable, inviting atmosphere is extended to each and every guest.
Chateau Julien Wine Estate's initial production in 1982 began in a Monterey warehouse. Today, the winery is open to visitors daily for wine tasting and tours, and all guests are welcome to enjoy the ambiance of the garden cobblestone courtyard off of the chateau.
I visited Chateau Julien the summer of 2002, and took a tour of the estate, walking through the vineyards themselves, inspecting the French oak barrels in which the chardonnays were being aged, and heard the winemaker explain how the grapes are brought from the vine to the barrel to the bottle.
Getting started in the wine business requires an enormous financial investment, not to speak of congenial weather and suitable soil.
I can only imagine the chagrin -- or outrage -- the Browers might feel if they were asked to sell their vineyard to a wealthy neighbor so that the neighbor could rip out the vines and grow instead -- vegetables.
Yet, this is the outrageous proposal that King Ahab offers to Naboth, with predictable results.
(from Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit, Series IV, Cycle C [Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 2003], pp. 90-91)
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 16, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Becoming a Family" by Frank Ramirez
"Chateau Naboth" by Timothy F. Merrill
* * * * * * *
Becoming a Family
by Frank Ramirez
Luke 7:36--8:3
...some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities... provided for them out of their resources.
-- Luke 8:2-3
Regardless of what you might think about the cause, the weather is changing. Storms are harsher, summers are hotter, winters colder. Scientists are beginning to study how to prepare for climate disasters, in the hopes of reducing the number of fatalities.
It is not a situation that favors quick answers. Sometimes it takes a while for patterns to emerge. But a study of the 1995 killing heat wave that left 739 people dead in Chicago has raised some interesting questions -- and in the process challenged Christians to consider the place churches have in preserving life. It's not the obvious answer you might think -- of providing relief supplies and sending willing workers to disaster sites to rebuild, of packaging clothing and food, bottled water and medicines, or even of commissioning doctors to provide relief. These are all important, but a better question is how to prevent the deaths before they happen.
One way to prevent heat deaths was obvious – air conditioning saves lives. As you might imagine, the poorest neighborhoods, where many of the deaths took place, had no air conditioning. So it was seen that more affluent neighborhoods were more immune to the heat wave. But did this mean that those who were poor were doomed to suffer more?
That's where the research got interesting. Chicago is often called a town rather than a city, and the truth is that it consists of many towns and small neighborhoods where people of various ethnicities and nationalities congregate. Of the ten communities with the highest death rates during the 1995 heat wave, eight were almost completely African-American, suffering from poverty and high crime rates. But of the ten communities with the lowest death rates, three were also almost completely African-American, and also suffering from poverty and high crime rates. So one could not say that poverty, high crime rates, and African-American communities by themselves were deciding factors.
What was the difference? Two communities, Englewood and Auburn Gresham, which were side by side in Chicago's South Side provided the greatest contrast. Both fit the profile mentioned above, but Englewood had one of the highest death rates in Chicago, while Auburn Gresham one of the lowest death rates. Scientists were astounded to also discover, studying the data, that Auburn Gresham's residents lived five years longer than Englewood's even in normal circumstances.
What was going on? Simply this -- people were out on the sidewalks of Auburn Gresham. There were stores in their community and local people shopped there. There were restaurants, community centers, and -- very important -- churches. All this meant that people went to places where they recognized each other, knew each other, and, if someone wasn't there -- missed them! As a result, during the heat wave people in places like Auburn Gresham, checked on each other. Church members checked on other church members and folks in the community. If people needed help, had no air conditioning, needed fresh water, were struggling medically, someone else knew about it and took action.
By contrast people who lived in places like Englewood had no stores or restaurants or community centers. Their neighborhoods had been abandoned by businesses. People stayed at home, and they did not know each other. No one checked on those who were really suffering.
The implication is that regardless of what is causing climate change, being church, being community, being concerned, and caring about each other, saves lives!
In today's scripture text the women who have been cured by Jesus become part of a community of caring that included rich and poor, male and female, those recovering from illness and those made well by Jesus. Resources are shared for the benefit of all. People knew each other. They were being church before there was a church. We are challenged to be church not only for a small circle, but for a whole world, because we are as much connected to each other as folks in a small community, especially when we care.
(Want to know more? See "Adaptation: How can cities be 'climate-proofed'?" in The New Yorker, January 7, 2013, pp. 32-37).
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
Chateau Naboth
by Timothy F. Merrill
1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a
Bob and Patty Brower had a dream. The dream came to them in the '70s after they had visited and enjoyed some of the chateau wineries in a number of the wine regions of France in 1982. Originally from the East Coast, the Browers headed to California to fulfill their dream of beginning a winery. They found sixteen acres in Monterey County at the foot of the beautiful Carmel Valley Mountains. There they built a French country chateau to create an Old World atmosphere of warmth and hospitality. The building itself is a replica of a home on the French/Swiss border. The warmth and hospitality exude from the moment guests enter the chateau. A magnificent grand fireplace, open beam ceilings, and well-appointed antiques set the stage for tasting Private Reserve wines. A hand-blown stained-glass window sits majestically at the opposite end of the tasting room or "Great Hall." There is no tasting bar in the Great Hall, but rather an eighteen-foot antique mahogany table for tasting wines. A comfortable, inviting atmosphere is extended to each and every guest.
Chateau Julien Wine Estate's initial production in 1982 began in a Monterey warehouse. Today, the winery is open to visitors daily for wine tasting and tours, and all guests are welcome to enjoy the ambiance of the garden cobblestone courtyard off of the chateau.
I visited Chateau Julien the summer of 2002, and took a tour of the estate, walking through the vineyards themselves, inspecting the French oak barrels in which the chardonnays were being aged, and heard the winemaker explain how the grapes are brought from the vine to the barrel to the bottle.
Getting started in the wine business requires an enormous financial investment, not to speak of congenial weather and suitable soil.
I can only imagine the chagrin -- or outrage -- the Browers might feel if they were asked to sell their vineyard to a wealthy neighbor so that the neighbor could rip out the vines and grow instead -- vegetables.
Yet, this is the outrageous proposal that King Ahab offers to Naboth, with predictable results.
(from Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit, Series IV, Cycle C [Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 2003], pp. 90-91)
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 16, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
