Uncompromising Faith
Stories
Object:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8
Paul Tournier tells about Bishop Wurm in one of his books, "one of the leaders in the Confessing Church, who so heroically stood up to Hitler in Nazi Germany":
"Shortly after the war, when I was asking him about that tragic era, he told me how hard it had been, at the beginning of Hitler's reign, to know what attitude the church should take. There was a tremendous, popular movement whipping up the enthusiasm of the masses for new hope. Should the church step in line, in spite of the movement's obvious flaws, in the hope of influencing the new regime and of directing it toward a true national renewal? Or must the church fight the regime, thus losing all contact with the masses?
"Resist or surrender: Which should they do? Bishop Wurm discussed this often with a close friend, a fellow bishop, who was equally hesitant. Then one night Bishop Wurm suddenly felt called by God to break with the regime. He immediately obeyed the divine call. Happily so, for he was but a hair breadth from becoming inextricably involved, through compromise upon compromise, to the point where he never could have stopped. Thus, these two close friends, having long hesitated together, became the leaders of the two factions in the church which became irreconcilably opposed to each other, one in resistance and the other in subjection."
(Paul Tournier, To Resist or to Surrender, John Knox Press, 1964, pp. 15-16)
Shining Moments
Assurance
by Marie Regine Redig, SSND
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:15-16
Always, I have been guided gently by God in how and where I would be in ministry and career. I learned to trust God's guidance and movement in my life. In 1987, I took the position of coordinator of the spiritual growth programs for the Ewens Center at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. The ministry of working with women in the various aspects of their spiritual lives was one dear to my heart. My life was enriched right along with theirs while I spent fifteen years listening, counseling, and providing informational, inspirational, and experiential classes for them. As I grew older and realized that semi-retirement was probably in my near future, I knew that I would leave Mount Mary and keep helping only my private clientele out of my home office.
But when? The question often came to my mind, and I firmly believed that God would again be present and direct me when the time was right.
Never did I expect it to happen as it did. In January of 2002, I went with some faculty and students on a four-day solitude retreat at Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Coming away from there, I felt deeply content and full of inspiration for starting the second semester. One week later, on Thursday, January 24, I awoke about ten minutes earlier than usual and lay quietly in my bed, offering my day to God. It happened then! As clear as could be, I heard in my mind and heart, "Gina, it's time to leave Mount Mary." I couldn't believe it and thought it must be some figment of my imagination. I arose, did my morning exercises, showered, and prayed. I thought the idea would leave. It didn't! The gentle but direct message stayed in my face for the next four days. Finally, I confided in my two companion SSND sisters living with me. They said, "Sounds like you need to look at that."
I prayed over it and started the process for termination. As I did my work and met with people, I found myself relishing my experience and saying, "Do I really want to part with this?" Gradually, I could say, "With God's grace, I think I can let go." I left Mount Mary on June 7 with much peace in my heart, knowing that once again God had moved me gently and firmly. If not, I would probably still be at Mount Mary, not knowing when to stop. Yes, I trust God's messages for my future even when they come in strange ways.
Marie Regine Redig, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, is a retreat and spiritual director. She is a member of Mary Queen of Martyrs Catholic Parish in Milwaukee.
Good Stories
The Red Mules
by A. Leonard Sumwalt
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8
I began helping Dad in the fields when I was 10 years old. The year was 1927, dust bowl days. We lived on a rented farm in the Texas Panhandle, about five miles south of Texhoma, just over the border from Oklahoma. It was so dry and hot that we had one crop failure after another. We stayed there just seven years before pulling up stakes and moving to Wisconsin. It was in the spring of our last year in Texas that Dad decided I was old enough to help. He started me out with a team of red mules. He figured they knew more about farming than I did, and I guess maybe he was right. Kate and Jewel, we called them. They were full sisters. Dad had raised them and broken them to the harness himself. Kate was a yearling and Jewel was a two-year-old when we moved down from Kansas in '21. Oh, they were a pretty team, a soft, sandy red, the color of the Texas sky at sunset. And how they could pull. Some said there wasn't a better team anywhere in the country. At threshing time when the neighbors came in with their teams and wagons, they always made sure that the red mules were one of the teams that helped to haul the grain into town. There weren't many roads in those days, and so when we took a load into town we simply followed the straightest route across the cut fields. The wagons were very heavy when loaded with grain, and sometimes one of them would get stuck in a sand bog. Then the drivers would have to sit there and wait until the red mules came along and pulled them out.
I worked in the fields all that summer. Boy, it was hot. When we were plowing I had two horses along with the mules. Dad drove six head of horses and mules. He had all of them to harness every morning and unharness every night. We turned them out to pasture at night after they had their grain and water, and we had to round them up again first thing every morning just before sunup. They all knew their stalls, so it usually didn't take more than an hour from start to finish. It was just a little over quarter of a mile from the house to the fields. We would push ourselves and the animals all morning, before it got too hot, then about noon we would come back to the house, water the teams, eat dinner, take a nap, and go back out again and work till almost dark. It was a half-mile across the field, one way. By the time we drove the teams over and back they were ready for a rest. We figured if we got in eight rounds in a day we were doing pretty good.
Once in a while Dad would drive the red mules when he went into town. It was comical to see those old girls going down the road, their heads bobbing up and down, and their long, pointed ears flapping against their necks. That was their motion, a kind of natural rhythm that helped to propel them along.
One day when Dad was on his way home from town with the mules, a sandstorm blew up suddenly, as they often did in that part of Texas. The dirt and dust were so thick in the air he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. Dad simply dropped the reins and said, "Take me home, girls." They had to go more than five miles, down the main highway, onto a side road, and around several bends, but them old mules knew where they were going, and they brought him home.
John's father, A. Leonard Sumwalt, passed in September of 1998 at the age of 80. He was a veteran of World War II, a cook, a barber, and a feed mill operator, but mostly he was a farmer who like his father, James Archie Sumwalt, and his mother, Nellie Jane Kittle Sumwalt, loved the land and all the creatures that dwelled there. Leonard and John's mother, Bernice Long Sumwalt, farmed in Willow Township, Richland County, Wisconsin for 48 years. John and Jo purchased the remaining 25 acres of the two farms they operated in 1997 and plan to retire there one day.
Scrap Pile
Unfailing Treasure
by John Sumwalt
"Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys."
Luke 12:33
Pastor Dean Snyder, of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., tells about an older woman who once told him she was going to give 21 percent of her income to God through her local church. Years earlier, she had given only three percent. But one year, while listening to a stewardship sermon, she decided to increase her giving by 2 percent a year until she was tithing. Giving felt so good, she said, that when she got to 10 percent, she didn't want to stop, so she just kept increasing her pledge. "God loves it when the giver delights in the giving" (2 Corinthians 9:7b).
Shakti Gawain explains it this way: "If you look around at those who are unhappy, you'll often find that they are people who have a starved feeling in some way and are therefore taking a very grasping posture toward life. All of us have that tendency within us." But she adds, "When we find that place within ourselves that is giving, we begin to reverse the flow. We have been accustomed to thinking that we have to get something from outside us in order to be happy, in truth it works the other way... the more you share of yourself... the more you get from the world... Giving becomes its own reward." (Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization, New World Library, 1995, p. 88)
None of this is new, of course. The Apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Corinthian Church over 2,000 years ago. "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he or she has made up their minds, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
**********************************************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), will be released this month by CSS Publishing Company. Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com); they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
Looking for just the right story for this Sunday's sermon or Sunday School class? There is a large selection of stories on the StoryShare website (http://www.csspub.com/story.lasso). Click on "samples" to see two of our weekly editions.
New subscribers receive a year of StoryShare plus full access to the StoryShare archives for just $19.95. Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
StoryShare, August 8, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Hebrews 11:8
Paul Tournier tells about Bishop Wurm in one of his books, "one of the leaders in the Confessing Church, who so heroically stood up to Hitler in Nazi Germany":
"Shortly after the war, when I was asking him about that tragic era, he told me how hard it had been, at the beginning of Hitler's reign, to know what attitude the church should take. There was a tremendous, popular movement whipping up the enthusiasm of the masses for new hope. Should the church step in line, in spite of the movement's obvious flaws, in the hope of influencing the new regime and of directing it toward a true national renewal? Or must the church fight the regime, thus losing all contact with the masses?
"Resist or surrender: Which should they do? Bishop Wurm discussed this often with a close friend, a fellow bishop, who was equally hesitant. Then one night Bishop Wurm suddenly felt called by God to break with the regime. He immediately obeyed the divine call. Happily so, for he was but a hair breadth from becoming inextricably involved, through compromise upon compromise, to the point where he never could have stopped. Thus, these two close friends, having long hesitated together, became the leaders of the two factions in the church which became irreconcilably opposed to each other, one in resistance and the other in subjection."
(Paul Tournier, To Resist or to Surrender, John Knox Press, 1964, pp. 15-16)
Shining Moments
Assurance
by Marie Regine Redig, SSND
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:15-16
Always, I have been guided gently by God in how and where I would be in ministry and career. I learned to trust God's guidance and movement in my life. In 1987, I took the position of coordinator of the spiritual growth programs for the Ewens Center at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. The ministry of working with women in the various aspects of their spiritual lives was one dear to my heart. My life was enriched right along with theirs while I spent fifteen years listening, counseling, and providing informational, inspirational, and experiential classes for them. As I grew older and realized that semi-retirement was probably in my near future, I knew that I would leave Mount Mary and keep helping only my private clientele out of my home office.
But when? The question often came to my mind, and I firmly believed that God would again be present and direct me when the time was right.
Never did I expect it to happen as it did. In January of 2002, I went with some faculty and students on a four-day solitude retreat at Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Coming away from there, I felt deeply content and full of inspiration for starting the second semester. One week later, on Thursday, January 24, I awoke about ten minutes earlier than usual and lay quietly in my bed, offering my day to God. It happened then! As clear as could be, I heard in my mind and heart, "Gina, it's time to leave Mount Mary." I couldn't believe it and thought it must be some figment of my imagination. I arose, did my morning exercises, showered, and prayed. I thought the idea would leave. It didn't! The gentle but direct message stayed in my face for the next four days. Finally, I confided in my two companion SSND sisters living with me. They said, "Sounds like you need to look at that."
I prayed over it and started the process for termination. As I did my work and met with people, I found myself relishing my experience and saying, "Do I really want to part with this?" Gradually, I could say, "With God's grace, I think I can let go." I left Mount Mary on June 7 with much peace in my heart, knowing that once again God had moved me gently and firmly. If not, I would probably still be at Mount Mary, not knowing when to stop. Yes, I trust God's messages for my future even when they come in strange ways.
Marie Regine Redig, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, is a retreat and spiritual director. She is a member of Mary Queen of Martyrs Catholic Parish in Milwaukee.
Good Stories
The Red Mules
by A. Leonard Sumwalt
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8
I began helping Dad in the fields when I was 10 years old. The year was 1927, dust bowl days. We lived on a rented farm in the Texas Panhandle, about five miles south of Texhoma, just over the border from Oklahoma. It was so dry and hot that we had one crop failure after another. We stayed there just seven years before pulling up stakes and moving to Wisconsin. It was in the spring of our last year in Texas that Dad decided I was old enough to help. He started me out with a team of red mules. He figured they knew more about farming than I did, and I guess maybe he was right. Kate and Jewel, we called them. They were full sisters. Dad had raised them and broken them to the harness himself. Kate was a yearling and Jewel was a two-year-old when we moved down from Kansas in '21. Oh, they were a pretty team, a soft, sandy red, the color of the Texas sky at sunset. And how they could pull. Some said there wasn't a better team anywhere in the country. At threshing time when the neighbors came in with their teams and wagons, they always made sure that the red mules were one of the teams that helped to haul the grain into town. There weren't many roads in those days, and so when we took a load into town we simply followed the straightest route across the cut fields. The wagons were very heavy when loaded with grain, and sometimes one of them would get stuck in a sand bog. Then the drivers would have to sit there and wait until the red mules came along and pulled them out.
I worked in the fields all that summer. Boy, it was hot. When we were plowing I had two horses along with the mules. Dad drove six head of horses and mules. He had all of them to harness every morning and unharness every night. We turned them out to pasture at night after they had their grain and water, and we had to round them up again first thing every morning just before sunup. They all knew their stalls, so it usually didn't take more than an hour from start to finish. It was just a little over quarter of a mile from the house to the fields. We would push ourselves and the animals all morning, before it got too hot, then about noon we would come back to the house, water the teams, eat dinner, take a nap, and go back out again and work till almost dark. It was a half-mile across the field, one way. By the time we drove the teams over and back they were ready for a rest. We figured if we got in eight rounds in a day we were doing pretty good.
Once in a while Dad would drive the red mules when he went into town. It was comical to see those old girls going down the road, their heads bobbing up and down, and their long, pointed ears flapping against their necks. That was their motion, a kind of natural rhythm that helped to propel them along.
One day when Dad was on his way home from town with the mules, a sandstorm blew up suddenly, as they often did in that part of Texas. The dirt and dust were so thick in the air he couldn't even see his hands in front of his face. Dad simply dropped the reins and said, "Take me home, girls." They had to go more than five miles, down the main highway, onto a side road, and around several bends, but them old mules knew where they were going, and they brought him home.
John's father, A. Leonard Sumwalt, passed in September of 1998 at the age of 80. He was a veteran of World War II, a cook, a barber, and a feed mill operator, but mostly he was a farmer who like his father, James Archie Sumwalt, and his mother, Nellie Jane Kittle Sumwalt, loved the land and all the creatures that dwelled there. Leonard and John's mother, Bernice Long Sumwalt, farmed in Willow Township, Richland County, Wisconsin for 48 years. John and Jo purchased the remaining 25 acres of the two farms they operated in 1997 and plan to retire there one day.
Scrap Pile
Unfailing Treasure
by John Sumwalt
"Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys."
Luke 12:33
Pastor Dean Snyder, of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., tells about an older woman who once told him she was going to give 21 percent of her income to God through her local church. Years earlier, she had given only three percent. But one year, while listening to a stewardship sermon, she decided to increase her giving by 2 percent a year until she was tithing. Giving felt so good, she said, that when she got to 10 percent, she didn't want to stop, so she just kept increasing her pledge. "God loves it when the giver delights in the giving" (2 Corinthians 9:7b).
Shakti Gawain explains it this way: "If you look around at those who are unhappy, you'll often find that they are people who have a starved feeling in some way and are therefore taking a very grasping posture toward life. All of us have that tendency within us." But she adds, "When we find that place within ourselves that is giving, we begin to reverse the flow. We have been accustomed to thinking that we have to get something from outside us in order to be happy, in truth it works the other way... the more you share of yourself... the more you get from the world... Giving becomes its own reward." (Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization, New World Library, 1995, p. 88)
None of this is new, of course. The Apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Corinthian Church over 2,000 years ago. "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he or she has made up their minds, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
**********************************************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), will be released this month by CSS Publishing Company. Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com); they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
Looking for just the right story for this Sunday's sermon or Sunday School class? There is a large selection of stories on the StoryShare website (http://www.csspub.com/story.lasso). Click on "samples" to see two of our weekly editions.
New subscribers receive a year of StoryShare plus full access to the StoryShare archives for just $19.95. Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
StoryShare, August 8, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
