So, to kick off the summer, this Friday
at New Light we are planning games and a campfire with marshmallows and
s’mores. We’ll also have pizza rolls along with ice cream and soda for
floats. Basically an health foodie’s nightmare. : ) I’ll also bring a
frisbee for a game of Ultimate Frisbee.
I think
I have mentioned to most of you that I have two cats. Or rather, there
are two cats that live at the same house as I do. After all, can you
really say that you own a cat? I am absolutely convinced that in their
mind, they own you. Over the years I have had a variety of pets -
everything from snakes and lizards to rats, chipmunks and squirrels. I
have had a rabbit, an opossum, a raccoon, and a chinchilla. And for
about six months I even had a dog. So I have had some experience with
pets and the ways in which they interact with the people around them.
Some with more intelligence and some with less.
Of
all the furry animals that I have had, I think that without a doubt the
least intelligent was the opossum. We named him Pogo and he was
friendly enough but usually when you looked him in the eye, there was
just nobody home. One thing that I learned about opossums is that they
really do play dead. Well, actually they don’t mean to, they just
frighten and swoon easily. Kind of a “Boo” “AACK” thud response.
The
most intelligent was the raccoon. We named her Patty Sue and I honestly
think she was more creative than a number of people I know. She could
escape from almost any cage and she could steal the keys from even the
best pickpocket. And the thing about raccoons is that they seem to have
two brains - on in their head and one in their hands. They will be
watching something (like you) with complete concentration while their
hands are doing something completely different (like stealing your
keys).
And every one had its own personality -
even the tortoise that we called Rock because, well, that’s what he
tried to imitate most of the time. And each one had it’s own way of
showing affection. The raccoon would run up and wrap her arms around
your ankle leaving little black handprints on you cuffs (she also loved
to wash black walnuts). The chinchilla would jump onto your chest if you
were lying down and leave a couple of “presents” before she left. The
cats will meet you at the door when you arrive home and then turn away
like they are completely uninterested. Yeah, I know that’s not the usual
way we would show affection, but to a cat, that’s really special. Even
the chipmunks and squirrels had their own ways of showing affection to
us and to each other.
But so much of animal
affection, as well as human affection, is conditional. I’ll love you if…
For animals it’s mostly “I’ll love you if you feed me.” and to a lesser
extent “I’ll love you if you don’t eat me.” Not always, but often. How
many times have we heard the same from people: “I’ll love you if…” or “ I
need this or that from you.” But God’s love is unconditional. 1
Corinthians 13 gives a list of eight things that love is and eight
things that it is not. And the list ends with the statement that God’s
love “never fails.”
Next time you get peeved at
your brother or sister or parents or friends or whoever, take a look at
the list starting at verse 4 and ask yourself: “Am I patient? Am I
kind?" And so on. And don’t worry about the other person. It’s pretty
enlightening to look at yourself through God’s eyes. Transforming, too.
We’d
like to put together events for this summer that people would like to
do. There are a couple of concerts coming up in August, and there are
opportunities for other things like beach trips. Bring your ideas on Friday and lets map out the summer!
See you then.
Friday June 24, 7:15
Grace Community Covenant Church / Foothill Covenant Church
Corner of Oak and Truman in Los Altos
And
as always, if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would
like to talk with someone about, we are always available.
Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com
Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com
Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com
Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net
Cheers,
Duane
Everyone needs a hug now and then.
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