Most people would identify salt as a noun. After all, it is a person, place or thing. But salt also has a verb-like quality to it. By its very nature salt does something. Salt salts. Once salt no longer salts, salt's no longer salt. Only a noun as long as it's a verb, it stops being once it stops doing.
What does salt do? Most of us are familiar with the use of salt in food. Not only does it enhance flavor, it's absolutely indispensable as a food preservative in societies without refrigeration. Salt enhances and preserves. But there's another use for salt with which you may not be familiar. We find it in Jesus' discourse on discipleship and salt in Luke's Gospel: "whoever wants to be my disciples must renounce themselves. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how shall it be restored? It is fit for neither the land nor the dung heap. So people throw it away."
Salt in the dung heap?
In Galilee, where Jesus taught, the ideal householder had a house surrounded by a courtyard. In that courtyard you would find, among other things, an earthen oven and a dung heap. Folks used earthen ovens to bake bread and dung as fuel. The heap was salted so the dung would burn, and salt slabs were used as a catalyst to start the fire. Once the salt slabs and the dung lost their saltiness, they were no longer any good for burning, so they were thrown away.
Salt in the dung heap. That's the metaphor Jesus used to describe his followers. It's certainly not a glamorous, glorious or appetizing one. But that's precisely the point. Jesus repeatedly said there was nothing glamorous or glorious about being his disciples. Being a Christian, doing what Christ taught, does not grant us a high status, at least not in the way many people define glory and glamour in our society.
Like salt, Christians are nouns with verb-like qualities. We are what we do, and when we stop doing it, we no longer are. And what is it we are called to do? Love people others don't love. Forgive people others can't forgive. Remember people others have forgotten. Visit people others haven't visited. Serve people others won't serve. Help people others don't help. These and countless other acts of kindness, compassion and service that usually go unnoticed, unappreciated or unthanked. Countless other little acts that enhance and preserve the world.
The paradox of our faith lays in the fact that when we allow ourselves to be salt in the dung heap, we just may experience our deepest and greatest joy. Of course it doesn't always happen this way, but there are occasions when we freely give ourselves over to that least glamorous, least recognized, least sought after task, and in so doing, feel most connected to God. And in doing so, we recognize who we really are.
So do something for someone today. Go forth and salt.
FROM THE BOARD OF DEACONS
Sunday, October 16, was a joyous morning in the life of our church. We welcomed nine new members.
Jesse Binford received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah and is a Rice University alum. He taught at the University of Texas as well as at the University of the Pacific, and is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of South Florida. His interests are bicycling, energy independence, travel, and ready history.
Lolita Binford has master's degrees in both microbiology and public health. She worked in state health department labs in New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Lolita was working on the Salk polio vaccine at the University of Utah when she and Jesse met, and she did research at the V.A. hospital and at the University of South Florida. Her interests are painting, gardening, travel, and issues of peace and public health.
Jesse and Lolita were fortunate to have overseas assignments and sabbaticals in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; twice in Sweden; and in London. When they were first married, Jesse was Southern Baptist and Lolita was Methodist. They moved to Austin for their first jobs in 1955, where they joined the Congregational Church of Austin.
Nancy Binford, a fifth generation Texan, was born in Houston and raised in the Methodist church. She is an OB/GYN practicing at Seton Hospital.
Lincoln Binford was born in Austin and attended our church as an infant. He grew up in Florida, where he attended First UCC of Tampa, then moved to Houston to attend Rice. Lincoln is a stay at home dad involved in PTA and soccer. He is the son of Jesse and Lolita.
Nancy and Lincoln met in Houston and were married there in 1985 by UCC minister Robbins Ralph. They moved to Dallas for Nancy's medical training, and "fulfilled their dream of moving to Austin" in 1998. Nancy and Lincoln are the parents of Emily and Noah, who are familiar faces in our Sunday School. Emily is a 6th grader at St. Stephens, plays guitar, and loves theater. Noah is a 3rd grader at Highland Park Elementary, enjoys soccer, and loves video games. The family enjoys hiking, camping, nature, music, and art together. Nancy and Lincoln are also volunteering as Sunday School teachers.
Nancy Edison taught in the Round Rock School District and is now retired. She is a substitute teacher in the Austin schools and also does tutoring. Nancy enjoys gardening (a gift she has shared with the church and with our Sunday School kids), traveling, singing, science, art, nature, history, cooking, and (according to Nancy) etc.
Jim Firestone is a planning director for GSD&M, an advertising firm. Our church is the first he has joined - and we're glad he feels comfortable here!
Cara Firestone grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and is transferring her membership from Plymouth Congregational UCC in Lawrence. She is a professional singer who performs nationally - with the Fort Worth Symphony in November in "Broadway Divas." Cara is currently studying to be a yoga teacher.
Jim and Cara moved to Austin from New York City last year.
Will Heimbach was born in Pennsylvania and baptized there in the UCC. He has been a psychotherapist in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In that capacity, he has worked with adolescents, adults, and families recovering from physical and emotional trauma in the community and corrections systems. Will is a Master of Divinity student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is planning to seek ordination in the UCC. He has been helping with our monthly Thursday lunches for Lifeworks.
Brent Malkus was born in Maryland and grew up in a UCC church in Cambridge, MD. He is a singer/guitar player in the Texas Sapphires. Several people from our church have already enjoyed hearing Brent's band. They are working on their first CD.
Welcome New Members
Jesse and Lolita Binford
5600 Bull Creed Rd
Austin, TX 78756-1010
512-419-9556
infordb@sbcglobal.net
Lincoln and Nancy Binford, Emily and Noah
5012 Shoal Creek Blvd
Austin, TX 78756-2524
512-454-8775
lbbinford@aol.com
Nancy Edison
1708 East 40th Street
Austin, TX 78722-1214
512-322-0669
edison44@earthlink.net
Will Heimbach
404 E 30th #306
Austin, TX 78705-3863
512-585-9365
willheimbach3@netzero.com
James & Cara Firestone
6505 Clay Allison Pass
Austin, TX 78749-2703
512-394-0270
jcfirestone@sbcglobal.net
Brent Malkus
5600 Grover Ave #204
Austin, TX 78756-1525
malkus@austin.rr.com
Back Bay Mission
Back Bay Mission, like most of the rest of the Biloxi community, was badly affected by Hurricane Katrina. The mission office building and cottage were flooded. The dormitories were not only flooded but twisted from their foundations. The staff is reduced to Executive Director Shari Prestemon and Associate Don Brown. Currently they are working to get a trailer on the property so they can begin doing emergency assistance. Carol Cassidy, former BBM employee, is returning for six months to run that program. A UCC volunteer has also made a six-month commitment to the mission. Shari says that it is helpful to know people are concerned and will continue to lift up the mission in prayer.
Personals
by Pat Oakes
Jim Tomasek's family and friends held a sunrise memorial service on September 4 at Bethany Beach, Delaware, a place very dear to Jim because of many, many summers spent there with his wife Mary, and children Mark and Dorcas. Several of Dorcas' co-workers from Boggy Creek Camp in Florida attended as well as Jim's best friends from Maryland. As the sun rose over the ocean, voices united in "Morning Has Broken" and Dorcas spoke of beautiful memories with her dad. Jim's friend Larry Brantley read a poem he wrote for Jim entitled "The Stalwart Man." Mark and Dorcas performed the ceremonial scattering of Jim's ashes into the Atlantic Ocean, perfectly timed with the sun just rising completely over the horizon. It was beautiful. After sharing many tears of joy and laughter in celebration of the wonderful husband, father, grandfather, pastor, friend, leader, and mentor that James Tomasek was, most of the friends departed from Bethany Beach. Sally, Matthew, and Jillian Tomasek had to fly back home on Labor Day, but Mary, Mark, and Dorcas were able to relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect as a family for the rest of the week. It was indeed the closure the family, needed after a long and difficult journey along Jim's side as he battled Parkinson's disease for eleven years. Sally Tomasek says, "We miss Jim dearly, but overall Mary and the rest of us are doing well. We greatly appreciate all of your prayers, cards and support which helped us through this time of sorrow. God bless all of you!"
Paul and Ellen Deisler had a fine trip in September to see their daughter Julie in Santa Fe, NM and to visit others along the way. On the way to Santa Fe they stopped at Lubbock to see Paul's college room mate and his wife. With them they went to the 17th Annual International Cowboy Symposium. Paul says he was unaware that cowboys had symposia, but that wonders never cease. All had a good time listening to music, hearing poetry and stories and eating chuck wagon food. The next day, a Sunday, all attended an outdoor "cowboy" service at which John Erickson, author of the"Hank the Cowdog" series gave a good and also funny sermon. It seems he came within three months of a Master's in Divinity at Harvard when he decided that ranching was his true calling. Julie was in a very cheerful mood in Santa Fe. Her first teaching contract, given her last year at Santa Fe Community College where she had taught as an adjunct for ten years, had just been renewed for three years, with a raise. She showed them her office decorated with five of her mother's paintings on the walls. They also visited one of their favorite places, Chimayó and had lunch outdoors at nearby Rancho Chimayó. As Paul and Ellen left Santa Fe, Julie was near the end of the short course she was teaching and was looking forward to a brief trip to Barcelona, Spain, between courses. What a life she leads! On the way home Paul and Ellen visited Paul's one remaining aunt, his mother's youngest sister, who lives in Odessa, TX. She is 85 and lost her husband of 62 years last December, but with the help of family and friends is learning to cope. This, too, was a good visit. Hurricane Rita was on her way to somewhere when Paul and Ellen returned from their trip to Santa Fe. The mayor of Corpus Christi was concerned that Corpus might suffer heavy winds and rain, and closed the schools and city services, except for emergency services, and announced a voluntary evacuation. Paul and Ellen's older daughter, Jane, feared that if there were a prolonged power outage, her husband, an invalid, would be at risk. So she, her husband, their two kids, and their three dogs and eight cats came to stay with them. They had planned to return to Corpus after the hurricane which, as everyone now knows, landed far to the east of Austin. On Sunday, September 25, Paul came downstairs to have breakfast before going to church. Ellen was wondering where their son-in-law, Shig, was. Paul found him in a corner of the downstairs bathroom where he had fallen sometime during the night. Paul and his daughter Jane got him up, showered and dressed, only to discover he had a severe headache. They immediately took him to Seton Hospital's Emergency Room where he was attended to and then admitted to the hospital. He was kept in the hospital until Friday afternoon of the same week. During his stay they found a number of hitherto not known problems in addition to the well-known consequences of his far-advanced diabetes, and they prescribed medications for the new problems. The entire episode, worrying as it was at the time, was, in the end, a blessing. On Sunday, October 2, Shig felt so well that he asked for breakfast, something he had not done for a long time. That same day Jane, Shig, their kids, and their traveling menagerie went home. Paul and Ellen have heard from them that they arrived safely and all is as well as can be expected. All the Deisler family have reason to be thankful!
There were some momentous events in the family of Eunice Paul and her daughter and son-in-law Lydia and Dean Tapley (who live in Leatherhead, England) during September. On September 17, Nathaniel Tapley (who was four years old when Dean Tapley and John Towery had their pulpit exchange--England and Texas) became engaged to Zoe Battley. They plan to be married next summer. A week later the family (including the Pittsburgh Paul family) was in Graz in Austria for the wedding of Nathaniel's younger brother, Joshua, and Martina Blass. Martina's parents speak no English and their German is limited, so it was a very interesting weekend. The wedding ceremony itself was at 9:45 in the morning on a Saturday (it has to be a civil ceremony in Austria) and they finally returned to their hotel at 2:15 on Sunday morning. Quite an experience - to put it mildly. They all had a wonderful time with many new and interesting experiences.
Congratulations to Pam Tucker. Her Round Rock soccer team (as opposed to her Austin soccer team that did not enter the tournament) took first place in the Austin Soccer Tournament for Over 30 division!
Mary and Matt Blackstock were at Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, and Monument Valley, in late September, all three of which were spectacular. The elevation at Mesa Verde goes up to 8600' and some of the folks had trouble with the thin air though it didn't keep them from doing much. They toured Canyon de Chelly in a jeep, a very rough ride, though the walls are spectacularly beautiful and interesting. On one stop they were in an area at the base of a high wall which got only morning sun: it was as though someone had landscaped it with exotic desert plants. Matt doesn't think he's ever seen anything as lovely and interesting. Monument Valley is made up of many "monuments" scattered over a very large area, used for many movies for many years; they watched the movie "Stagecoach" with a lot of enjoyment. They learned from several Navajo about many aspects of life, which seems to be hand-to-mouth for many.
Newlywed Mardie Oakes has taken a new job as executive director of a new non-profit corporation in the Bay Area that will create community based housing for people with special needs. She hopes to have her office in San Francisco which will save her several hours of commuting each day. Sarah Oakes is enjoying teaching high school chemistry at her new school, St. Stephen's--St. Agnes in Alexandria, VA. She is delighted with the caliber of the AP students she works with and is finding that her commute is not too bad. Beth Oakes is the last original member of the Maia Quartet which is based at the University of Iowa. The cellist has been with the group for three years and now the two new violinists are settling in. Commuting in Iowa City is not a problem-she can get from their home to the university in 10 minutes.
Ellie and Becky Nash are spending their Saturdays rehearsing for the Austin Children's Nutcracker, to be performed by the Conservatory Dance Theater, Dec.9-11 and Dec. 16-18 at the Dougherty Arts Center Theater. (This will consume the Nash family for two weeks in December.) Becky has several parts, and Ellie is dancing the roles of Clara and the Snow Queen in alternate shows. Tired feet, aching toes, and tired bodies can be found around the Nash house on Saturday nights right now. The girls have been Nutcracker dancers since they were quite young: Ellie is now a high school senior, and she has danced in the Nutcracker since 2nd grade. The Conservatory Dance Theater's productions are high quality while being very child-friendly and affordable. The tickets will go on sale in November, and several shows sell out well in advance. If you are interested in coming, speak with Liz or Reuel Nash about how to get tickets. If you come, either Reuel or Liz will probably be around, either attending a show with family or volunteering backstage.
Weldon and Marie Scheel have had a quiet summer and are glad that the cool weather has finally arrived. Their gardening was not great this year, but Weldon did grow some tomatoes in pots and Marie harvested some green peppers.
On September 12th, Rizer Everett had a good visit with Mary Standifer who is recovering from an automobile accident. He has known Mary since they were in the fourth grade at Wooldridge Elementary School in Austin, and she was the first one to learn how to do long division in the arithmetic class. On September 14, Johanna Householder and Rizer attended the luncheon for Exxon Mobil retirees at the Vintage Village restaurant on Lake Travis. The speaker for the day was Eddie Reese, coach of the Texas University swimming team, who gave an excellent description of the training program he is using that ranks the team so high in state and national events. On September 21, he drove to Columbus on Highway 71 to have supper with his son, John, and his colleague, Ron Staskowski. At the traffic light on the east side of Columbus the stationary line of evacuees in cars from Galveston and Houston was five miles long. Many people suffered in the slow and heavy traffic caused by the approach of hurricane Rita. John and Ron spent four hours the next day driving from their hotel in Houston to the airport for their flight to Washington, D.C. On September 28th, Rizer, also a retired geologist, had a good visit with Don Bebout, another retired geologist who now spends 30 or 40 hours a week making fine vases, pots, and bowls at the potter's wheel.
Lisa Kirch is missing us terribly as she settles in to life in Alabama. She has not found a church yet and is not too optimistic about finding one nearby. There are, in fact, many churches nearby, but not one in which she feels comfortable. She is, however, getting involved in gardening--planting apple trees, pear trees, peonies, foxglove, hollyhocks, etc. Sarah is reading like crazy (especially horse books) and enjoying fourth grade.
NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS
1 Tommie Pinkard
3 Stella Morrison
4 Nannette Strickland
5 Mary Blackstock
7 Ann Hubbs
Tom VandeStadt
8 Setsuko Kaneda
Maggie Taylor
9 Craig Barrett
Bree Hawes-Domingue
12 Michael Adams
Gabriel Pinkard
Harrison Vee Tucker
16 Brian Prioleau
Norma Hawes
17 Dennis Murphy
18 Jennifer Bratton
Jacob Bardati
22 Mariah Newell
23 Kathleen Strong
Terri Ocean
24 Jim Howicz
27 Tess Howicz
30 Betty Bodman
COFFEE HOUR
Please sign up in the Fellowship Room to be coffee hour hosts on an upcoming Sunday. The coffee hour time is such a good opportunity to visit old friends and meet visitors. We keep coffee and ginger ale and some punch fixings in the pantry in the kitchen. There are usually paper napkins, and we use coffee mugs and punch cups to avoid wasting natural resources. Your menu can be as simple or complicated as you want. Cookies and/or chips and salsa are just fine! If you have questions, talk to Pat Oakes, Tommie Pinkard, or Lynne Lemley.
OUTREACH ALERT
Freeze Nights to Begin Soon
Cold weather is just around the corner, and with it will come freezing nights and the need for the homeless of our city to take shelter, if possible. As for the past several years, we will host the Freeze Night shelter for homeless youth on alternate days at our church. The shelter is a shared responsibility with St. Austin's Catholic. When the forecast is for evening temperatures below freezing, up to 15 homeless youth are invited to stay in our basement. The shelter is coordinated and staffed by Lifeworks. We provide dinner and breakfast, and volunteers to cook meals, clean up, and interact with the youth (e.g., play games, etc.). If you are interested either in volunteering or providing foods (frozen casseroles or lasagnas are particularly helpful), please contact Tom.
T-Shirt Designs are Chosen
After much creative input and deliberation, the Outreach Board has chosen a design for new church T-shirts. The complete design includes elements from Linda Berard, Fran Brigs and Sharon Brown (all of whom will get a free shirt!). Linda was particularly helpful in using her graphics design expertise to merge the various ideas and comments into a coherent and professional set of images. The designs are posted in Fellowship Hall along with a sign-up sheet for T-shirts. Before we order the shirts, we want to get a good idea of how many and what sizes, so please let us know what you plan to purchase. The price is not yet set, but should be less than $10. The shirts will be organic cotton in natural color, and will be purchased from the Fair Trade Zone women's cooperative in Nicaragua, using profits from our fair trade coffee and cocoa sales. We plan to purchase them through the Presbyterian Church, which is an authorized distributor for the cooperative and who add a "Sweat Free" logo on the sleeve. Reuel Nash will organize the older youth and other volunteers in silk-screening the shirts.
Changes to Front Porch Lunch Donations
The Front Porch Lunches have been very successful so far. We regularly serve ~20 guests per meal, we have an abundance of volunteers to serve the lunch, and tremendous support from the membership at large in providing donations of food (Thanks!!). The Outreach board is considering adding a second Front Porch Lunch per month (served to Lifeworks clients). To do so, however, we'd like to start streamlining the process for donations. Instead of asking our members to bring food items, we will start asking instead for members to sponsor a meal, each of which costs ~$40. The Outreach Board will then purchase the items (Sara Ross has volunteered for this task) and serve the meal with our volunteers. November and December have already been spoken for. John Goff will start coordinating donations for January and beyond.
FROM CHRISTIAN ED
The elementary school youth will soon begin preparing for our annual Christmas Pageant. We need volunteers to help with costumes, props, backdrops and general help during practices. Please contact Jennifer Howicz at 246-3753 or jhowicz@austin.rr.com if you would like to volunteer.
We still need Sunday School assistants for the elementary Sunday School class. Please sign up and join the fun!!!
MY LABOR DAY WEEKEND WITH KATRINA PEOPLE
by Suzanne Vanderpoel
What started out as a short piece on "My Labor Day Weekend" has turned into a book somewhere along the way. Trish has a deadline and is forcing me to actually publish the book with her. Bummer. Please join me in thanking Jesse Binford, Lincoln Binford, and Natalia Gian for their tireless ongoing search for various members of the Barnes family, scattered across the country in the aftermath of Katrina. We have heretofore found eight members, ranging from his missing wife, whom Natalia found mentioned by name in an online Washington Post article written from the hospital in Kenner, LA, to the blind older brother shipped to Oklahoma and the senile aunt who was sent to a nursing home in Gainsville, TX. We are still missing the grown niece with two young children. The 4-year-old girl's father, who ended up outside Atlanta, had his former wife and child listed with the Red Cross as missing. No one had listed the little boy, who turned seven on my daughter's birthday, so I am now on record en loco parentis with the Red Cross Welfare Inquiry (the priority list because of chronic illness in the family.) I welcome anyone's online help in locating them and have the particulars (e.g., dates of birth, etc.)
Jesse also found the missing fiancé of another woman I met at the Convention Center and was overjoyed.
No more time. If you want to hear more, please buy an autographed copy of my book. I need the money!
CHANGE THE LIFE OF AN ABUSED CHILD
Each month in Travis County there are more than 1,200 children living in foster care because of abuse and neglect. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Travis County connects these innocent victims with caring individuals who want to impact and improve a child's life. A CASA volunteer can add safety, friendship, and hope for a new future to the life of an abused child - things they may have never had before.
Attend a CASA Open House to learn how you can change the life of an abused child in our community. Open House is an opportunity for you to come meet some of our staff and ask any questions you may have.
Upcoming Open House date:
Nov. 9
All Open Houses are held from 11am - 7pm at the CASA office located at 6330 Highway 290 East. Please call for directions or visit www.casatravis.org for a map.
If you are unable to attend an Open House, please feel free to call us at 459-2272 or email us at volunteer@casatravis.org. Attending Open House is not mandatory for becoming a volunteer.
Deadline for December Visitor - November 15
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