The Church of St. Andrew the Apostle
The Messenger
CRITICISM 101
Don’t be mislead — you cannot mock the justice of
God. You will always harvest what you plant.
November 2015
-Galatians 6:7 (NLT)
You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire
ocean in a drop.
-Rumi
Inside this issue:
TGIF, Vets Secret 2
Santa, Prayer Shawl,
Squash Harvest
Pumpkinfest Thanks 3
One of the things I have come to believe is
that everything is interconnected, which
means everything affects everything else.
It’s all energy. This also means I try to
practice the simple version of the
Hippocratic Oath: “Do no harm.” Not a
bad way to attempt to travel through life,
and, after all, we are all in the medical field
because we all serve the Great Physician,
Jesus our Lord. I like to think I do this
because, well, I’m a clergyman and it comes
with my job! But, truth be told, sometimes
I do this because NOT doing it brings me
grief. Like I said before: humanity is
interconnected. What you do to another,
you do to yourself. The Golden Rule brings
not only blessings, but curses, too. Take,
for example, “criticizing others.” It is a lot
more harmful that you think. Remember,
it’s all energy and the act of criticism creates
a destructive energy force. This is one of
the reasons I now shy away from overwatching political shows or listening to
political talk radio. The endless negative
criticism pollutes the soul and distorts
reality.
When you start down the road of criticizing
others and making derogatory statements,
you are announcing to others that you are
not centered and there is an imbalance of
harmony in your life. The ego is at work
here. The ego only looks out for number
one. It is self-centered, not Christ-centered.
Big difference! You end up respecting
yourself by respecting others. I really
believe when you honor and love yourself
you will never dishonor or hate another.
You know that we’re all different, having
our own opinions and everyone is, of
course, never going to agree on everything.
Having said the obvious, perhaps one of my
old teachers from back in the day got to the
bottom line when she would constantly
remind her students: “If you can’t say
something nice…” Well, you know the rest.
Love in Christ,
Father Bill +
TGIF
TGIF will meet Nov 20 at 7:00. We hope to have a Hindi woman share information about her faith.
Vets Secret Santa
Vets Secret Santa wish lists will be available soon. Please sign out your card, purchase whatever you can from
the list and return it UNWRAPPED to the back of church by Dec. 20. Tuck the card into the bag. We are the
largest group provider of Christmas gifts to the Vets Hospital each year. Please help our Outreach Committee
continue to spread God's love this year. If you'd like to help decorate at the hospital or wrap gifts please see
Mary Laing or Joy Franklin.
Prayer Shawl
We plan to meet Nov. 11 in the Well's room at 7pm. A simple pattern of knit 3, purl 3 creates a beautiful shawl
to give to those in need of comfort. They are also used in celebration, such as, birth of a child. Contact Jean
Miller-Smith at [email protected] for info.
Squash Harvest
Thank you to all who came out and helped with the squash harvest. We had several children helping, and they
really enjoyed the work. The squash was picked up by FOODSHARE. The total this year was 925 pounds,
pretty good considering the very dry weather. Again, thank you to all who helped. Bruce Crane
331 Orchard Street
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Phone: 860-529-7622
Email: [email protected]
The Church of St.
Andrew the Apostle
331 Orchard Street
Rocky Hill, CT
06067
November Birthdays: Lynne Brown, Trevor Christensen, Sandra DiPaola,
Susan Brautigam, Jan Tucciarone, Marion Lombardo, Judy Piotrowski,
Gordon Fosdick, Peter Dombrowski, Carol LaBella, Bev Manwaring,
Susan Slaga-Metivier, Kristin Ball, Donna Bailey, Cecelia Fosdick