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"Extending God's Healing Grace to All"
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For the family of Chaplain David Vaughn. Dave's funeral will be this Saturday, January 30, 10:30 a.m. at Spirit of Life Catholic Church in Mandan, ND. A prayer service will be held on Friday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the church. Dave and his family have been through a lot and we thank all of you who continue to remember them in prayer.
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Dear Colleagues in ministry, Every Springtime there is a race in my neighborhood. The participants tend to be retired men and the name of the race is "who can get his lawn greenest first". I always think of my father at this time of year. He was a grass fanatic and perfectionist. He would conquer our lawn with the help of the mower, weed whacker, an edge trimmer, and nostril tweezers...... and sometimes win the race. Our lawn always looked very fine. When my daughter lived in Wyoming, she showed me an ecumenical retreat center called Ring Lake Ranch near Dubois, Wyoming. This is a place that would have driven my dad crazy. Ring Lake Ranch's philosophy is, "Do not interfere with nature." The grounds are covered with sagebrush and prairie weeds, rocks, and decaying scrub trees. It is an absolutely glorious mess, which nature most often is when left to its own devices. Nature's beautiful messiness violates our sense of order and defies our need to control things. We are constantly working with the forces of nature as healers. Birth, growth, disease, healing, aging, and death are all part of this glorious mess we know as life. We try to control nature as much as possible, but we recognize that there is something greater than ourselves at work. From the front view of one of the cabins at the ranch, there was a magnificent view of the Absoroka mountain range and Ring Lake. However, smack-dab in the middle of that picture window was a dead tree, screaming its demise to a world filled with beauty and health. My reaction was to pull it out, get rid of it, make certain that everything stayed green, fully alive, and in its proper place........... after all, I am my father's daughter. Yet perhaps it is precisely when we fully experience the presence of one who is dying that we can see most clearly the beauty of life. We know that each day is precious, a gift from God. We know that ultimately we all will die. We know that there is nothing greater than to have lived, and loved, and to have done something meaniningful. Those who linger near death testify that there is great value in life, even in its closing days, which must be treasured. We may not know what to say to those who are dying when there is nothing more that we can do to "cure" them, but the dying may have something of importance to say to us. Perhaps they may tell us that they are ready to embrace their passage through death. Perhaps their journey may remind us to live each day to the fullest, knowing that we all will die. Perhaps their message would resemble that of Julian of Norwich (a religious woman who lived in the late-fourteenth and early-fifteenth centuries) who said, "All will be well." Or they might simply like the opportunity to bid us farewell. What can we say to them as we face our own mortality? We can say, "We have done all we could." We need to be honest with each person. We can say, "We suggest you consider hospice." There, the dying receives compassionate care in their own homes, surrounded by their friends and family. We can say, "We care about you." We can say, "We will pray for you." And we might also take the opportunity to thank them and to say, "Good-bye." When we are afraid of the dying, something within ourselves dies. We lost touch with the reality of our own mortality and its inestimable contribution to the value of our human lives. But when we have the courage to walk with them through their hardest journey, we gain a deeper understanding of the mystery of life. A great new interest in spirituality is occurring these days, and healers are playing a part in this. As science unravels more of the mysteries of the human body and the processes of living and dying, we find we grow closer to Mystery. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. And God is part of it all. So enjoy God's blessings as you revel in the glorious mess that life is! Enjoy these precious days and join us at our Fall Retreat, August 8 and 9, at Maryvale in Valley City. All will be well. With warmest regards, in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Burnie Kunz, President ND Chaplains Association
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Dear Colleagues in Ministry A few years ago, right before Christmas, a friend's husband had to go to a hospital emergency department. Burton had been playing basketball, and a sharp undercut to his jaw took him by surprise. The impact brought his teeth sharply together, unfortunately, catching his tongue mid-bite. He drove himself to the hospital for stitches. In the Emergency Department, time always seems long for patients. While he was there, he heard the doctor give a rundown of the patients who were there. "Let's see, 'The Heart' is in that room, 'The Ankle' is in there, and 'The Tongue' is down the hall." (Now with HIPAA, these patients would be called "The Chest," "The Leg," and "The Head" to avoid revealing sensitive health information.) At the time, Burton thought, "A four-year bachelor's degree, two master's degrees, and an expensive Ph.D., and I'm reduced to 'The Tongue.'" Well, at least The Tongue had health insurance. He showed his card, which displayed the amount of his co-pay. Pity the Tongues who have no insurance. They are stablized and sent on their way, or treated and charged a rate far higher than that charged the Insured Tongue. And his skin was the right color. There is much data to show that Tongues who come in surrounded by anything but off-white skin have a harder time being treated in Emergency or any other department. Same goes for their treatment in the church. And The Tongue was of the right gender. Too often the health concerns of women are treated less seriously, particularly if they present their health concern as related to The Heart. Four hours later, The Tongue was discharged. It was Christmastime, and the only thing that the guy could eat was Ensure. And The Tongue didn't talk too well, either, so even people who had known him (and taught with him on the same seminary faculty) started talking to him like he was profoundly retarded. His intellectual abilities weren't impacted one bit that day, but for weeks he was treated very differently by strangers and friends. We have heard Jesus called the Great Physician, but he was also the Great Nurse and the Great Rabbi. Jesus listened. He wasn't on an HMO-prescribed limit of eight- to twelve-minutes-per-patient appointment, seeing only those who were covered by the plan his office accepted. He wasn't trying to finish all his paperwork before the shift change. Jesus listened to the stories of people who were suffering, and he did all that he could to help them. He gave from the heart. He touched people's lives when they were scared and vulnerable - women, men, Jews, Gentiles - all who came to him. Jesus taught. He told stories and parables to give people the vision they needed to change their lives - to change their behaviors, their habits, their beliefs - to bring them healing and wholeness. Healers teach all the time - helping people to change their health practices. Jesus was a counselor, an advocate for the weak, a comforter, and a challenger. It takes courage to be a healer today. It is challenging to welcome the sick. Modern diseases like AIDS or SARS are frightening, and they represent risk to the healer. Serving as a healer will always be a challenging form of caring for others. Yet you have risen to that challenge, and you have agreed that you will care for people in body, mind, and spirit - as whole people. You teach them, touch them, and go to where they are. You set forth each day to change the world, by healing it one person at a time. In 2008, live your own stories to the fullest. Listen to the stories of those for whom you care. Go forth, dear friends, with God's blessing, and know that you are called to a ministry of love and care, just as God loves and cares for you. Blessings in 2008 as you serve our Lord and His people, Burnie Kunz, President ND Chaplains Association
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Prayer for Caregivers: Christ Jesus, Source of Life, Spirit of all healing, Bless those who serve the sick. Direct and guide us. Remembering that each of us will take our turns in darkness and in light, let us be light for one another when the darkness falls. Gentle our hands. Soften our eyes. Open a window in our hearts so that your Grace and loving Kindness may shine through. Make of our attention a safe shelter for the healing of the sick, in mind and heart, spirit and body. Renew us always in your love. Amen.
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Hawaiian Wedding Cake Method Preheat oven to 350. Mix sugar, eggs and butter in a large bowl. Add pineapple. Sift together flour and baking soda two times and mix well into pineapple mixture. Stir in chopped pecans. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Frosting: Mix until smooth. Frost cake . Store in refrigerator. 2 c. sugar 2 large eggs 2 c. all-purpose flour 2 t. baking soda 1 (20-oz.) can crushed pineapple in syrup or juice, undrained 1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts 3/4 c. flaked coconut (opt.) ½ c. softened butter Frosting: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (softened) 6-tablespoons margarine 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
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Caring for God’s Creation by Marty Toepke-Floyd One of my earliest memories is camping in the mountains. The fresh clean air – the snow covered peaks – the blue lakes and green meadows – I can still picture them in my mind 40 years later. My family introduced me to the beauty and wonder of God’s good creation. For that I will ever be grateful. What concerns me now is how my lifestyle impacts the environment around me. As Christian, I want to be a good steward of the soil, water and air on which all life depends. With rising energy prices, I am especially aware how dependent I am on fuel oil to heat the house I live in, on gasoline to drive my cars, and on coal to power the electric appliances I often take for granted. This dependence is disturbing to me in the light of world-wide climate changes brought on from centuries of burning coal and oil. This energy consumption has pumped so much carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere, that climates are changing around the planet. Global warming threatens all human, animal and plant life as sea levels rise, growing seasons change, deserts expand, storms intensify, and polar ice caps melt faster than nature and society can adapt. In the words of Adlai Stevenson,"We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship [earth], dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and I will say, the love we give our fragile craft." As I see it, the care, work and love we must give to our planet includes changing our energy consumption habits. On a personal level, I try to bicycle more often for errands around town. I use low-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs. I set the thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer. I drive a little slower on the highway to get better gas mileage. There are many other ways I can conserve energy and hopefully make life more liveable for more creatures and more generations. Yet there is a limit to how much I can do on my own. Our entire human society has to change our energy habits in order to survive and allow other species to survive, too. In my opinion the best strategies to pursue are wind energy to generate electricity, hybrid gas/electric engines to power our vehicles, and most importantly, energy conservation to reduce our use of carbon-rich fossil fuels. There are also energy sources which I think we want to avoid. Nuclear energy may not release greenhouse gases, but does produce radioactive and toxic waste which have to be stored thousands of years (something which has yet to be figured out). And ethanol from grain may appeal to farmers, but it takes food away from the poor, and it still uses fossil fuels and fertilizers for growing, harvesting, processing and transporting the bulky raw materials into the final product. As a Christian there is another resource I can draw on as I seek to change: prayer. Recently I have been added to a prayer network called "Christians Caring for Creation," which was founded ten years ago by a family in California. I read about them in a recent issue of Guideposts magazine. Their names are Connie Hanson and Amy Hanson Chambers (e-mail: cccpnch@aol.com ). We may not be able to stop or reverse global warming, but we may slow it down and give ourselves and nature more time to adapt. There is hope for our world and God’s good creation to continue for many generations to enjoy, but it will only happen as we align our lives with God’s order. That is what I am trying to do, and I hope you will join me in that effort as we care for God’s creation together.
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From our President - August 10th, 2007 Dear Colleagues in Ministry, If you would have looked in my office recently, you would have seen sorting, filing, and pitching. This is not because I enjoy sorting, filing, and pitching. It is because I was feeling paralyzed by my ever growing list of "Things to Do". Nearly every healer with whom I speak mentions this trend - there is always more to be done. None of us can do it alone! Thankfully, there are ways through the maze of hurry with which most of us are well familiar. One way is to stop and take time to be with family, friends, and God. Our Society has wandered far from the biblical concept of "Sabbath." Stores remain open on Sundays, sports teams practice and play, and there are always errands to run that never seem to get done during the week. God reminds us, through taking time for prayer and meditation and for Sabbath worship, rest and renewal, that fully completing our work is an illusion. We are called to participate in God's work, but we will never be able to accomplish everything we would like. We are to rest secure in the thought that if we follow in God's ways, our work will be blessed, and it will be enough. What price does our society pay for this task-focus marathon? We work more hours than any other nation on earth. We eat fast food, and we export it to outher countries, even though it is filled with salt, fat, and simple carbohydrates. We are sleep-deprived, and our kids are suffering. The New York Times stated that the group of Americans with the largest increase in antidepressant use between 1998 and 2002 was preschool children - an increase of over 50 percent. College students are experiencing stress at ever greater levels. We are living in "Never" Land: Never take a break. Wayne Muller, the founder of Bread for the Journey, a nonprofit that provides funds for social services in impoverished neighborhoods, has written Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives. He writes, "Sabbath time is not spiritually superior to our work. The practice is rather to find that balance point at which, having rested, we do our work with greater ease and joy, and bring healing and delight to our endeavors. Even if we were to leave work behind and seek the comfort and security of a monastery, we would be handed a broom, and told to sweep the walks.....But there is a time to sweep, and a time to put down the broom and rest." May you, too, embrace time to work, rest, and play. Hope to see many of you at our Retreat in Richardton, August 24 - 25. Registration is due today. Just give Marty a call or email. Blessings in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Burnie Kunz, President ND Chaplains Association P.S. If you haven't seen the movie "Evan Almighty", you may want to before our Retreat. I highly recommend it.
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OPENING PRAYER ND Chaplains Assn. May 3, 2007 Healing God, bless the healers in this place, and throughout your world. Lead us all to greater understanding of your love and purpose for all Creation. Help those who are called as healers to embrace their roles as leaders in the community, calling others into fullness of life. Loving God, bless the healers, who carry the mantle of responsibility for knowledge of body, mind, and spirit, and knowledge of your saving grace. Grant them power to change lives - beginning with their own. Help them to forge paths to the healing waters, where renewal and comfort are found. Caring God, bless the healers, who bear the strain of worry for those who are afflicted with pain and sorrow. You have promised to all who are heavy-laden a yoke which is easy and a burden which is light. We know that you bear the weight of the world, but we also know that the healers who walk alongside those who suffer are not untouched by their trouble. Hopeful God, bless the healers, who give their lives in service of others. Bless them as they point toward wholeness, and peace, and hope. Bless them as they search for answers to life's questions. Bless them as they pray and minister unto others. Bless them as they walk in their own sorrow and pain. Living God, bless the healers. And bless all those with whom the healers live, and work, and have their being. And now bless our time together and this meal we are about to receive from your gracious hand. We pray in the healing name of Jesus. Amen.
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