Buying Land During a Siege...

FOR SALE

We'll gather at the church Sunday at 4 p.m. and go up to Judd's Peak to eat snacks, play some yard games (Bocci ball etc), let our imaginations work on the clouds while we lie on our backs and talk about doing dumb things for divine reasons. Our scripture follows below...Jeremiah 32:1-15 (also see Jeremiah 29)
So just bring snacks, we'll be traveling light and getting home early.

Oct 6 we'll meet at 1:30 and carpool down to Harmon Field to celebrate World Communion Sunday with other communions from our county. Following our worship celebration there, we will get info on the Foothills Crop Walk to fight hunger and poverty at home and abroad.

Oct 13  We'll travel down to Columbus to hear a speaker talk about what we can do to address the devastating issues of poverty confronting our community today.

Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, ‘Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?’

 Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of theLord.

 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

From http://anathothgarden.org

In 2005 Bill King was murdered at his bait and tackle store down the road from the current community garden site. In response,Cedar Grove United Methodist Church  held a prayer vigil for healing and peace at the site of the murder. At the prayer vigil two visions came together: Scenobia Taylor, an African-American woman, had a vision to donate 5 acres of her family’s land to the church for the healing of the community; Rev. Grace Hackney, the pastor of the prodominately white church, was exploring ways that the community could reconcile with the land by growing food sustainably. 

  


Due in large part to the skill and dedication of our first director, Fred Bahnson, and the amazing efforts of neighbors from all across the region, Scenobia’s and Grace’s vision grew into Anathoth Community Garden. Named after the place in the story of Jeremiah 29[and 32], where Jeremiah purchases a field and urges the Israelites in exile to make peace by planting gardens,  Anathoth has a vision of holistic reconciliation, in which relationships with all creatures are redeemed to their fullness, to shalom.

Our mission at Anathoth is to cultivate peace by using regenerative agriculture to connect people with their neighbors, the land, and God.

The Problem with the AntiHero

So many TV series lift up the antihero, so let's dig a little deeper into the popularity and problems of these literary characters and their place in our lives.
According to Webster, an antihero is a main character in a book, play, movie, etc., who does not have the usual good qualities that are expected in a hero. They blur the lines between villain and hero. Some examples are Tony Soprano, Dexter and Walter White on Breaking Bad.
We know life is complicated and these characters highlight that. So let's talk about being complicated and still living the way of God, the way of Love. See our scriptures below.
We can share snacks while we talk about our TV shows and our lives (so just bring chips, nuts, drinks or whatever you like to snack on--we won't have dinner)

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

The Prophet Mourns for the People

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
   my heart is sick.
Hark, the cry of my poor people
   from far and wide in the land:
‘Is the Lord not in Zion?
   Is her King not in her?’
(‘Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
   with their foreign idols?’)
‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
   and we are not saved.’
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
   I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?
   Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
   not been restored?
O that my head were a spring of water,
   and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
   for the slain of my poor people!

Luke 16:1-13

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
 ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’

Our Journeys Together

Stone Soup Meets at 11 a.m. Sunday 9/15 in the Saluda UMC sanctuary.
We'll be able to be in worship and support and affirm the spiritual journeys of our youth.
Henry and Zoe will join the church near the end of the worship service. And we'll all have a chance to look at this spiritual journey we call faith, hope and love.
So join us at 11 to celebrate.
Then, we'll look for a place to go for lunch with any who would like to join us.
See you then!

Mark 9:21-24
 Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’

Ranier Maria Rilke
I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be give to you now, because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

And David danced before the Lord with all his might... 2 Samuel 6:14

We've looked at worship and praise through all sorts of means and practices. This Sunday, we'll use our bodies in dance to praise God and be in worship.
Sonya Monts will host us at The Dancers' Extension and we'll see two of her dancers who have worked on choreographing to themes or emotions. Then we'll get a chance to dance too. Maybe, we can even dance a prayer...
We'll meet at the church at 4 p.m. and carpool just a short drive to the Dancers' Extension (next to the Apple Mill across from the truck stop.) For our meal together we'll go light with sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks etc in case the weather is just too pretty to be inside we can picnic in the park.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. Jeremiah 31:13

Remember next week September 15 Stone Soup will meet at 11 a.m. at t the church to affirm our support of the spiritual journeys of youth!

Here are some pics from last week!