Vol. III, # 26, Feb. 4, 2005

Seventeen Shepsons Braved the Snow, Ice and Sleet

Last Sunday PH counted seventeen Shepsons in attendance to hear Shepson Teacher Gene continue our study of First Samuel. We learned how young David was able to do exorcisms on Saul by playing harp music. This may be the earliest written record of music psychotherapy, procedure code 90806 for fifty minutes or possibly 90804 for thirty minutes. PH saw Teacher Bob on this past Tuesday night. Bob did well on his trip down under and will be ready to continue the story of David when harpist David becomes a giant killer. We will probably start toward the end of chapter sixteen or the beginning of chapter seventeen of First Samuel. We all should be aware that Teacher Bob could start anywhere, but probably not the Prologue. Those of you who recall reading or listening to the story of David and Goliath probably have many fond memories of this story of the triumphant underdog. Attached to this PHA is an illustration of David and Goliath.

Prayer Rounds

PH Got the Dates Mixed Up Regarding Donald Deer

Last week PH reported that Donald Deer had undergone a lithotripsy procedure on January 27. Actually Donald went for his pre opt lab work on January 27 and he had the procedure yesterday. On the evening after the procedure Barbara Deer sent PH the following report.

Dear Henry,

Donald had his lithotripsy on schedule today (11:30 a.m.); the doctor called me in to tell me it was over about 12:45. He said it went well, they blasted the kidney stone with a shock wave, and he said there seemed to be nothing left. Donald had general anesthesia, and started waking up about an hour later. They called me in to be with him; he finally came home at 2:25. He has a stent and a catheter in, that will be in for 2 weeks; then we go back to the doctor to have them taken out.

At that time, we will discuss with the doctor what Donald should do about his diet, to avoid making further stones in the future.

He is feeling pretty well, no specific pain to speak of. The doctor gave him a prescription in case of pain, and he continues on the antibiotic.

Cordially,

Barbara S. Deer

Kathy Wade requests prayers for a friend. She writes

John Seale is a missionary in the northwest part of the Caribbean through the International Mission Board. I've been friends with him and his wife, Jeanie, for a long time. He was being treated for cancer in the upper part of his body but now it has spread. Please keep this incredibly resourceful missionary for God in your prayers.

Thanks for praying,

Kathy W.

Remember in your prayers: Donald and Barbara Deer, IMB missionary John Seale, Diane and Don Retzer, Kathy Wade's former brother-in-law and his family, Tom Hicks and his family, Jackie Everett, the VCU BSU, Shoney's employee Vivian Martin and her husband Ray, Cecil and Dot Sherman, Peggy Harris and her family, Kim Williams and her family, Rick and Linda Mears, Audrey Thomson's sister Sharon Ruben and Sharon's family, Jared Oliver, Julia Tyler and her parents, Mary and Julian Pentecost, Kay and Bob Culpeper, John and Margaret Oliver, the Church clergy and staff. Prayers should also be offered our military and civilians in harm's way, those with losses in Asia and those only known to you.

The January Mission Project Is a Huge Success

SHEPHERD-SIMPSON CLASS DID WELL BY THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA FOODBANK DURING THE JANUARY 2005 CAMPAIGN: $1,280, OR ENOUGH TO ENABLE THE FOODBANK TO PURCHASE $17,920 WORTH OF FOOD. Thanks, everyone. Many Sunday School classes and families in the church also contributed funds to help the Food Bank provide food for the needy with a ballpark guess that overall at least $2,200-$2,400 and over 500 pounds of canned and packaged goods ultimately found its way to the Food Bank. A great effort!

Charlotte and Bill

High Church Activities Are Scheduled Next Week

On Tuesday night, February 8, River Roaders (Baptists) will have the opportunity to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. The church Youth Group will prepare and host this celebration. From that source of unquestioned information, the Internet, PH found more than you would possibly want to know about Shrove Tuesday and the International Pancake Day.

"Nobody knows just how long people have been making and eating pancakes but you could almost call the flat bread made by primitive families twelve thousand years ago, a pancake. Pancakes were made by grinding grains and nuts and adding water or milk. This mixture was then shaped into flattened cakes and baked on the hot stones surrounding the fire. I suspect that the making and eating of pancakes has always been much the same… a noisy, stimulating, exhilarating, greedy, happy time. Pancakes just seem to affect people that way. So it's not too surprising that two happy events for people… pancakes and festivals are often linked together. Perhaps the best known one is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the beginning of fasting in Lent. On this day (so the historians say) there were feasts of pancakes to use up the supplies of fat, butter and eggs... foods that were forbidden during austere Lent. In England there arc several celebrations on this day but perhaps the best known one is the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Buckinghamshire which has been held since 1445. The race came about when a woman cooking pancakes heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, and thus without knowing it, started a tradition that has lasted for over five hundred years. According to the current rules, only women wearing a dress, no slacks or jeans, an apron and a hat or scarf, may take part in the race. Each contestant has a frying pan containing a hot, cooking pancake. She must toss it three times during the race that starts at the market square at 11.55 am. The first woman to complete the winding 375 metre course (the record is 63 seconds set in 1967) and arrive at the church, serve her pancake to the bellringer and be kissed by him, is the winner. She also receives a prayer book from the vicar On the same day at 11 am at Westminster School in London, a verger from the Abbey leads a procession of eager boys into the playground of the school for the Annual Pancake Grease. The school cook, who must be something of an athlete to manage it, tosses a huge pancake over a five metre high bar and the boys frantically scramble for a piece. The scholar who emerges from the scrum with the largest piece receives a cash bonus from the Dean. The cook also gets a reward. Across the Channel in France the main ceremonial day, for pancake eating is Candlemas on the 2nd of February. This holy day is six weeks after Christmas and is the day that Christ was presented at the temple by his mother. During this festival, French children wear masks and demand pancakes and fritters. In various parts of the country, there are different customs. In Province, if you hold a coin in your left hand while you toss a pancake, you'll be rich. And in Brie the first pancake (which is never very good anyway) is always given to the hen that laid the eggs that made the pancake. And it's always regarded as bad luck to let a pancake fall on the floor while tossing it. Legend has it that Napoleon, who liked to make and eat them with Josephine, blamed the failure of his Russian campaign on one he had dropped years before at Malmaison during Candlemas. Pancakes are the traditional treat of the Jewish Hanukkah festival. They are fried in oil to commemorate the oil found by the Maccabeans when they recaptured Jerusalem from the Syrians, two thousand years ago. The one day's supply of oil for the temple lamps burned miraculously for one week. And, tradition says, the wives of the soldiers hurriedly cooked pancakes behind the lines for their warring husbands. Large or small, fat or wafer thin and made with a wide range of flours, pancakes are given different names by different peoples. There are Hungarian palacsinta, Chinese egg rolls, Jewish blintzes, Russian blini, Italian cannelloni, Swedish plattar, Mexican tortillas, American hotcakes, German pfannkucken, Norwegian lefser, Austrian nockerin, Welsh crempog and Australian pikelets: but undoubtedly the most famous of them all is the great French crepe." From Pancake and Crepe Cookery by Diana Daisy published by Ure Smith

Ash Wednesday! Will There Be Ashes This Year?

On Wednesday evening after dinner, River Roaders will have the opportunity to worship during the Ash Wednesday service. How high will this service be? When PH was a teenager in a Baptist Youth Group, on one occasion PH asked his Sunday School teacher: “How is it that our church does not have confessions, an Ash Wednesday ritual, last rites and other sacraments?” The blue collar working teacher simply said, “We don't do anything that Jesus didn't do. Jesus was baptized and he conducted the first Communion. That's it."

The Labyrinth Walk Will Be Offered Again

Several times a year RRCB offers members and others the opportunity to walk the sacred walk of the labyrinth. According to information in the Spire our labyrinth is made of canvas and is a replica of a labyrinth laid in the 12th century in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France. If you have not walked the labyrinth in the past, try it on Valentine's Day or Good Friday. PH attempted to "roll" the labyrinth on this past New Year's Eve. When PH attempted to make a turn, the canvas started to unravel. Thus, PH needs to return to the 12th century.

The Bishop's Dining Room Is Frigid

Last weekend the RRCB Board of Christian Education had a Retreat at Roslyn, that Episcopal meeting place west on River Road overlooking the James River. Diner on Friday night was to be held in the Bishop's Dining Room. When PH arrived and went to the Bishop's Dining Room PH noticed that every one present still had on their outside winter clothes. There was a fire in the fireplace, but the room was as cold as outside. It was later learned that the heat pump was not working. PH also learned that Pastor Mike and Vivian experienced a thorough interview by the Pastor's Search Committee last March in this same room. The Bishop's Dining Room was warmer that day. Fortunately a warmer room was found to conduct the Retreat. No, PH did not steal the bishop's silver candle stick holders.

John Oliver Will Be Twenty-nine Next Tuesday.

Shepson John Oliver can eat all the pancakes he wants on next Tuesday. He will be twenty-nine and chances are that Margaret will be wearing her apron. On next Friday Sherrill and Ray Judd will celebrate forty years of marriage.

What Josephus Said About Jesus

Josephus was a Jewish historian who was born six or seven years after the physical death of Jesus. He was a prolific writer and is one of the few non Christians to write something about Jesus during the first century. In his Antiquities of the Jews, he wrote the following brief description of Jesus:

"At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one should call him a man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. He was the messiah. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to a cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them on the third day, living again, just as the divine prophets had spoken of these and countless other wondrous things about him. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out."

PH: Josephus was quite correct with his last sentence.

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