Wednesday, January 5, 2000
Wednesday, January 5, 2000 |
| Precious
Gems By
JUDY KILGOR Gee. We're still here. Computers work and everything. Lights are on. Gas works. Telephone rings. Clocks are still ticking. Welcome to the 21st century. Glory be! Frankly, I was never worried. I did what I always do...sat on the sofa and sipped my sparkling cider at midnight, watching the ball drop in Times Square. I left the Christmas decorations scattered all over the living room with a promise to put them away the next day, hopped on the Internet briefly to wish all my friends a Happy New Year...and went to bed. Then it hit me. We are in a new century...a new millennium...call it delayed reaction...whatever. But my brain finally started to function. I started thinking back about the things I had seen just in my lifetime. So much progress, so many new things...in such a short time. My lifetime has only been 60 years. What about those who were 80...90 years old? The technology alone must be mind boggling for them. My “Precious Gem” this week comes from a wonderful column done by Rev. Doug Burrell of Inman United Methodist Church in his church's newsletter, “The Inman Informer.” It's called “It's Time.” “The one who wrote the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes says this about time: `For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).' It would seem this is one of those `times' when we would do well to pause and reflect on what has happened in the past year and in the past century, and to measure ourselves against the backdrop of a millennium. “Time was put in perspective for me while I stood on the Mount of Olives looking over toward Mount Moriah, on which once stood the Jewish Temple. At the beginning of the last millennium, the Jews had been exiled from Jerusalem for almost 1000 years. It would be 99 years before the `Crusaders' would invade Jerusalem. The European Reformation born of the Enlightenment was still some 500 years away, as was the voyage of one Christopher Columbus. The birth of John Wesley wouldn't be for another 700 years and the United States of America wouldn't arrive until 776 years later. Maybe that's enough said to put 1000 years in perspective except to say that according to scriptures, 1000 years is like only one day to God. “At this time of year in 1899, no one dared to believe that folks wouldn't be able to find a parking place at Hartsfield Airport because they couldn't fathom a world filled with horseless buggies, much less the idea of machines that could carry 300 people up six miles into the sky, and halfway around the world in less than a day. “My grandmother has been dead for more than a fourth of this century, but, in 1899 she was a three-year-old. Her parents could remember the War Between the States and would never have believed that a man from just south of Andersonville, Ga., would, just 76 years later, occupy the White House. “There were no automobiles, no telephones, no microwaves, no computers, no malls, no interstate highways, no social security, no women voters, no Internet, no television, no video stores and no school buses. “But there was a Methodist Church here in Inman. It had already been here over 50 years. It was (first) known as Liberty Chapel, then Inman Methodist Episcopal Church South, then Inman Methodist Church, and now Inman United Methodist Church. It has had its ups and downs through the years. There have been times of peace and war, times of growth and decline, times of weeping and laughing. But in all of these times, God has been with us. “Especially in this last year have we known the grace of God in our lives. There have been excruciating losses. We have broken ground and broken bread. We have grown in numbers. We have ministered to the needy. We have studied God's word and worshipped in His sanctuary. We have welcomed new friends and rediscovered old ones. We have prayed and worked. We have taken gifts to children and experienced revival on the farm. We have begun new ministries and made plans for the future. “And now it's time to move on. It's time to let go of the past and we thank God for this provisions and pray ourselves into the future. It's time to be surprised at what new thing the Lord will do in our lives and through His church at Inman. I pray for you and yours and for all of us a wonderful New Year in the year 2000.” I echo your thoughts, Doug. And thanks for those wonderful reflections. Have a wonderful New Year, everyone. Until next time...keep the faith.
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