Comments by the Reverend Clyde E. Griffith, Retired Pastor of The Presbyterian Church, USA, currently serving from his residence in Griffith's Woods SouthWest (GWSW), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USAnoreply@blogger.com (Clyde Griffith)Wed, 4 Sep 2024 19:10:31 -0400Blogger http://www.blogger.com133125http://seztherev.blogspot.com/en-usnominister,pastor,church,progressive,church,God,Jesus,ChristComments by the pastor of The Connecting Place: Christ Presbyterian Church, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, A Center of Faith for Living Abundantly. The Reverend Clyde E. Griffith.Connect With The Connecting PlaceThe Reverend Clyde Griffithpastor@ConnectOnLine.usThe Reverend Clyde Griffithhttp://seztherev.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-light-still-shines.htmlepiphanyFri, 6 Jan 2023 17:41:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-8537942982735868085      Epiphany is one of the oldest days of celebration recognized by the church – they celebrated     the Day of Epiphany for several hundred years before anyone thought of celebrating the day        of the birth of the baby Jesus.      Truth be told, I think we should do far more with the twelve days of 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2023/01/happy-epiphany.htmlepiphanyThu, 5 Jan 2023 12:06:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-2958692884780218009  The church recognizes the Day of Epiphany as being tomorrow – the first day after the twelve days of Christmas.It may surprise you to know that many cultures of the world make more to do over the twelve days of Christmas and Epiphany than they do over Christmas day itself. In fact, Epiphany is one of the oldest days of celebration recognized by the church – they celebrated the Day of 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-8th-day-of-christmas-day-lord-has.htmlnew beginningsnew dayNew YearSun, 1 Jan 2023 11:54:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-8751272244792015510 It’s a good thing we begin a new year every year about this time, don’t you think?If properly approached, the beginning of a new year can be beneficial to our psyche, beneficial to our health, and beneficial to our soul.However, as the years go by, Father Time becomes more of a caricature, and we pay less and less attention to the intention  of the season, don’t we?Without the0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2022/12/for-time-being.htmlMon, 26 Dec 2022 16:42:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-3128102288569251270  Poet W.H. Auden wrote For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio in 1941 and 42 in war-torn England. For over fifty Christmases I have read this poem - sometimes to myself, sometimes with family, sometimes with congregations I have served.  Needless to say, it speaks to me in a profound way.  And I share it here with you that you might find some inspiration.   Well, so0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2022/12/our-own-story-of-christmas.htmladventChristmasemmanuelThu, 15 Dec 2022 11:42:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-1523719221604257131  Isaiah 52:7-10John 1:1-14So, it's almost Christmas.  For us in the church, this is the Fourth Sunday of Advent – a time for us to contemplate why we celebrate Christmas anyway.Again, this year, during these weeks before Christmas, we have been looking at the very earliest documents we have to ascertain just how those earliest Christians celebrated Christmas – hoping to find 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2022/12/whose-birthday-is-it-anyway.htmladventChristmasFri, 9 Dec 2022 19:08:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-1059625844056428850  No one knows when Jesus was born . . .    No one kept a record – maybe he never told anyone – we don’t know     It just was not important to them.There is no record of the Disciples ever singing happy birthday to Jesus.Ready or not, Christmas is coming.  With every catalog we get in the mail,with every card we receive,with every Christmas song we hear in 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2021/11/making-miracles-at-thanksgiving.htmlSat, 20 Nov 2021 20:53:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-906175120591734117As this holiday approaches, may I suggest an appropriate article written a few years ago and published in Newsweek: "You and I are not good at fixing the international credit markets, but we can become very good at splinting butterfly wings and filling boxes of food [at your local food pantry] . . . ." So writes Rabbi Marc Gellman in Newsweek.  Check out his article on the butterfly 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2021/10/16-years-cancer-free.htmlSun, 31 Oct 2021 02:54:00 -0400tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-1655735785035890697  Last week, I kept a long-standing appointment with my Urologist.  His news was good news.  "16 years cancer free", he said.No signs of cancer. "There is nothing for us to talk about," he said. "See you next year." "YES!", I said. 16 years ago I wrote these words for our church folks -- and it has since been passed on and on -- I don't know where.  You might like to 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2021/05/reclaiming-mothers-day.htmlSun, 9 May 2021 16:25:00 -0400tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-4454937564306930503Mother’s Day Vigil for Peace outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto by Voice of Women a Canadian peace group, May 11, 1963.  Today is Mothers’ Day – a time we set aside to honor the women who have meant so much to us.In the culture around us, Mothers’ Day has taken a turn from its original intention, and for the past few years in this church we have tried to say that Mothers’ Day isn’t 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/12/for-time-being.htmlWed, 30 Dec 2020 18:55:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-348816031749024372 Poet W.H. Auden wrote For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio in 1941 and 42 in war-torn England. For over fifty Christmases I have read this poem - sometimes to myself, sometimes with family, sometimes with congregations I have served.  Needless to say, it speaks to me in a profound way.  And I share it here with you that you might find some inspiration.   Well, so that0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/12/every-day-is-best-day-in-year.htmlWed, 30 Dec 2020 18:43:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-3672459045703492928 Back when I served as pastor to a congregation, I sent out a message such as this to them.  I think it is a message we still need to hear at the end of this most disturbing year, and I invite you to read it.It is good that we begin a new year every year about this time, don’t you think?As strange as it might seem, the new year did not always begin on January 1!To be sure, there almost0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/12/why-is-this-night-different-from-all.htmlWed, 30 Dec 2020 18:19:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-432258672421402744  It’s a good thing we begin a new year every year about this time, don’t you think?If properly approached, the beginning of a new year can be beneficial to our psyche, beneficial to our health, and beneficial to our soul.However, as the years go by, Father Time becomes more of a caricature, and we pay less and less attention to the intention  of the season, don’t we?Without the 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/12/its-still-christmas.htmlSun, 27 Dec 2020 18:02:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-4651455307622279484 So, this is the Third Day of Christmas.  Christmastide  is the shortest season of the Church year – just 12 days from December 25 to January 6 – the day of Epiphany.Once again, the church seems out of sync with the rest of the world.While the prevailing culture around us - and yes, most of us, also - cleaned up the debris from exchanging gifts on “Christmas” day, the church says0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-time-being.htmlThu, 2 Jan 2020 18:02:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-4624380342337867616 Poet W.H. Auden wrote For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio in 1941 and 42 in war-torn England. For over fifty Christmases I have read this poem - sometimes to myself, sometimes with family, sometimes with congregations I have served.  Needless to say, it speaks to me in a profound way.  And I share it here with you that you might find some inspiration.   Well, so that is 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2020/01/new-years-day.htmlWed, 1 Jan 2020 00:30:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-213782663087169850 From the Pastor:It is good that we begin a new year every year about this time, don’t you think?As strange as it might seem, the new year did not always begin on January 1!To be sure, there almost always has been a celebration of the beginning of the new year, but it used to begin March 25.  Yep, going back to the ancient Babylonians, some 4000 years ago, and for long periods of time 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/why-is-this-night-of-all-nights.htmlTue, 31 Dec 2019 16:21:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-8076063997011469044 It’s a good thing we begin a new year every year about this time, don’t you think?If properly approached, the beginning of a new year can be beneficial to our psyche, beneficial to our health, and beneficial to our soul.However, as the years go by, Father Time becomes more of a caricature, and we pay less and less attention to the intention  of the season, don’t we?Without the 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-fifth-day-of-christmas.htmlSun, 29 Dec 2019 17:51:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-8593938054301991741 So, this is the Fifth Day of Christmas.  Christmastide  is the shortest season of the Church year – just 12 days from December 25 to January 6 – the day of Epiphany.Once again, the church seems out of sync with the rest of the world.While the prevailing culture around us - and yes, most of us, also - cleaned up the debris from exchanging gifts on “Christmas” day, the church says, 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/oh-stories-we-hear.htmlTue, 24 Dec 2019 01:22:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-1700940368280181193 “Why is this night any different from all other nights?”We become who we are by the stories we hear.The stories we hear and the stories we tell give us clues about who we are.At Passover, as Jewish families gather at sundown for their annual ritual, the honor is given to the youngest person present at the table to ask the question:“Why is this night any different from all other nights?”0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/our-own-story-of-christmas.htmlSat, 21 Dec 2019 22:07:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-4064044579613394183 Isaiah 52:7-10John 1:1-14So, it's almost Christmas.  For us in the church, this is the Fourth Sunday of Advent – a time for us to contemplate why we celebrate Christmas anyway.Again, this year, during these weeks before Christmas, we have been looking at the very earliest documents we have to ascertain just how those earliest Christians celebrated Christmas – hoping to find clues as 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/gaudete-sunday.htmlSat, 14 Dec 2019 13:24:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-3511183312129144570 For nearly a thousand years now, some churches have been celebrating this third Sunday of Advent as Gaudete Sunday.  Gaudete is a Latin word meaning, literally, Rejoice!And, specifically, this is to remind us that the only appropriate response to the Christmas story is rejoicing.Emmanuel happened.Emmanuel happens.Emmanuel is.This is of primary concern for all Christians everywhere.It is0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/12/whose-birthday-is-it-anyway.htmlTue, 10 Dec 2019 22:37:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-1727613085967916529 Ready or not, Christmas is coming.  With every catalog we get in the mail,with every card we receive,with every Christmas song we hear in the stores and on the radio,with every television special we see, with every advertisement we see and hear and read, with every invitation we receive, we know Christmas is on the way.And, it will come, wether we are ready or not.And, so we begin to get 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/11/this-christmas-experience-holy.htmlSat, 30 Nov 2019 17:32:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-4029832789136547240   This Christmas, Experience the Holy. It happens . . . find out how. Visit a local Christian church this Sunday - and every Sunday between now and Christmas. Eleven years ago, I wrote: "The painting depicted in this card has mean so much to Suzanne and me as illustrative of basic theological understanding, that we wish to share this copy with you this Christmas 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/05/anti-abortion-is-anti-christian.htmlFri, 17 May 2019 21:53:00 -0400tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-3240596606695400766 I am sick and tired of hearing the pious and sanctimonious language of the anti-abortion people.  They say they are "standing up" for the unborn as if it were a "religious" act.  It may be a religious act somehow in some way for someone somewhere - But, it is NOT a Christian Act.  And, it is nowhere close to being pro-life. Nowhere, not once, does our Lord even hint at a concern0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/01/one-of-reasons-i-am-so-slow-in-going.htmlMon, 21 Jan 2019 15:19:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-7029926418787676291 One of the reasons I am so slow in going through 55 years of stuff to "downsize", is that keep stopping to read something that I have written. When I came across this from 2008, I thought more folks should have seen this than did. It is a simple message about a simple reaction from a simple pastor as I attempted to address a teaching moment. What do you think? Wasn't it 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)http://seztherev.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-eleventh-day-of-christmas.htmlFri, 4 Jan 2019 20:58:00 -0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306939786864546760.post-2886170275414974891 "Waiting for the Three Wise Men" by Lee Kaercher 0pastor@ConnectOnLine.us (The Reverend Clyde Griffith)