| Pastor's Message |
MARY TAYLOR MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
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The Reverend Virginia G. Carle
Click here to meet Pastor
Ginny
We invite you to go to the
Avenue Galleria where you
can see some of her artwork.
At the home page, choose
Carle.
www.mainavegalleria.com
Avenue Galleria where you
can see some of her artwork.
At the home page, choose
Carle.
www.mainavegalleria.com
Learn more about
Mary Taylor Memorial
United Methodist Church
Mary Taylor Memorial
United Methodist Church
Milford, CT 06460
Get Directions Here!
Email us at : mtmumc@sbcglobal.net
Webmaster: Comments@mtm-umc.org
Get Directions Here!
Email us at : mtmumc@sbcglobal.net
Webmaster: Comments@mtm-umc.org
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Pastoral Ponderings
I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Dear Friends in Christ,
Enough! (Sufficient, the amount needed.) We are living in difficult times, when not
having enough seems to be a common concern. Here in the USA, our levels of “enough”
are higher than anywhere else in the world. Enough seems to entail two-four cars per
family, a freezer and pantry full, all bills paid with money left over to spend on extra things
we desire, and homes with individual space and at least two bathrooms plus garage.
Enough in Milford, according to recent demographic studies, is estimated to have a dollar
value of around $80,000.00 per year. That’s a lot of “enough.”
It is little wonder then, that when the economy tanks and we are worried about keeping
our lifestyles funded, our souls fall back into a survival mentality. Abraham Maslow
documented this in his Hierarchy of Needs theory in 1943. The basic level of human
emotional maturity is physical survival, followed closely by the second level of safety
and security. At level three, we begin to entertain the concept of other, significant other,
and divine other in love and belonging. At level four, we move beyond basics to esteem,
to respect for ourselves and for others, to confidence in ourselves and in our
achievements. Level five is living a life of creativity, spontaneity, morality, acceptance of
facts, and lack of prejudice.
When we have moved back into survival, safety and security levels of living and thinking
about life, we attribute those same characteristics to God. Over the last couple of years,
otherwise solid Christian folks have said, “I don’t want to bother God with my small needs
when there are other bigger things for God to do,” or “You can stop praying for me now;
put someone else in my place on your list.” While this attitude may seem humble on the
surface, it is in fact, a smack in God’s omnipotent face, a reduction of God to human
limitations and capacities. With God there is always enough! God is the author of
abundant life, not of approximated or rationed life! God doesn’t run short on compassion
because some established number of prayer concerns have floated across God’s cosmic
desk. How strange to believe our God is too small to be big enough for all!
I would encourage us not to accept this line of thinking, and when we hear it, to challenge
it in the speaker. Remind them that the God we love and serve is bigger than our
national economy, larger than the limitations of world politics, grander than any one
religion or ethos. Our God is the God of abundance, not of scarcity. Our God doesn’t
vacillate with earth’s vicissitudes. Our God is always enough and always has enough
love, grace, compassion, and forgiveness to spread around.
Enough of enough! God is enough!
In the love of Christ and of his Church,
Pastor Ginny
I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Dear Friends in Christ,
Enough! (Sufficient, the amount needed.) We are living in difficult times, when not
having enough seems to be a common concern. Here in the USA, our levels of “enough”
are higher than anywhere else in the world. Enough seems to entail two-four cars per
family, a freezer and pantry full, all bills paid with money left over to spend on extra things
we desire, and homes with individual space and at least two bathrooms plus garage.
Enough in Milford, according to recent demographic studies, is estimated to have a dollar
value of around $80,000.00 per year. That’s a lot of “enough.”
It is little wonder then, that when the economy tanks and we are worried about keeping
our lifestyles funded, our souls fall back into a survival mentality. Abraham Maslow
documented this in his Hierarchy of Needs theory in 1943. The basic level of human
emotional maturity is physical survival, followed closely by the second level of safety
and security. At level three, we begin to entertain the concept of other, significant other,
and divine other in love and belonging. At level four, we move beyond basics to esteem,
to respect for ourselves and for others, to confidence in ourselves and in our
achievements. Level five is living a life of creativity, spontaneity, morality, acceptance of
facts, and lack of prejudice.
When we have moved back into survival, safety and security levels of living and thinking
about life, we attribute those same characteristics to God. Over the last couple of years,
otherwise solid Christian folks have said, “I don’t want to bother God with my small needs
when there are other bigger things for God to do,” or “You can stop praying for me now;
put someone else in my place on your list.” While this attitude may seem humble on the
surface, it is in fact, a smack in God’s omnipotent face, a reduction of God to human
limitations and capacities. With God there is always enough! God is the author of
abundant life, not of approximated or rationed life! God doesn’t run short on compassion
because some established number of prayer concerns have floated across God’s cosmic
desk. How strange to believe our God is too small to be big enough for all!
I would encourage us not to accept this line of thinking, and when we hear it, to challenge
it in the speaker. Remind them that the God we love and serve is bigger than our
national economy, larger than the limitations of world politics, grander than any one
religion or ethos. Our God is the God of abundance, not of scarcity. Our God doesn’t
vacillate with earth’s vicissitudes. Our God is always enough and always has enough
love, grace, compassion, and forgiveness to spread around.
Enough of enough! God is enough!
In the love of Christ and of his Church,
Pastor Ginny
