The Lion's Pause

WE SEEK TO UNITE ALL PEOPLE WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER IN CHRIST THROUGH WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, EDUCATION, AND SERVICE

The faster the pace of our lives move, the stronger the urge to make instant judgments becomes. We are tempted to put people into categories to decide whether their voice is worth listening to or should be dismissed. They are conservative or liberal. They are climate realists or climate deniers. They are friend or foe. They are good or evil. All we need is one statement from someone to instantly know where they fit.

In his Epistle, James wrote, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” (James 1:19) This is a virtue that we desperately need in our current cultural climate.

Being quick to hear means that we do not assume that we know what someone means when they make a statement, or what motivates them to make that statement. A person may say, “I don’t like dogs.” As a dog lover, that’s hard for me to imagine. This is a trivial example, but it illustrates the larger point.

There are a few things that can help us to be quick to listen. First, ask questions. What don’t you like about dogs? They may mean, “I don’t want a dog because I value a clean house and don’t want to have to vacuum every day.” They may mean, “I am afraid of dogs.” They may mean, “I had to have a dog put down when I was a child. I never want to go through that again.” They may have a reason I have never heard before.

Second, it is important to define terms. If someone gives you a document and asks you to peruse it, what will you do? Today, the word is commonly used to describe taking a quick look. The originally meaning was to consider something with great care. In Paradise Lost, Milton wrote, “Myself I then perused, and limb by limb surveyed” to describe Adam’s awakening to the abilities of his body.

Finally, it is important to avoid assigning motives of others. There is a psychological phenomenon called motive attribution asymmetry. It is the tendency to think those who disagree with us are motivated by hatred and greed, while those who agree with us are motivated by love and benevolence. Most people agree that everyone should have adequate shelter. Two people may disagree about how to make that a reality. Both are motivated by benevolence. If they take time to listen, they will hear the motivation. They never come to agree on the right actions to take, but perhaps they can come to agree that the other is not evil.

Let all of us be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

RJ+

Sunday, October 8

Holy Eucharist at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

New Member Class at 9 a.m.

Lessons

Bulletin

Live Stream

Monday, October 9

Knitting, 1 p.m.

Book Club, 3 p.m.

We will be reviewing Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings. Ana is the book's leading character, and her story deals with struggles and triumphs in her life. What makes it interesting is that it takes place in the time of Jesus, in Nazareth. This is Sue Monk Kidd's fourth work of fiction and was published just recently, in 2021.

Office Closed

Wednesday, October 11

Evening Prayer, 4 p.m.

Zoom Bulletin

Stewardship Dinner

Katie will be out of the office October 6-9.

Servers this Sunday, October 8:

Eucharistic Ministers 8 a.m.: Diana Cornell

Eucharistic Ministers 10 a.m.: Derek Gordon, Carol Hayn

Acolyte: Joe Hoot

Ushers: Kent Clark, Gene Little

Altar Guild: Diana Cornell, Paulette Frech, Susie Hines

Servers next Sunday, October 15:

Eucharistic Ministers 8 a.m.: Sara Strattan

Eucharistic Ministers 10 a.m.: Bruce Schutrum, Anne Coen

Acolyte: Danny Holihan

Ushers: John Willoughby, Gary Mull

Altar Guild: Diana Cornell, Paulette Frech, Susie Hines

Sunday School Outreach Project UPDATE

Our SS children and preteens gathered on Sunday, October 1 to assemble more hygiene kits for Hope Outreach Ministries. We assembled 361 kits after their music class, while talking about how these kits help others and prayed for them.

Afterwards, they all made birthday cards for our very own Dr. Morrison to celebrate his 98th Birthday! 🎂

Special thanks to Gary Mull for delivering the kits to Hope. We are still accepting Dial Antibacterial Bar Soap, New Washcloths, or cash/check (with SS Outreach on memo line) to help us continue this worthwhile ministry. Thank you to everyone donating!! Total hygiene kits to date:

1,861 !!!! 😊

Beth Bletzacker

Coordinator

Dr. W. Robert Morrison

Happy 98th Birthday!

The Diocese has continued to offer easy online giving. To use this, please select "St. Mark's Canton" from the dropdown, and choose either a one-time or recurring gift. We thank you for your continued support.

Designate a Gift to St. Mark's

NOTABLE - Bob Morrison

St. Mark's organ, when I arrived in 1997, was a two-manual affair, totally enclosed, that is to say some 600 pipes (large and small) were enclosed in a chamber center stage of the chancel. There were thick heavy wooden shades (like a Venetian blind) that could close tightly and muffle the

sound, a set of shutters at the front, and a smaller set on the right facing the choir loft (to enable the singers to access the organ tone.)

But the organ also possessed an unenclosed division: the Antiphonal, which Robert Wervey installed high on the center back wall: four sets of pipes not only sounding well but looking so nice, with the lower pitched pipes (being taller) in the center and then gradual tapering as the pitches got higher and, of course, the pipes shorter.

Wervey was fond of a "chiffy" sound and voiced the unison rank to chirp and chiff on each note. But this chiffy sound didn't blend well with the other notes, and Bruce Schutrum climbed a stepladder and did a bit of re-working of those pipes. (Bruce is not only a fine player, but knows the mechanism of pipe organs and is on staff with Kegg Pipe Organ builders of Hartville.)

This made for a better blend, and I registered the hymn accompaniments to include all those back pipes except the trumpet to surround the congregation with good organ sound to support the singing. At a Christmas service, I used that trumpet and my friend Kennard Voyles told me afterward that it was a shock, so I tempered my use of it.

This fellow Voyles was not only my friend, but well known to St. Mark's Willoughby family. He didn't like that trumpet, but he loved vintage cars. So did Patrick Willoughby.

October Birthdays

1 Robert Morrison

4 Ivy Smith

8 Gail Sack-Wetherell

10 Fr. RJ

16 Pat Silagy-Wesson

18 Bobbi Gordon

21 Tom Burns

24 Becs Hostetter

October Anniversaries

1 Dave and Christy Thorley

5 Chuck and Karen Violand

16 Derek and Emily Gordon

*Please note: Your birthday/anniversary will only show up if you've completed your profile on Instant Church Directory.

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Prayer Concerns

Vonda Temelkoff, Henry Aegerter, Jim Weaver, Jane Schutrum & Ron Brookes

Family and Friends: Jane King; Paul Kit (son of Maxine Kit); Lee, Theresa & Addelyn (friends of the Hixons); Bill Schumacher; Don Siegfried, Darin Hill (friend of Derek & Emily Gordon); Elaine Campbell (friend of the Turners); Sammy (friend of Leslie Redmon); Lisa (wife of Father RJ); Bob Rownd (friend of John Werren & Anne Coen); Judy Heisser-Turner (sister of Bert Heisser); Melanie & Trish (friends of Paulette Frech); Broden Burt (Son of Ben and grandson of Chris & Carol Burt); Bill Allen (friend of the Mulls); Pat Walter & family (friend of Barb Whitehouse); Don Martin & Mark Osterhage (classmate & neighbor of the Watters); Alycia Geis (Karen Violand’s friend’s daughter); Michelle Graber (Bobbi Gordon family/friend); Janet Sheatzley-Morgan (sister of Barb Siegfried); DaNay Jackson (friend of Ron Brookes); Allison Cornell-Hood, Jody Serentsis, & Anne Higgins (daughter & friends of Diane Cornell); Finnigan Savage (friend of Pam McCarthy); Gail (sister-in-law to the Rands); Lynnda Hoefler & Jimmy Little (friend & son of Sue Little); Yanette Pysher (Vonda Temelkoff’s cousin); Tony Donahue (friend of the Boyds); Marc Hostetler (brother of Susan Hostetler); Baby David (acquaintance of the Nadels); Johnny Willoughby (grandson of the Willoughbys).

For those who have died.

For those in the armed forces.

PRAYER CHAIN:

St. Mark's has a group of prayer warriors who pray for the specific needs of those on the prayer chain. If you would like to place yourself or a loved one on the prayer chain, please contact Bobbi Gordon at ggordon24@sbcglobal.net

Prayer requests may be placed on the private Prayer Chain or on the Prayer Concerns list appearing in The Lion's Pause and Sunday bulletin or in both places. Please let Bobbi know your preference. Unless otherwise instructed, names will be listed as we receive them. Please update Bobbi or Katie on the status of your friends or family members as to when they may be removed from the prayer lists.