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Pastor's Message “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” This is the very first line in the Bible. And it is, of course, what we have grown up to believe, for we have talked about this notion with others ever since we could talk. And we have thought about it for most of our lives. But like so many parts of our faith, it is easy for this concept to become somewhat less than it could be in our daily lives. As the summer begins, and as we think of all of the things that we especially enjoy in the summer, probably most of us are already thinking of some summer activity or event that we have enjoyed before, and to which we are drawn towards again. Vacations are only one part of what we look forward to, for the summer opens up the wider world to our participation in so many ways. The simple pleasure of opening a window, on our car or in our house, provides for us opportunity for an experience that fulfills our inner need for fulfillment. We say that we “believe” that God created all things. But the wonder and the filling presence of receiving this inner sensation of God’s creativity is what we really crave, and what we sometimes miss. This past week, I read “Prince Caspian” and yesterday, Penny and I had an opportunity to see the movie which should be available throughout much of this month. There are many thoughts and words which can be used to express a wide range of thoughts about this book and film. But I would say that what I was most impressed by was the creativity involved in the overall impact of the story. I suppose that many folks will see this film and really like it; it has all of the special effects that today’s movie viewer would expect. But the essence of the impact of the story is in the opening or enlarging of the viewer’s or reader’s imagination. Over the years, I have gathered up a lot of information about the author of this story, and by now, I cannot begin to isolate just where I gathered what. But in a statement that I do remember, another writer has said, what the author of this story does is to “baptize our imaginations” so that the receptor that we use in taking in this story is enlarged and encouraged to become more thoroughly Christian. And once this happens, we never see any world the same way before, enchanted worlds, or our world that we expect to experience this summer. We say that we believe that God created the heavens and the earth. And all of us will look up at the night sky sometime this summer, and stand in, hopefully, at least a degree of awe. God made it all. He just put it up there out of nothing. Everything that we see in nature is a product of stuff that God brought into existence. It doesn’t have to be there, and it doesn’t have to be there the way it is. The two twin fawn deer that Penny and I saw yesterday, they could have been anywhere else in Bucks County. But they were there. The world teaches us to develop some kind of mastery perspective over nature, and we can become inclined to remember factoids about the development of nature. But it is there, and it comes from nothing. And it is there for us to see, and to appreciate. For just as God made the heavens and earth for us to enjoy this summer, so to, Jesus will prepare another place for us, and He will take us to that place. And it will be even better than this place. Rev. John S. Naugle
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