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The 3 pitchforks make 12 (total) tines. A tine is a sharp point on a pitchfork. Considering TS's latest redirect and most current topic of convo, those 12 tines appearing in this pic are interesting.
March 29, 2008 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login By Rev. Susan Esco Chandler A friend writes:"I hoped that the Patriots would win the Super Bowl. They didn't."I also hoped that my investments would do well enough to sustain dreams of early retirement. They didn't."When my mother found out she had breast cancer, I hoped that she would be able to avoid a radical mastectomy. She didn't.When you feel like the patron saint of lost causes, it is easy to ask whether God has abandoned us, or whether God is there at all.At this point, we have three choices:r Abandon all hope;r Pretend things aren't that bad; orr Believe that it's all part of a Greater Plan.Let's take a closer look:The first choice leads to bitterness or insanity. If we really took the enormous suffering of the world to heart, and saw no way out, no final justice or redemption, we'd either become embittered in our despair or we'd crack under the strain. This is not a good choice.The second option is the much preferred. Pretending things aren't that bad manifests itself in either na•ve optimism or willful attempts to remain blind to other people's suffering. Some na•vely optimistic pretenders are optimistic for themselves: they believe bad stuff only happens to other people who somehow deserve it — the "you-smoked-for-30-years-so-you-deserve-your-cancer" school of thought.Other na•vely optimistic pretenders are optimistic for the sum total of humanity. They believe we can create our own paradise on Earth if we just work together. But even if this were possible — and every bit of evidence in the history of humanity says it isn't — this future paradise wouldn't undo all of the pain and suffering and crushed hope of the past.The third choice is the Christian's choice. Our real hope lies in resurrection: that no matter what happens in this life, Christ has won for us an inheritance in heaven that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading.Yet this choice is burdened with its own problems. When Christians answer crushed hope with talk of heaven, they're accused of rationalizing inaction, of being pie-in-the-sky idealists, escapists who can't deal with reality. Christians with hope hear things like, "That's all well and good, but it doesn't really put food on the table, or pay the rent, or cure my cancer, does it?" Modern Christians are supposed to be activists, not escapists.Yet we can embrace suffering as Christ did on the cross because we know that the cross is not the end of the matter, that something better is coming.Once I was visiting with a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her doctor told her to start making preparations to die, so she contacted her church and asked for someone to come to her. She told me which songs she wanted at the service, what Scriptures she wanted read. She also told me that she wanted to be buried with her Book of Common Prayer. As I was preparing to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. "There's one more thing," she said."Yes?" I gently asked."This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." I was stunned."That shocks you, doesn't it?" the woman asked."Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled," I replied.The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something great was about to be given to me.Something with substance. So I just want people to know that I'm being buried with a fork and wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Something better is coming, so keep your fork.' "This was the day that I adopted "Fork Theology." This woman had a beautiful grasp of what heaven was all about: something better was coming.So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you that there is something better coming.This season of Easter is a special time for Christians to celebrate the ultimate reason for our hope: Christ is risen and invites us to rise with him to new life. That's no invitation to leave the table; it's a suggestion to keep our forks.Maybe the Pats can win it all this year.The Rev. Susan Esco Chandler is the priest of St. James Episcopal Church, Amesbury.
QuoteMarch 29, 2008 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login By Rev. Susan Esco Chandler A friend writes:"I hoped that the Patriots would win the Super Bowl. They didn't."I also hoped that my investments would do well enough to sustain dreams of early retirement. They didn't."When my mother found out she had breast cancer, I hoped that she would be able to avoid a radical mastectomy. She didn't.When you feel like the patron saint of lost causes, it is easy to ask whether God has abandoned us, or whether God is there at all.At this point, we have three choices:r Abandon all hope;r Pretend things aren't that bad; orr Believe that it's all part of a Greater Plan.Let's take a closer look:The first choice leads to bitterness or insanity. If we really took the enormous suffering of the world to heart, and saw no way out, no final justice or redemption, we'd either become embittered in our despair or we'd crack under the strain. This is not a good choice.The second option is the much preferred. Pretending things aren't that bad manifests itself in either na•ve optimism or willful attempts to remain blind to other people's suffering. Some na•vely optimistic pretenders are optimistic for themselves: they believe bad stuff only happens to other people who somehow deserve it — the "you-smoked-for-30-years-so-you-deserve-your-cancer" school of thought.Other na•vely optimistic pretenders are optimistic for the sum total of humanity. They believe we can create our own paradise on Earth if we just work together. But even if this were possible — and every bit of evidence in the history of humanity says it isn't — this future paradise wouldn't undo all of the pain and suffering and crushed hope of the past.The third choice is the Christian's choice. Our real hope lies in resurrection: that no matter what happens in this life, Christ has won for us an inheritance in heaven that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading.Yet this choice is burdened with its own problems. When Christians answer crushed hope with talk of heaven, they're accused of rationalizing inaction, of being pie-in-the-sky idealists, escapists who can't deal with reality. Christians with hope hear things like, "That's all well and good, but it doesn't really put food on the table, or pay the rent, or cure my cancer, does it?" Modern Christians are supposed to be activists, not escapists.Yet we can embrace suffering as Christ did on the cross because we know that the cross is not the end of the matter, that something better is coming.Once I was visiting with a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her doctor told her to start making preparations to die, so she contacted her church and asked for someone to come to her. She told me which songs she wanted at the service, what Scriptures she wanted read. She also told me that she wanted to be buried with her Book of Common Prayer. As I was preparing to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. "There's one more thing," she said."Yes?" I gently asked."This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." I was stunned."That shocks you, doesn't it?" the woman asked."Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled," I replied.The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something great was about to be given to me.Something with substance. So I just want people to know that I'm being buried with a fork and wonder, 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Something better is coming, so keep your fork.' "This was the day that I adopted "Fork Theology." This woman had a beautiful grasp of what heaven was all about: something better was coming.So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you that there is something better coming.This season of Easter is a special time for Christians to celebrate the ultimate reason for our hope: Christ is risen and invites us to rise with him to new life. That's no invitation to leave the table; it's a suggestion to keep our forks.Maybe the Pats can win it all this year.The Rev. Susan Esco Chandler is the priest of St. James Episcopal Church, Amesbury.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login