Dear St. John’s,
​
   I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving. It’s a good time to count our blessings and to give thanks to God for all that we have.
   Often, gratitude is a matter of perspective.  I once heard a story about a rich traveler who stopped at a monastery and asked if he could spend the night. By chance, a poor man did the same. The next morning, the monks asked how they had slept.
   “Oh, it was terrible!” said the rich man. “The mattress and the blanket were thin, and the pillow was small. It was nothing like my big feather bed and thick quilts and fluffy pillow back home.”
    The poor man, however, reported that he experienced a wonderful night’s sleep.
   “Everything was so warm and comfortable,” he said.  “I’m used to sleeping on the ground, with a stone for a pillow and only my coat the stars to cover me.”
   Life presents many challenges. But even in difficult circumstances, we can learn to see the so-called silver lining.
  That rich man might have given thanks for the monastery’s hospitality, even if it wasn’t as luxurious as he was used to at home. After all, if the monks hadn’t taken him in, he might have been sleeping on the ground under the stars himself.
  An attitude of gratitude is healthy. It helps us to maintain a positive mindset and remain aware of God’s many blessings. It gives us hope.
   Among my blessings, I give thanks for all of you and for the ministries of St. John’s. As we embark upon the holiday season, let us demonstrate our gratitude by continuing to find ways to serve our neighbors. This will bring even more blessings to be thankful for – for them and for us!

Rev. Sharon
P.S. – Among the world’s blessings is the pause in the war in the Holy Land and the release of hostages. The following prayer is from the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
 
A LITANY FOR THE RESTORATION OF PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND

• God of peace, we pray for the people of Palestine and Israel in these perilous and dangerous times.
• For all who are fearful for the safety of their loved ones and themselves, we pray that the assurance of unfailing love, even in the midst of danger, settles upon them. Shelter them from despair and protect them from harm.
• For all who are wounded, we pray they find healing. 
• For all who have died, we pray they find rest.
• For all who grieve, we pray they find comfort.
• For leaders on all sides, we pray for a renewed will to lay down arms, for the strength to put the grievances and wrongs suffered by their people to rest, and for the conviction to embrace a path of reconciliation and peace that preserves the rights and dignity of all of your children.
• God of mercy, help us to remember there is no border that can separate us from your great love and protection, no stone that can sound the well of your deep mercy.
• God of justice, we pray with hopeful hearts that your beloved children of the Holy Land will be spared a future of sustained violence and unrest and that a recognition of the humanity of all people will prevail. We ask all this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Dear St. John’s,
    We’ve experienced many losses in our church community this year. Parishioners and relatives have died. Our music director left. Some have faced health crises.
In recent years, St. John’s also said goodbye to beloved clergy members. The COVID pandemic changed how we work, attend school, vote and participate in church. We’ve seen ongoing gun violence and political strife in our country. And we’ve witnessed unrest and warfare across the world, including the current war in the Holy Land.
    All of these can provoke grief within us. I don’t write this to depress you, but to acknowledge that we have reasons to mourn and that grief is a natural response to sad and traumatic events.
    But grief is a journey, not a destination, and we do not have to travel it alone. Starting this Sunday, I invite you to join with others on this journey as we explore what the Bible and faith say about grief and how they can help us heal. We’ll meet at 11:45 a.m. in the parish hall after our 10:30 a.m. worship service.
Our discussion topics will be:
Nov. 19: What am I grieving? How do I express my sadness?
Dec. 3: I feel so angry. Is that normal? How do I handle it?
Dec. 17: How can I heal? Where does God fit into all of this?
All are welcome. Come to coffee hour and join us for the discussions, and invite others to join us as well.
Rev. Sharon

Dear St. John’s,
    I’m writing this week to update you about our music program. Starting this Sunday, Wyatt Sikora will accompany our worship services on the piano every other week. On the alternate weeks, Christian Carozza will play the organ.
   Christian has been a familiar face at the organ bench for the last several months. On alternate weeks, he plays at St. John’s in Dover.
   Wyatt has been our guest musician on two Sundays. A Boonton resident, he is a music teacher and graphic designer, mixed-media artist who also contributed to our Stations of the Cross exhibit last spring.
    Please join me in welcoming them and making them feel at home at St. John’s as they work with the choir to provide music to enhance our worship.
 
Rev. Sharon

Dear St. John’s,
    We awake this morning to news of another mass shooting, this time in Maine. Yesterday, an incredibly fast-developing Category 5 hurricane hit Acapulco. Images of devastation in Israel and Gaza fill our television screens. War continues in Ukraine.
   Sometimes the bad news seems overwhelming. And yet, as I write this, I look out the window and see the beauty of God’s creation as geese fly across a cloudless blue sky above the colorful trees of autumn. I remember that God is with us and will not abandon us, no matter what happens. God is Love, and Love has the final say. In the end, Love will win.
   Let us continue to pray for peace and an end to violence and war and for a solution to the climate crisis. And let us hold fast to Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
Rev. Sharon

Dear St. John’s,

   Today, one of our members received a text message supposedly from me, requesting them to purchase gift cards for me. THIS WAS A COMPLETE SCAM. Fortunately, she contacted me before making the purchase.
    Telephone and online scams are prevalent and sophisticated these days, aided by computer technologies. Please be cautious in responding to emails or texts that don’t sound right, ask for a favor, or ask you to “email me back when you get this,” especially without reason or context. If it doesn’t sound like me, it may not be! If it’s not coming from my phone number or from my pastor or personal email, it may be a “phishing” expedition.
    WHEN IN DOUBT, PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY, using my email or cell number. Below is a notice the diocese sent out after I alerted them to this incident. The link provides helpful guidelines.
 
Rev. Sharon

From the diocese:
   One of our parishes has reported that a member received the classic gift card scam via a text message purporting to be from their clergy.
    Please continue to treat ALL requests to buy gift cards - or make any other type of financial transaction - with suspicion, and block the phone number or email of any identified scam.
    These guidelines for email scams also hold for text scams: https://dioceseofnewark.org/geeks/whaling-email-attacks-how-foil-them 

Dear St. John’s,
    The news from the Middle East this past week has been heartrending. Families slaughtered, homes bombed, hostages taken. Between Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza, more than 3,000 people reportedly have been killed. The United Nations reports that ten times that many have been displaced.
    The atrocities and ongoing conflict and growing humanitarian crisis spark tears and anger. How should we respond? How can we make a difference?
   Today, I called a local rabbi and asked how we could offer support. He spoke of the importance of recognizing each other’s humanity. Of teaching love not hate. 
    His message was exactly the kind of words that the Rabbi we follow spoke 2,000 years ago, when he told us to love our neighbors.  
    He also urged us to contact any Jewish friends we have to ask how they are doing and let them know we support them.
    I encourage you to follow his advice and to continue to pray for peace to the one who created and loves us all.
    I conclude with a prayer from another rabbi that a friend posted on Facebook, along with a beautiful photograph of three young boys representing the three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – standing shoulder to shoulder on a balcony in Jerusalem. May such images of peace soon replace those of war now filling our screens.

​Rev. Sharon
 
Two peoples, one land,
Three faiths, one root,
One earth, one mother,
One sky, one beginning, one future, one destiny,
One broken heart,
One God.
We pray to You:
Grant us a vision of unity.
May we see the many in the one and the one in the many.
May you, Life of All the Worlds,
Source of All Amazing Differences
Help us to see clearly.
Guide us gently and firmly toward each other,
Toward peace. Amen.
 
Rabbi Sheila Weinberg
Jewish Community of Amherst, Amherst, MA

P.S. -- Don't forget to bring food this Sunday to donate to the local food pantry. This Sunday also is the last day to donate scratch-off lottery tickets for the Oct. 22 tricky tray.

Dear St. John’s,

   I hope you all will be able to come on Sunday to hear Peeka Trenkle preach at the Morning Prayer service at 10:30 a.m. as we complete our observance of Creation Season.
   Some of you may know Peeka as a member of Church of the Saviour in Denville and a participant in the Got Faith! program. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She is a licensed preacher in the Diocese of Newark, and her preaching centers around Creation Care.
   I am taking some time off through next Tuesday. I am, however, still available to respond to pastoral emergencies during this time.
 
Rev. Sharon

Dear St. John’s,
    Yesterday was the feast day of St. Matthew the Evangelist. Our church is named after St. John the Evangelist. We know them as the credited authors of two of the Gospels, the written accounts of the Good News of Jesus’ life and ministry, death and resurrection. Those accounts have helped to spread and build faith throughout the world for almost 2,000 years.
    As baptized Christians, we are called to carry on the evangelists’ work of sharing God’s Good News. One way to do this is to share stories of our faith. To help us learn how to do this, or to do it better, the diocese is offering a workshop called “This is My Story: Learning to Share Our Faith Stories” from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, at St. Elizabeth’s, Ridgewood.
    I hope you will consider attending as a step toward deepening your own faith and sharing it with others. Here is the link for more information: https://dioceseofnewark.org/.../my-story-learning-share...

Rev. Sharon

Dear St. John’s,
 
It probably won’t surprise you that I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers this week. I am deeply grateful for all of the prayers and support I’ve received after my mother died last Sunday. They have sustained me and my family in this difficult time.
 
Mothers are powerful figures in our lives. They carry us from our inception, give birth to us, guide and nurture us. Because of this, mothers are an important symbol. We speak of Mother Earth, for example, who hosts and supports the life of all creatures and plants on our planet.
 
In the church, while we often talk about God the Father, we also see biblical imagery of God the Mother. Deuteronomy 32:18 speaks of the God who gave us birth. In Isaiah 66:13, God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” In Matthew and Luke, Jesus speaks of wishing to gather the children of Jerusalem together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
 
Let us give thanks for our Heavenly Parent, the source and sustainer of our existence and the comforter of all who mourn. And let us give thanks for our earthly parents, who love and nurture us while we are here together and who remain as blessed memories when we are parted.
 
Rev. Sharon
 
Important announcements:
 
This Sunday, Sept. 17, we will worship at St. John’s Lodge, 280 Boulevard, in Mountain Lakes as we join the church St. John’s founded, St. Peter’s, in a special service celebrating its 100th anniversary. Suggested arrival time is 10 a.m. for the 10:15 a.m. service. Parking is available at the lodge and nearby Island Beach.
 
Next Sunday, Sept. 24, we anticipate worshiping again in the parish hall for safety reasons while repairs are being made to the ceiling in the church. Deacon John will be leading Morning Prayer. That day also is Boonton Day, from noon-4 p.m. Please let me know if you can volunteer some time at our table that afternoon.
 
The Tricky Tray is scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Parsippany PAL Building, 35 Baldwin Road. Don’t miss out! Tickets are available online only. Click the Tricky Tray link on our website, or go directly to https://tinyurl.com/DogLoversTrickyTray

Dear St. John’s,

Thank you all for your prayers and messages. I am thankful to be part of such a caring community.

My mom entered home hospice care this week in the house where I grew up on Long Island. My father, her spouse of 60 years, is with her, and my brother has come up from North Carolina. I am continuing to travel frequently back and forth from New Jersey to Long Island to support my parents.

If any of you need to reach me for pastoral care or other concerns, I am available by phone, text or email. You also can reach out to Kathy Cascone or Deacon John about pastoral concerns.

This Sunday will be Morning Prayer with guest preacher John Dermody, an Army veteran who will reflect on the anniversary of 9/11. 

I look forward to worshiping with you next on the 17th, when we join St. Peter’s in Mountain Lakes to celebrate their 100th anniversary and then enjoy a festive meal together.

Rev. Sharon