Calvin Synod Herald, 1994 (94. évfolyam, 2-6. szám)
1994-03-01 / 2. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 7 -REFOMÁTOSOK LAPJA /■-----*< Prayer for the Season with an Historic Scent Almighty god, heavenly Father, we praise you and extol you, for you have again amply given us of the blessed benefits of your sacraments. You have satisfied us with the food and drink of eternal life, and you have again assigned us the signs and seals of your mercy. Having been fulfilled with the benefits of you altar, behold, we offer ourselves, our bodies and souls, as a holy, as a precious offering, that all of us who have just united with Jesus Christ and through Christ with one another, may grow daily in faith, may rejoice in hope, and may enrich ourselves in familial love. May praise, glory, honor and thanksgiving descend upon your holy name now and forever. Amen. □ □□ The above prayer was written by the great Bishop Ravasz in 1929. Actually, Bishop Ravasz composed this prayer from the old liturgical prayers going back to the 16th century. It became part of the regular liturgy of our Reformed Church. In 1966, Dr. Aladár Komjáthy translated it into English, and it was printed in the little prayer book published by the Hungarian Reformed Church of Passaic, New Jersey. This little prayer became part of the liturgy of the United Church of Christ. It is in the new Book of Worship. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale: How I Think Positively Even In These Very Troublesome Times Editor's Note: The following article was written by Martin Edelson, who interviewed the Reverend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale on many occasions over the past 15 years. The eminent thinker, who was pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York until 1984, died on December 24, 1993. He was 95. This article appeared in Bottom LinelPersonal, and Dr. Peale's insights and wisdom are still very applicable. □ □□ In very troubling times, my mail gets very heavy...and it's quite heavy right now. So many people are writing for help in dealing with their despair, anger and resentment. I lived through hard times during the decade of The Great Depression. All succeeding economic problems have been Sunday School picnics compared with that. We had long, long soup lines...and I saw formerly affluent people waiting in those lines for their day's rations. But when I think about that Depression and other times of financial trouble in our country's history, I recall that all of them were followed by periods of prosperity. And the prosperous periods always lasted much longer than the bad times did. When adversity strikes, my message is, Even this will pass...and better days than we have ever experienced will come. The question that follows naturally for most people is, Can we live it outi Well, you can if you have the will to survive...and if you share the burden with the people you love. Sharing the burden lightens the load. There are too many cases of people who, feeling scared or frustrated after they suffer a tremendous loss, fall apart - or worse. No matter how bleak things may seem, we all have options. Instead of blowing our brains out..we can't blow them up. And by that I mean using our intelligence to work our way out of our predicaments. We can use our brains to create. William James, the father of American psychology, invented the As If principle. When you're feeling down...act As If you feel good. By acting it, you become it. I employ theAs /^principle! Let us follow his principle and think positively even in these very troublesome times of ours! □ □□ Calving Synod News , OUR ANNUAL MEETING May 24-27, Ligonier, PA In the former Lord Ligonier Inn (Now Ramada Inn) The fifty-sixth Annual Meeting of the Calvin Synod Conference of the United Church of Christ, will be held from the 24th of May to the 27th, in Ligonier, PA. This is the constitutional meeting of our congregations with legislative, administrative and jurisdictional powers invested in our Synod for the benefit of all local congregations. This year's meeting will again be an historical meeting with a very important and heavy agenda. The opening service will be followed by Holy Communion. Our democratic system of church government operates through the balanced power of elected ministerial and lay delegates from all our local congregations based in nine states in America. It is indeed extremely important that all lay delegates (one from each congregation) should accompany the pastor for this legislative meeting. The Bishop's usual letter with all the details was sent to all the congregations. □ □□ The Classis Meetings in Preparation for the Annual Synod Meeting The Lakeside Classis had its meeting in the Toledo, Ohio church on February 7, with the Rev. Dean Louis Medgyesy presiding; the Central Classis in Pittsburgh, PA on February 20, with Dean Rev. Dr. Aladár Komjáthy presiding; the Western Classis on March 5, with the Rev. Károly K. Ludwig presiding; the Eastern Classis, with Dean Rev. Béla Póznán presiding. Overtures from all 4 dassees have been sent to the bishop in time for the Synod's consideration.
