God's Gifts

The May edition of the Chaplain's Corner by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

We work hard to achieve the good things in our life. So we can be tempted to take pride in our achievements. But in fact, even though it doesn’t look like it, everything we have is a gift from God. Our very life itself isn’t our own. We live because God’s love makes us alive. We can get discouraged when things we want don’t come through for us. But if we take a moment and reflect on what we do have, our whole attitude changes. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have food to eat? Can you breathe? Are you alive? When we look at the basic things that God freely gives us we have so much to be grateful for.

But we still need to make the effort. We still need to figure out what we think is best for us, and to pursue it. We also need to ask for God’s guidance. God influences our thinking so that when we are open to God, and when we ask God for help, we make better decisions.

No one is more unhappy and frustrated than someone who can’t accept things the way they are. Some want to be like a Hollywood director and tell everybody where to stand, what to say, and how to move. When the world doesn’t cooperate the director gets frustrated and angry.

Spiritual life is a dialogue between our actions and the world’s reaction. Act as if everything depends on your decisions. Then pray as if everything depends on God. And don’t forget to give thanks for the good things God gives you.

4 Days Until the Memorial Day Weekend Retreat!

The big retreat in Fryeburg, Maine is in 4 days. Don't forget to let me know that you are coming. If you are still thinking about it, hope you decide to join us. This is going to be a great retreat.

Maine Youth Group Play

We concluded our Maine Youth Group dinner gatherings May 3rd with an outdoor afternoon at the playground, laughing, throwing the Frisbee and running an obstacle course. We had a cookout back at the church and finished with an interesting game. I found lyrics from song by the rock band Journey and took words from Jesus (The Message translation) and challenged the teens to play "who said it", Journey or Jesus. Thought I'd post a few to the blog to give everyone a chance to play at home. Look for the answers soon.



You are the queen of many faces. How you can move me with just one glance?

These things I do, it's all because of you.

How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this?

Saints or sinners, take no prisoners. What's left after you fall? No not much.

You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame.

You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what's behind the appearance.

Our love remains the same, God knows we've had our share of saving grace.

Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you.

You're looking right at me and you don't see me.

But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?

I am like...

As part of our Earth Day retreat in Kitchener, Ontario the teens wrote some inspired poetry. They each chose a word related to the earth and then wrote a poem about how they are similar to that word starting, "I am like...". Here are a couple of them.

I am like the sun
I am bright
I am warm-full
I am big
I rise in the morning
I set in the evening
I am like the sun

I am like a flood
I show up unexpected
I am always exciting
I normally cause disruption
I always try to give back to the earth
I can be good or bad
I am like a flood

I am like the clouds
simply drifting
simply moving
simply existing
simply there
I am like the clouds

How Truth Points to Good

The April edition of the Chaplain's Corner by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

What is truth? We think of telling the truth. We think of being honest. But truth is more than that. Truth is a kind of knowledge. Truth tells us about what is real. So a statement like, “There is a God,” is truth. This is the knowledge aspect of truth.

But there is another side to truth. Truth has a purpose in our lives. What it all comes down to is how to live a good life. And here truth fulfills its most important function. Truth tells us what good is. We have ideas about how to act. We have ideas of what is socially acceptable. But what really matters, is what it is like to be a good person. This is where truth comes into our lives.

We learn about what a good person looks like in may ways. But two very important ways are from the Bible and from teachings from religion. The Bible has two sections—the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament can sometimes look like a bunch of laws. The New Testament is mostly about Jesus’ life. But both the Old Testament and the New Testament talk about what it means to be a good person. The laws of the Old Testament tell us how to act. And the stories about Jesus show how love can be practiced in life. There is a very old passage in the book of Exodus (the Old Testament) that tells one how to act if he or she sees an enemy’s ox running away. It says, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him” (Ex. 23:4). Jesus says the same thing in a different way: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:43-44).

If you do love your enemy, when you see his or her ox wandering off you will return it to them. This is because you care for them and want what is good for them—that is what love is. But if we talk just about behavior, in case a person does not feel love, we have the law that tells you to return the wandering ox to its owner, your enemy. The case is the same with all the laws we find written in the Bible. In case a person doesn’t feel love for their neighbor, we have a list of laws that tells us how to act toward them. These laws can be called truths. They tell a person how to behave in order to be a good person, and then ultimately in order to be a loving person.

Our purpose on earth is to learn how to love wisely. Truth tells us how to do that—either by laws like we find in the Old Testament, or by stories about Jesus in the New Testament.

Wow Kitchener!

I just got back from the Church of the Good Shepherd "Earth" retreat in Kitchener, Ontario. Wow, what a weekend! 30 teens! Yes, 30! From Maine, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan (3 vans) plus of course a nice large group of local teens from the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Earth walks and shopping, sunshine and hail storms, disciples and Jesus, music and muskrats, movie night and worship morning, snakes, mice, parrots, Christmas caroling??? My mind is still spinning. And all this intertwined with long pockets of free time spent relaxing and goofing around with friends.

The earth poems you wrote were amazing! The whole retreat was wonderfully communal and also a bit chaotic and bizarre. It was a dynamic encounter with nature - warm sunshine, violent winds and hail - and a dynamic encounter with humanity - incredible expressions of love, care, thoughtfulness mixed together with random challenges and bizarre occurrences.

It's been a little while since I've been able to post. I've got lots of material and I'll start sharing memories, pictures, poems and stories from this past weekend retreat. This week I'll also be posting the April Chaplain's message. Keep checking in!

Former League President Rev. Kevin Baxter

We start a new feature this month. Former SCYL Presidents ~ Where are they now?

This month's featured former League President:

Rev. Kevin Baxter
Served 1990

What did he do and where is he now?

I believe I was elected in Olds Canada.
I don't remember much from my time as president, but i do remember we tried to do some charitable work and fundraising along with the normal teen retreat schedule. I think my greatest contribution to the League was lobbying convention in 1993 (I think) to get the SCYL a voice (two votes) on the floor of Convention.

As for where I am almost twenty years later... I am a minister of the Gospel in the Swedenborgian Church (currently serving the Cambridge Society). I am the director of Almont Summer School, served a few years as league chaplain and still try to attend retreats when my schedule allows. In retrospect, it is tough to say what influence being President has had, but certainly the influence of camp and the SCYL is a part of who I am today. The League friendships have lasted a lifetime and the memories still make me laugh.