Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 21,2005 - THREE
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The Grace of Receiving
Christmas is that season when giving extends to
many charities, forgotten people and causes that we seldom
think about during other times of the year. Such a spirit of
Christmas goes beyond thinking about what will I get as a
present from someone I know or with whom I do business.
There is the economic part of the season that has a down
side for some - the reason for the season is lost or at least
diminished.
While giving is the usual focus, what about the way
that we receive the gifts? Have you watched others open
the gifts from you? Therein can be the gift that may be
more of a blessing to you than the one who receives the
gift. How do we receive a gift form someone else? The
way we receive that gift says som ething about our
relationship?
The source of the good will and the giving spirit at
Christmas connects us with God who started this Christmas
thing; receiving from God is the issue that I place before
you now. “God is love” - just one of the insights about
God. Receiving from God brings us into the adventure of
life and love that will bless our families, communities and
beyond, because it is contagious. So this Christmas as you
receive, let’s follow a style of receiving that honors the
giver and the gift. Because of who God is, there can be a
Christmas spirit that leads us into the new year with renewed
hope and promise.
The first Christmas expressed the value of a humble
town, the involvem ent of hum ble folks as God left
fingerprints and footprints on the course of human history.
How we receive the gifts from above and from any who
give to us will extend the meaning of Christmas 2005 into
the year 2006.
How about Christmas becoming a habit that we
live out every day? It will enrich your relationships with
God and everyone else.
-Reverend Don Swanson
All Saints, Hope and Valby Lutheran churches
Peace, what peace? Luke 2:8-14
NIV
And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel
of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town
of David a Savior has been bom to you; he is Christ the
Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great
company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth Peace to men on whom his favor rests”.
Some years ago a major art gallery sponsored a
competition for painters. They were offering prizes for the
best painting on the subject of “peace.” As attendees
browsed through the entries in the art gallery, most had
decided that one particular painting would most assuredly
win the prize. It portrayed this lush green pasture under a
vivid blue sky, with cows grazing lazily and a little boy
walking through the grass with his fishing pole over his
shoulder.
It really made you feel peaceful however; it came
in second place. The painting that won was a real surprise.
It portrayed a scene of the ocean during a violent storm.
The sky was ominous, the lightning was cutting across the
sky, and waves were crashing into the rock walls of a cliff
by the shore.
At first glance you could not fine peace in that
picture, but if you looked closely, you would understand
what was going on. There, about halfway up the cliff, was
a birds’ nest. It was tucked into a tiny hollow in the rock. A
mother bird was sitting on that nest and tucked underneath
her were her little babies sleeping soundly. That truly
depicted “peace.”
We humans have attempted to manufacture this
peace on earth. U sually our efforts are focused on
materialism in an attempt to find peace and joy. Sadly it
just doesn’t satisfy.
Many people have a theology that removes the
Divine presence of God from their lives. They want to
enthrone the human soul w ith peaceful ideologies.
Ultimately, they find no peace, no joy, and no lasting
happiness, only disappointment, emptiness and even fear.
Mankind has never known peace. Peace is not the
absence of war, like darkness is the absence of light. Many
nations have long sought peace with one another. Yet, peace
eludes them. No peace treaty that man has ever devised
has been kept. We try but still we fail to find peace. Why
can't we find peace?
This is because man has never been at peace with
God. And, if there is no peace with God, then there can
never be peace in the soul and heart of mankind. We need
to understand what is really being said in Luke 2:12. “This
will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger.” Immediately following these words,
the herald angels appeared: and begin to sing praises to
God. Therefore; our first clue is that God’s Glory and man's
peace rests in that manger. The angels are saying that peace
can only be found through the birth of Christ.
There are several important things we need to
realize about His peace. His peace is different than the
world’s peace. John 14:25-27 Jesus said: “Peace I leave
with you; my Peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do
not be afraid.”
His peace comes with the presence of the Holy
Spirit. This is our source of real peace. This peace comes
in the security of our relationship with Him. The world
can’t give this kind of peace. In John 16:33 Jesus says: “I
have told you these things, so that in me you may have
peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart.
I have overcome the world.”
Peace is the fruit of obedience to God. We are
called to live by faith, and doing so brings us peace of
mind, heart and soul.
- Reverend Duane Jones
Church of the Nazarene
The Light of the World
There is no doubt about it - God is a mystery. When
God created the angels, even they were baffled by that
mystery. God continues to be a mystery to this present day.
Yet to fathom this mystery to some extent for us humans,
God sent His Son into the world. However, our minds are
still not able to comprehend a Divine Person having a human
nature. Yet that is what we celebrate at Christmas. We still
do not understand the mystery, but faith enters the picture,
and we believe.
Fortunately, this is not a blind faith. It tells us that
the Savior was bom in Bethlehem and that He grew up in
the Holy Land. It was there that He preached, and told
parables to illustrate his teachings. More that He worked
miracles, made prophesies to convince people that He was
one with the Father. He told His apostles: “Believe me that
I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe
because of the works I do.” (John 14, 21) At the Last
Supper, He prayed: “ ...that they may be one as we are
o n e...” (John 17,22) So Jesus Christ has been the hope of
the world for the past 2000 years. As the author of “One
Solitary Life” wrote: “I am far within the mark when I say
that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that
were ever built ...have not affected the life of man upon
earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life”.
Christmas is, of course, a challenging time. Towns
and homes are lit up in joy. They help us to remember that
He said that He was the light of the world. Yet there is
darkness in our world, which His light has not reached.
There is war in our world, unhappiness in many homes,
and evil addictions in the hearts of many. So Christmas is a
challenge to all of us to bring the principles of Jesus to our
world. It is a challenge for each one of us to bring the light
of Christ to our world. We may not be a brilliant light, but
every light, pierces the darkness. This is the hope of
Christmas, and when we do let that light shine, there will
be true joy and happiness in our own lives, and the lives of
those around us. Let us dispel some of the mystery of God
by bringing the light of Christ to those around us, and our
Christmas will be a very blessed one.
-Father Gerry Condon
St. Patrick’s and St. William’s Catholic churches
Principal’s Comer
By Daye Stone
Heppner Jr/S r High School
It is snowing outside, Christmas break has started,
and the end of the first semester at Heppner Jr/Sr High
School is coming to a close in a few weeks. Looking back
on the past four months here at HHS, it has gone well and
fast for the kids and our staff. I for one have enjoyed the
fall and am looking to the winter and beyond trying to put
things in place that encourage more student participation
and accountability. With this being said, it has been the
vision of all staff at HHS to work with each student and
see that they meet the gains that are prescribed by Oregon
grade level standards, to create and diversify opportunities
for them as well, and to communicate to our patrons the
successes that we are enjoying as a school community.
These three highlighted areas are the school board adopted
goals, and I would like to give our community a highlight
of what HHS is doing to meet all of them and this point in
the school year.
Currently, our student council (Laurie Murray,
Krystal Naims, Heather Rill, Mahaley Huddleston, Regi
Seitz, Lyndi Patton, and Chelsey Betsinger) has been
working on painting quotes on teacher doors that were
chosen by each teacher. They look great, and our student
body’s commitment to make this happen illustrates really
what kind of student leaders we have in our school. I am
very proud of their vision/effort and creating a place that
we can call our own, through innovative, creative ways of
personalizing our building. We have also commissioned two
pieces of art work with James Montgomery at Natures Steel
Sculptures in Gresham that will enhance our building as
well. James specializes in stainless steel art and is working
on a piece for our downstairs staircase that is nearly eight
foot long and four and a half feet tall. This artwork will
encompass several mustangs running through rolling hills
and trees along with a water fall and mountains in the
background. The artist uses different forms of patina to
create the color and desired look. He has been featured in
numerous publications and schools across the region. The
second piece will be for our gymnasium. Mr. Montgomery
will make an eight-foot long 3-D version of our mascot for
the wall that will use a blue and gold patina finish to hang
in the center of our league mascots. As one can imagine,
these projects are not easy or cheap. The student council is
working hard in making this possible through fundraising
and it is our hope they can attain all of the monies that it
takes to finalize both pieces by the end of January. If anyone
in interested in donating to this cause, please contact our
school for more information.
The fall sports are finished and it was fun to see the
level of success for all kids involved and was even more
exciting to watch our football team compete on a statewide
level making it to the semi-finals. With the level of success
that we experienced as a school in the fall, we are all looking
forward to the winter and what it brings us on the hardwood
and our new program- wrestling. Yep that’s right, we have
wrestling here at HHS and it has been unbelievable to see
the amount of support and excitement of adding this option
for our kids. Currently, we have 14 high school students
and about the same from the jr. high practicing every night
with the high school kids traveling and competing and the
jr. high students starting competition after the new year.
We will have the first annual Heppner High wrestle-off in
the HHS gym in January, so look forw ard to that
opportunity to see our kids in action. There will also be a
four-week little kid-wrestling program that starts on Jan 3
and will end with a tourney on January 28. The HS/JH
program is school sponsored/non-funded for this year,
therefore we are traveling and fundraising to make sure
we can continue with this option for years to come. For
more information on our program or any of the activities
that we are putting together, please contact Ken Bailey at
676-5110. It has taken a serious amount of volunteer time,
effort and resources from parents and coaches to pull this
off. You are having a direct affect in creating diverse
opportunities that our community’s kids gain much benefit
from. Ken Bailey, Ty Hurl, Brian Harman, and John Bowles
coached this year, along with the financial support of our
own HHS Booster Club. Your commitment has been
unwavered.
We are fortunate to have three new exchange
students from Costa Rica. This exchange program is a little
different from what a traditional exchange program looks
like. The students will be here through the month of January
(instead of the whole year) and are not actually required to
take classes for credit; rather they will take classes for
experience. This experience is rewarding for both parties,
and Petra Payne was instrumental in bringing them here to
our school along with the host families that had to go
through the competitive process to bring them to Heppner.
We are still offering an after school study hall for
all struggling students that are not making grades. It is my
hope that our numbers will remain high with this and we
are making strides in meeting each student’s individual
needs. Along with offering an after school study hall, we
are adding the Zeros Aren’t Permitted program to HHS
for both jr. high and high school kids at semester time.
ZAP is a non-punitive program which serves as an incentive
to motivate students to turn in their work and earn passing
grades, and we will provide the support to do that through
extra time and tutoring. In essence, this is how it will work,
each Thursday, teachers will submit their weekly F lists to
the office. Students with one or more F’s at that time will
be “Zapped,” They will be notified on the following Monday
during activity period by their advisor that they are to report
to our ZAP homework support program during lunch every
day that week. Students who have brought up their grade
(s) to passing by the end of the week will not be “Zapped”
the following week. For students that continually are being
Zapped week after week and have more than one F, a four
hour Friday Zap will be an option for that student to get
caught up. Parents will be getting a mailer on how we are
going to administer and put this in place by semester time.
My staff and I are excited about getting some extra time
for our struggling students and we are targeting all of those
kids that we desperately want to see succeed.
So there it is, it is wintertime and we at HHS are
right in the thick of things with creating new opportunities
for our students, communicating what it is that we are doing
along with holding kids accountable to their achievement
and success. We truly have a high functioning school, and
I cannot express enough gratitude to our whole school
community as to what it has meant to me personally to be
the leader of something so enriching and rewarding. I hope
all of you have a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
St. Patrick’s senior center
The Heppner Christian Church volunteers are hosts
for the Dec. 28 noon meal. The menu is as follows: oven
baked chicken, m ashed potatoes with gravy, m ixed
vegetables, sliced pears, fresh baked bread with butter, and
pudding.
The revised mission statement passed by the board
at the Oct. regular meeting states, “The purpose of the
Senior Center Board of Directors is to provide support and
assistance on behalf of seniors and handicapped citizens.”
At the Dec. 14 meeting members began implementing ideas
put forth at the goal setting special session Oct. 7, and in
relationship to the revised mission statement, the senior
center board voted to consider membership in the local
Chamber of Commerce. Members of the board will alternate
in attendance. A consensus opinion was that an active
Chamber membership would be an avenue of increasing
awareness of the center’s presence on Heppner’s Main
street, and its addition to the town's resources.
Plans are under way for the annual meeting and
election of officers. Members of the board and residents of
the senior center wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Marriage Licenses
The Morrow County Clerk’s office has issued the
following marriage licenses:
December 12: Roberto G Cuevas. 38, Boardman,
and Maria Jesus Prado, 19, Boardman.
D ecem b er 13: D erek Jam es D ick en s, 18,
Hermiston, and Jacqueline Dee Hendricks, 17, Hermiston.