FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Spiritually Speaking
Lexington council
God above everything else
candidates speak out Love
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph SDB, St. Patrick Church
By Bobbi Gordon
Two candidates who
are on the ballot for the
town of Lexington respond-
ed to the questions sent to
them about their candidacy.
Current mayor Juli Ken-
nedy and current council
member Will Lemmon an-
swered with the following
responses.
Candidate for Lexing-
ton Mayor, Juli A. Ken-
nedy
Age: 54
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
General education with
emphasis on business.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
Currently holding the
position of Mayor of the
Town of Lexington.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
Husband, Sid Kennedy.
Daughter in Heppner and
a daughter in Hermiston.
Both grew up in the Hep-
pner area.
Why are you running
for a town/city office?
I want to continue to
make a difference in this
community. It is a great
place to live and has such
wonderful protentional. We
have made great progress in
this town and I am excited
about the future of our
community.
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing the
office you are running for in
your city?
I think one of the big-
gest challenges in this town
is getting residents involved
and to establish better con-
fidence in the local gov-
ernment. Another issue we
have faced is turnover.
How would you address
that challenge if you win?
We have made great
progress but have room to
grow. Meetings are more
productive than in the past
and I hope that this contin-
ues. Honesty, professional-
ism and respect for others
are key to establish positive
working relationships. As
far as the turnover, I feel
it is crucial to establish
documented policies and
protocols that will ensure
smooth transitions when
turnover is experienced.
Why do you feel you
are the best candidate for
the job?
I feel that I have made
a difference with the assis-
tance of a great council. I
am committed to seeing
our town excel and to be
recognized for positive
changes. I take this position
seriously and I know that
there are more great things
in store for us. We all have
differences in opinions but I
know that I can continue to
respect those and work to-
gether to resolve any issues.
Candidate for Lexing-
ton council member, Will
Lemmon
Age: 49
What education and/or
degrees do you have that
qualify you for the position?
My education is 49
years of life as an American
citizen and 13 as a citizen of
Lexington.
What, if any, prior ex-
perience do you have?
I have served two pre-
vious terms as a town coun-
cil member for the Town of
Lexington.
Do you have family
here? Spouse? Children?
My wife and I live in
Lexington. We raised our
children in Lexington for
the last 13 years. Our chil-
dren are now adults, living
in Heppner, Hermiston and
La Grande.
Why are you running
for a town/city office?
To be involved in what
is happening in my town
and help to make it a better
community.
What do you feel is the
biggest challenge facing the
office you are running for in
your city?
From talking to the
residents of Lexington over
the years, our old and out-
dated water system, which
has been improved in the
last few years, still needs
improvement.
How would you address
that challenge if you win?
With the diligent effort
and hard work of my fellow
council members, our may-
or and our employees, we
will be working on grants to
improve our water system
to continue providing clean,
safe water to our residents.
Why do you feel you
are the best candidate for
the job?
I believe I am the only
candidate on the ballot. I
will serve to the best of
my ability for the Town
of Lexington and all who
reside here.
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Valby Road
Ione Oregon. 97843
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What is “love”? How would you define it? The En-
glish word “love” has many different meanings. If you
were to do a web search on the word “love,” you might
find at least 54,700,000 sites. When we look at it Biblical-
ly, we can think of four types of love: Storge = empathy
bond; Philia = friend bond; Eros = romantic love; Agape =
unconditional love, God’s love. Today love is the subject
of countless films, and the Beatles popularized the song
“All You Need Is Love.” What is the love we are talking
about here? Is it that nice warm sentimental feeling, or is
it more than that? Is there one love that is the greatest of
all? May His word open our minds and hearts to Agape,
the unconditional love of God.
The book of Exodus (22:20-26) reminds the readers
of their obligations towards others, especially to the wid-
ows, the strangers, and the orphans – namely, the weak
and helpless people. The time of the exile was definitely
a very painful and dark part of the history of the people
of Israel, during which they experienced what it meant to
be weak and dependent on others, as they were strangers
journeying to the Promised Land. Times improved, but
they were asked not to forget what they themselves had
undergone and to be sensitive to the needs of the for-
eigners among them, the homeless, the helpless and the
dependent. They must not oppress the stranger because
they were strangers once. They must plead the cause of
the underprivileged because they were underprivileged
themselves. Having felt the pain of injustice and oppres-
sion themselves, they must never inflict pain on others.
The health of a community can be measured by the way
it treats such people.
St. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians (1:5-
10), is full of appreciation and praise for the believers
in Thessalonica because of the way they have received
the good news and incorporated it into their lives. He is
happy that they have imbibed the faith through the good
example of the way he himself has lived in their midst.
He continues praising them because they themselves
have spread the good news and become a good example
attracting others to the faith. Faith is not taught but caught
by the inspiring way it is lived.
In today’s Gospel the Pharisees confront Jesus with a
question concerning the law: “What is the greatest com-
mandment?” Was there one in particular which was the
key to all the others? The question was asked not for the
sake of obtaining knowledge but as a point of argument.
Even today many people love to debate religious topics
just for the sake of debate. In Jesus’s day the Pharisees
spent endless hours debating about the greatest law. Jesus
refused to enter into debate. He cut it short by pointing
out that laws and religious sermons meant nothing if they
did not lead to love of God
and neighbor. There was
only one law, one precept
that had to be observed:
love of God and love of
neighbor. These were not
new precepts. But Jesus
emphasized the connection
between the two as no one
had ever done before: You
cannot have one without Fr. Thankachan Joseph
the other. The love of God,
whom we cannot see, is bogus if it is not expressed in
love of people whom we do see. And love of people is
incomplete unless it is infused by love of God. C. H. Dodd
states, “To love God is to live as His child; to live as a
child of God is to treat your neighbor as God treats you.”
To describe the above idea, I recall the life story of
Father Damien. Father Damien: The Leper Priest is a
movie made for television in which Ken Howard plays
the lead role. The program dramatizes the story of Fr.
Damien, who came from Belgian to the Hawaiian island
of Molokai in 1873 to serve the lepers there until he too
contracted leprosy and died in 1889. At that time, the
colony of Molokai was a dumping ground for lepers,
and it was like a death sentence to be put there. There
was little law and order, medical help and supplies were
nonexistent, and housing and sanitation were so bad that
the island seemed like a sewer. At first Fr. Damien found
the lepers repulsive. But he suffered with them, struggled
with them, and served them; he overcame his revulsion
towards the lepers and developed deep feelings of love
for them. Fr. Damien dedicated almost two decades of
his life to the lepers because he believed that in doing so,
he was demonstrating both his love for God and for his
neighbor. According to our Lord’s words in Matthew’s
gospel this is the greatest thing we can do with our lives:
to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind and
soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
It would be worth noting that Jesus said that we have
to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Too many
people cannot love others because they do not love them-
selves. You cannot love another if you do not first love
yourself; you will project all your self-hatred and guilt
onto the other. Loving another as yourself does not mean
merging yourself with that person or eliminating him or
her. Loving the other as yourself means allowing the other
to experience what we have lived in our foundational
relationship with God. Let us relive daily the Lord’s rule:
“Love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind and
will and your neighbor as yourself.”
Riverside Jr/Sr High continues
positive trends
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Education released
school report cards recently,
and Riverside Jr/Sr High
School continues to re-
ceive high marks. This
year’s report card is much
different than in the past, it
is showing data regarding
the on-time graduation rate
and five-year completion
rate. In each of the two
areas, Riverside was 20
percent higher than the state
average.
Over the last five years
Riverside has seen an in-
crease each year in stu-
dents’ on-time graduation
rate. During that time, the
on-time graduation rate has
gone up 19 percent. The re-
port card that ODE released
for the 2019-2020 school
year indicates an on-time
graduation rate of over 95
percent for Riverside. The
year prior had a 93 percent
on-time graduation rate.
“Seeing this trend contin-
ue to go up is extremely
encouraging,” Principal
David Norton said. “Our
goal is to prepare students
for life after high school and
helping them achieve their
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high school diploma is the
first step.”
Over the last three
years Riverside has had 15
students graduate with their
AAOT (Associate of Art
Oregon Transfer) degrees
from Blue Mountain Com-
munity College the same
year they graduated from
high school. Overall the
three classes have earned
3,432 college credits.
Riverside’s school mot-
to is “Compete For What
You Dream For.” Norton
said students are coming
to school every day with a
goal in mind and working
hard to push themselves to
do their best at all times.
It is extremely exciting to
see these students achieve
the high expectations they
have set for themselves in
high school and continue
that focus after graduation,
he continued.
Principal Norton said,
“Our staff, families and
community work extremely
hard to meet the needs of
the students, and we are all
excited to see the continued
growth and success of our
school and students. We
will continue to work with
the students, staff, families
and community in Compre-
hensive Distance Learning
to achieve the high expec-
tations we have set.”
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