Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 27, 2022 -- THREE
Spiritually Speaking
Obituaries
~ Letters to the Editor ~
Vanity of vanities …
Carolyn Kay Kight
When possessions become obsessions
Carolyn Kay Kight, 66, ings to bring together her
was born May 16, 1956, and community.
Nothing brought more
passed away July 11, 2022.
Those who will live joy into her life than so-
on in her memory include cializing with those around
her children, Beverly Hau- her, taking road trips with
gen and Michael Haugen; her girls or sitting in her
art room. Her soul
siblings, Debbie
would illuminate all it
Haugen and John
came in contact with.
Haugen; grandchil-
With her husband,
dren, Nia Ruckman,
Tyra Haugen, Bry- Carolyn Kay Phil, they would rest
themselves atop the
ton Rayburn, Ja- Kight
water, dangling lines
cob Haugen, Ryan
below, waiting to see
Haugen and Mason
what rises from the depth.
Haugen
Though her soul is now
“You use a glass mir-
ror to see your face; you at peace, welcomed by her
use works of art to see husband, Phil; her mother,
your soul.” George Bernard Mary; her father, Don; her
sister, Linda; her brother
Shaw.
And what a beautiful Donnie, there are no words
soul it was. The colorful that can express how much
stroke of every brush. The she will be missed. Indeed,
dedication of all the ornate there is only one that comes
jewelry. The fragrant notes close: Saudade. Saudade
that arose from aromatic is a Portuguese word that
soaps. The warmth that in- roughly translates to a deep
tricately designed blankets emotional state of longing
for someone loved, with the
enveloped.
Her soul laid the foun- knowledge that they may
dation of home. Open arms never be seen again.
Carol Kight was loved
ready to embrace those she
held dear; her family, her deeply and though those
friends, and arguably most who live on may not see her
importantly, her dogs. She in this life again, the lasting
welcomed the world into effervescence of her soul
her home; hosting gather- will never dwindle.
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
This week we reflect on man’s long-
ing for material realities. When we are
preoccupied with material possessions,
we forget the more important things in
life. Through the scripture readings, Jesus
is trying to impart that the main concern
of our lives on earth should be to “make Fr. Thankachan
Joseph
ourselves rich in the sight of God.”
The reading from the Book of Eccle-
siastes 1:2; 2:21-23 begins with these verses: “vanity of
vanities says Qoheleth [the narrator], vanity of vanities!
All things are vanity!” Man runs after material things
instead of the Creator for consolation and support. The
writer points out that the things that are supposed to sat-
isfy human beings do not. Look at all the effort a person
puts into acquiring wealth. To what purpose? To leave it
to his heir. He does not carry all that he acquires along
with him.
The Gospel from St. Luke (12: 13-21) offers an in-
cident that occurred in Galilee as Jesus was teaching to
a large crowd. A young man called out from the crowd,
“Rabbi, tell my brother to divide the inheritance of our
father.” Jewish law clearly prescribed that at the death of
a father, the elder son received 2/3 of the inheritance and
the young son received 1/3. This is obviously a younger
son who is complaining about the inherent wrongness of
it all. Nothing will divide families, brothers and sisters
more than dividing up an estate. We may think it happened
two thousand years ago, but so it was then, and so it is
now. I know stories of many of our brothers and sisters
getting into family issues over property divisions. I can
even reflect on my own family story, after the sudden
death of our dad. Jesus refused to get involved in a petty
family dispute.
Jesus was concerned, however, with the preoccu-
pation with worldly things. He said, “Beware of greed,
for life does not consist of things possessed.” The sum
total of a person’s life is more than his or her financial
portfolio. He illustrated this point by telling a story: There
was once a man who had an unbroken run of prosperity.
In today’s language, the story of the owner of a multina-
tional company like Apple, Google, Facebook, etc. So
prosperous did he become that his barns could not hold
all of his crops. His solution was to tear down these barns
and build bigger and better barns. Then, he could sit back
and truly enjoy life. His philosophy was eat, drink and be
merry. Why did Jesus call him “rich fool?”
The question is, what did this man do wrong? To an-
swer, we must understand that this is not a parable about
money, but about values and what is important. l suggest
four things that this man did that made him a fool: He
had full barns, but an empty heart and never thought of
sharing with anyone in need. He overestimated his own
value in the scheme of things. He forgot what his real
business in life was really all about. He forgot about the
nature of time.
Possessions are necessary. But possessions can
assume such importance that they become obsessions.
When one is so concerned about the things that one
could have but does not have, so much so that one can no
longer hear the urgent call of God, then one has indeed
gotten one’s priorities wrong. Such is the man in today’s
Gospel. Jesus is not against him having more wealth,
nor is He against justice being done between him and his
brother. Jesus is disappointed that after listening to all His
preaching, the man’s first concern still remains his share
of the inheritance.
Jesus, fearing there could be more people in the
crowd like this man, turns and says to them: “Take care!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s
life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”
(Luke 12:15). Greed? What greed? I am sure many of
my readers are involved in harvesting time. I heard from
many who say they are blessed with a good crop of wheat
this year. When we enjoy a good crop, unlike the foolish
rich fool, we need to open our ears and eyes to reach out
to the needy and the poor, think of the struggling children
around the world struggling to get food at least once a
day. We can avoid being like the “rich fool.”
Untrue statements
made about
Neighborhood Center
To the editor and the
citizens of Morrow County;
I would like to address
comments made by Ann
Spicer at the recent recall
meeting held at Two Old
Hags pizza. During the
meeting she made state-
ments alleging a number of
not-for-profit organizations,
including the Neighbor-
hood Center of South Mor-
row County (The Neighbor-
hood Center), did not feel
supported by the county.
The statements made
are not factual statements
and in no way represent the
feelings and beliefs of the
board, employees and vol-
unteers affiliated with the
Neighborhood Center. The
Neighborhood Center has,
and does feel very support-
ed by Morrow County, both
monetarily and in spirit.
Ann Spicer is not affili-
ated with the Neighborhood
Center, has not volunteered
at the Neighborhood Cen-
ter, is not a member of the
board and does not have
any right to speak for or on
behalf of the Neighborhood
Center. Thank you for tak-
ing the time to read this.
Nina Bisson
Board Chair
Bag sale scheduled
The Neighborhood
Center is having a Bag
Sale on Wednesday, Au-
gust 3 from 9:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. at 441 N Main
Street, Heppner. The first
bag purchased will be $15
tie) Hams, Matt Hams and and the second bag at the
Chatham Hansen; nieces, discounted price of $5.
Shop for the entire
Hailey (Adam) Chitlick,
Carley (Brandon) Snyder
and Katie (Ryan) Heath
and his loyal pets, Carma
and Tuxie, as well as many
good friends.
Memorial contributions
may be made to the Ione
Booster Club, PO Box 4,
Ione, OR 97843.
Sweeney Mortuary of
Heppner is in care of ar-
rangements. The online
condolence book is avail-
able at www.sweeneymor-
tuary.com.
Jeffrey Wayne
Hams
Jeffrey Wayne Hams,
58, of Ione, died Thurs-
day, July 21, 2022, at St.
Charles Medical Center in
Bend, OR, surrounded by
his brothers. A celebration
of life will be held at 1 p.m.,
Saturday, July 30, 2022,
at the Ione Community
Church.
He was born August
10, 1963, at Pendleton,
OR to Wayne and Dianna
Pettyjohn Hams. Jeff was
raised and attended school
in Ione where he graduated
from high school. He had
the honor of playing in the
state championship football
game in 1978.
On August 6, 1988, he
married Michele Sailing;
the couple later divorced.
He had two sons, Tyler
Hassing and Christopher
Jones.
Jeff loved fishing, hunt-
ing mushrooms and just
being in the outdoors.
He was preceded in
death by his sister, Leslie
Kay and both grandparents.
Survivors include his
parents; brothers, Craig
Hams and Shawn Hams;
sister, Deena (Paddy) Han-
sen; nephews, Paul (Ka-
The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following
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to Heppner.net.
family and fill up a bag
with clothing, shoes, books,
games, music and movies.
All other household mer-
chandise is 50 percent off
this day only.
Proceeds from the sale
help fund the food pantry
and other emergency assis-
tance programs.
An Open Letter to the Public
Due to the ongoing confusion about the current situation, we are
sharing this statement with media and concerned Morrow County
residents.
Morrow County Health District is the designated ambulance service
provider for all of Morrow County and has been providing these
services for over 27 years.
Morrow County Health District has requested that the EMS
Advisory Committee enforce the Morrow County Ambulance Service
Area Plan with respect to how Boardman Fire Rescue District is
dispatched. Currently, BFRD is engaging in a practice known as call
jumping, where multiple providers respond to a single incident. In
Oregon, call jumping is illegal. The state of Oregon has determined
that this practice presents risks to the public and patients that do not
outweigh the benefits of that action. These concerns were cited in
the Determination order prepared by the EMS Advisory Committee
and MCHD in March 2022. Actions taken by MCHD and the EMS
Advisory Committee are undertaken for the sole purpose of ensuring
emergency resources are efficiently and appropriately regulated in
an effort to ensure community safety.
MCHD has made no requests involving Boardman Police
Department. Boardman Police Department has never been a party
to the ongoing dispatch issues.
MCHD has made many attempts to resolve this issue and develop
a partnership with BFRD to enhance EMS services. Those attempts
have not been successful. At this point, due to the continued public
safety risk, MCHD is following the legal process outlined in the ASA
Plan as we constructively work toward a reasonable,
community-based resolution.
Boardman Fire Rescue District is very good at what they do, and
we are beyond grateful for their firefighting services. MCHD’s EMS
first responders are also very skilled at what they do and have been
saving lives in our communities for 27 years. Changing the way
emergency medical services are deployed in Morrow County does
not make sense. Not when there is already a system in place that is
safe, effective, efficient and proven to save lives
MCHD appreciates community feedback and inquiries. Questions
and comments can be sent to community@mocohd.org. More
information about MCHD’s EMS services is available at https://www.
morrowcountyhealthdistrict.org/emergency-medical-services.