Pastor's Monthly Message
May 2021
Pastor Corby’s Ponderings
Our dog Sweetie loves windy days, and sticking her head out the car window. She snorts, snuffles and sniffs as the air becomes part of them. No matter how windy it gets, she likes to stand on her back legs and face the direction that the wind is coming from, and immediately enters doggy heaven.
For a moment, she is oblivious to anything else going on around her. I’m sure it’s the scents and smells that the wind brings to her. Since her life is pretty much confined to the house and yard most of everyday, the wind is, a sumptuous blessing. The wind brings her experiences of a world beyond her powers to visit, including the smells of a dozen kinds of trees and hundreds of wildflowers, sage brush and mesquite, and yes the ONFP friends; the goat and sheep. Breathe deep the delightful smells of our world!
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Here is a thinker I ran across. God asks us to tithe 10% of our income. Our culture asks us to tip our waitresses 15%. What does it say about our faith
when we give our Church 10% toward the mission of God, and the waitress 15% for doing a great job? This kind of hit home! Your money follows your passions.
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We are in the midst of a financial crisis. It is quiet, sneaky, and can be disastrous to many people in our friendship circles. Emotions are running high and people are running scared. One of the best ways to reduce financial panic is to help someone else in crisis. When people know they have someone to listen and give them hope, anxiety decreases. But hope is not the only thing they need and we have things to help them through literally in our own backyard. Our Neighbors Farm and Pantry is in need of volunteers. When you volunteer your time to meet and listen to another person’s challenges, you’ll forget about your own problems and become more grateful for what you do have. This pandemic is not over yet. Even though the numbers of infection continues to drop, the ramifications financial and social will be felt for years to come.
United Methodist Social Creed
We believe in God, Creator of the world; and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of creation. We believe in the Holy Spirit, through whom we acknowledge God’s gifts, and we repent of our sin in misusing these gifts to idolatrous ends. We affirm the natural world as God’s handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind. We joyfully receive for ourselves and others the blessings of community, sexuality, marriage, and the family. We commit ourselves to the rights of men, women, children, youth, young adults, the aging, and people with disabilities; to improvement of the quality of life; and to the rights and dignity of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. We believe in the right and duty of persons to work for the glory of God and the good of themselves and others and in the protection of their welfare in so doing; in the rights to property as a trust from God, collective bargaining, and responsible consumption; and in the elimination of economic and social distress. We dedicate ourselves to peace throughout the world, to the rule of justice and law among nations, and to individual freedom for all people of the world. We believe in the present and final triumph of God’s Word in human affairs and gladly accept our commission to manifest the life of the gospel in the world. Amen.
In Christian Love,
Pastor Corby
DAILY DEVOTIONS with Pastor Corby
Daily, Monday – Friday at 10:00am Pastor Corby shares with you devotions on Facebook at: First United Methodist Church of Safford and on her Youtube channel found at: Corby Johnson.
Please pray for these churches and Pastors in May:
· Community UMC, Bowie
· Desert Skies UMC, Tucson
Duncan UMC, Duncan