The Golden Rule in Ten Major Faiths

The Golden Rule is a universal guide to every religion in the world. We are to treat another just as you want to be treated. To think that one person is better than another, above another in importance, or to be treated differently due to social or economic status fit not this universal law. The Golden Rule is a high ideal. The worth of an ideal gains value only as it is put to practice. --Dennis Ginoza

The Golden Rule in Ten Major Faiths

Christianity:
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you;
for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12 (NRSV)

Hebraism (Judaism):
“What is hurtful to yourself, do not to your fellow man.”

Mohammedanism (Islam):
“No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what
he loves for himself.”

Buddhism:
“In five ways should a clansman minister to his friends and familiars—
by generosity, courtesy and benevolence, by treating them as he treats
himself, and by being as good as his word.”

Confucianism
“Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you.”

Hinduism
“Do not to others, which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.”

Sikhism:
“As thou deemest thyself so deem others. Then shalt thou become a
partner in heaven.”

Jainism
“In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all
creatures as we regard our own self.”

Zoroastrianism:
“That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another
whatever is not good for its own self.”

Taoism:
“Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and regard your
neighbor’s loss as your own loss.”

Living By Faith

A Devotion for Those Who Serve Our Nation

LIVING BY FAITH

I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20

There are three ways we can think about our lives. We may think that as individuals we count for nothing. That is the way of pessimism, which cuts the nerve of effort and leads to weakness and despair.

We may think that we are all-important. That is the way of egotism, and leads to a distorted sense of values that prevents harmonious cooperation with other people for ends which are greater than ourselves.

Or we may think of our lives as having meaning in the purposes of God. That is the way of responsibility. It does not result in a sense of futility or self-importance, but it does take life seriously. That is the way of Christian faith.

As humans, we can stand almost anything except the fear that when we have given our best or endured the worst, after all it made no real difference what we did or who we were. Life takes on a new depth and richness when we confront all of life’s contingencies with the faith that this adventure of living counts in the purposes of God, and that we count.

O GOD, our Help in ages past, our Hopes for years to come; we who need Thy help and hope turn to Thee, who hast been the abiding Friend of all people of all times, in all places. Shine Thou within our hearts, giving us the light of knowledge of Thy glory in the face of Christ. Set our feet in the ways Thou hast chosen for us. Confirm our spirits in the faith which overcomes the world. Teach us to be Christ’s disciples, and to find in Him our life and our peace. Amen.

Morgan Phelps Noyes
Central Presbyterian Church, Montclair, N.J.

Note: This meditation is taken from Strength for Service to God and Country, edited by Norman E. Nygaard, revised edition b y Evan Hunsberger.

Strength for Service to God and Country was written after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. Over one million copies were sold. This devotional meditation and the collection of others were written to bring guidance and strength during World War II and the Korean War.

A sailor who had this book in his possession for many years gave his copy to his fifteen year old grandson. This grandson, Evan Hunsberger, decided to honor his grandfather’s memory by revising this book as an Eagle Scout Project. The General Commission on the United Methodist Men assisted Evan in its development with fundraising for its publication. Providence House Publishers shared the same vision. Evan, a Roman Catholic, received the Good Samaritan Award.

This devotional book represents the broad spectrum of faith and was expanded with additional writings. Published in 1942, it was renewed by Norman E. Nygaard in 1969.

May we continue to live by God’s guidance in dangerous and difficult times. Strength, wisdom, and courage will help us through each and every era of change and conflict, Christ being our daily companion.

Dennis Ginoza
November 24, 2009

Rules for Life: John Wooden

RULES TO LIVE BY

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings.

In his book A Game Plan For Life, coach John Wooden tells about how his father mentored him and gave him a rule for life. Upon graduation from grade school, his father, Joshua Wooden, gave him a gift of two dollars and a small card with a poem on one side and seven rules for living on the other. The rules cited above have stayed with Coach Wooden all his life.

Wooden led the UCLA basketball team to ten national championships. The rules have helped him in teaching the game to the young players. For example, when one team member scored, the player knew he was to point to another player who helped him make the basket, by passing the ball or making a block. Wooden says that this wasn’t about deflecting praise, but sharing the moment with all the team members. They work as a team.

Wooden also is a committed Christian and respected the players different faith orientations. He allowed them and encouraged them to be true to their faith, whichever way they believed. It made them better persons for life and better players on the basketball court.

A Game Plan for Life
By John Wooden and Don Yaeger
2009

The Abundance of God

The Abundance of God
November 12, 2009www.fieldingfaith.blogspot.com

Since the genesis of the world, time, nature and existence, have been teaching us that we live in an abundant world. God is our infinite source of supply. The Eden story profiles a garden with everything that is needed. God’s first gift to us is paradise. For the writers to portray such a place, they must have had a glimpse of this truth.

One quiet afternoon I sat in my office looking out. A light shower was passing through as was so common in the Hawaiian islands. The sun was shining, its rays of light dancing on the trees and brush, the trade winds adding to nature’s movement. Palolo Valley was filled with the abundance of God in beauty, harmony, and peace. My heart was filled with gratitude for God’s goodness and grace. This was a moment of being in touch and attuned with God.

When we focus ourselves on the true quality of God, it is as much what I call today, abundance. God is abundant with love, generosity, care, giving, sharing, sustaining, guiding, helping, supporting. The God of the grain fields is the same God that cared for the taro patches, the rice fields, the potato fields, the melon fields, the wheat fields, and the corn fields. The God of the Pilgrims is the same God that produced the seeds of life in Mesopotamia, Canaan, Egypt, Greece, China, India, Polynesia, England, and the Americas.

When I sat at a table four thousand miles away from home, with new friends I had made, my first Thanksgiving away from home, having had my first brush with snow, my heart was filled with gratitude. This loving Iowan family could not have known how much a simple act of kindness, moments of genuine laughter, and generous sharing would mean to me even today. In abundance we all share a kind of “Pilgrim gratitude.”

Today we stand at the edge of a new frontier. This frontier is not one of unexplored land masses. Nor is it a question of devising new seeds for agricultural production. And it is not the challenge of finding the right economic theory. It is not solving the mystery of the expansive outer space beckoning the scientific and curious. The new frontier has been, is, and still is the human heart. In our hearts we are to discover the abundance of God. In our hearts we are to find the will to share. In our hearts we are to uncover the treasure of gratitude.

May gratitude pervade our land and our world.

Unraveling the God Confusion

“Unraveling the God Confusion”
November 12, 2009

The most complicated problem after all may not be Einstein’s mathematical formula, the cause of disease, nor the issue of war. It is the God confusion.

The problem is not God, but our perception of God. There are as many perceptions as there are experiences. For the lack of substance we have built golden calves. Tribal forms dependent on nature have developed animalism. Political ambitions have molded emperors into gods. Human prejudices have shaped a God sanctioning slavery. Depth psychology has painted a god of self-projection. Science and technology have given birth to the great denial, the non-existence of God. Materialism has created a God-mix of success, wealth, and nationalism.

Christianity today stands against not only the major faiths of the world, but against itself. Denominationalism stands more for division than unity. Churches today stand as David against Goliaths of our culture—media, business, technological networks, the entertainment industry, and war machines. In part, the church’s work is in the name of God, but as much, for a piece of the pie.

Our perceptions and practices, however do not change the reality of God. While our myths, rituals, temples, priesthoods, secret societies, and theodicies are but attempts to affirm a God who is, God simply remains God.

For Christians and the world, our eyes turn to a wayward Nazarene with revolutionary teachings about God. He drew all commandments into one – LOVE. Every major faith in its true form would come to the same. He broke the mold of sin and death through forgiveness by his crucifixion. He moved beyond the bounds of time and physics with the resurrection. All powers of possibility converged in the ascension.

The irony of this God confusion still ends in the same place—perception. As much as I or any other would want to dogmatize an understanding of God, it is only as good as one’s perception can offer.

The one thing that I refuse to compromise is the existence of God and the transforming power of the Christ. These have been and are moving powers within me, my life throughout time which I have known and experienced. Until our lessons are learned, our perceptions made clear, and our lives made more loving, I will continue in my God-encounters. I wish the same for you.

Without God

Without God
Dr. Dennis Ginoza November 12, 2009

Millions are walking this earth without God. How easy that can be. One’s physical needs are so essential that we cannot see beyond them. The social conflicts, the political struggles, and the economic plights have created such turmoil, we have built walls around ourselves which are keeping us from reaching the finer level of spirit.
Plato gave us the allegory of the cave where people are chained and cannot see beyond the moving shadow cast upon a wall. Reality is distorted and what is an illusion is deemed the truth.
We have created a different world for ourselves, illusive, denial ridden, and distorted. This is the world without God. We have become like those whose limits are keeping them from seeing, sensing, and appreciating a world of beauty, truth, and divinity.
Without God, our world is characterized by limits rather than possibilities. We miss a lot. When we are not in harmony with our world which is so filled with God-energies, God-elements, and God-forces, we enter what Leslie Weatherhead calls “a state of dis-ease.” Human experience is conveying to us that living without God is creating for us a greater state of dis-ease. This state has reached a level of great personal and global concern.
Without God, we become like the blind that cannot see the sunset, the deaf that cannot hear the melody of Mozart and Handel, the violent natured who is kept from hearing the birds sing or a voice of love, the uncultured who gets nothing from the halls of great paintings, or the social cripple who fails to build bridges of lasting relationships. Our God relationship is suffering.
In the short run, it appears we can survive without God. In the long run, we see we cannot. The Christian experience simply calls us to step over a line into the light of day. The Bible speaks of “coming to oneself.” Psychology suggests “getting in touch.” Biology hints at “rebuilding onself.” Theology offers “conversion.” Philosophy explores “a new era of thought.”
It is time to step over the line and once again discover a life with God. There seems to be no other way.

Molokai, Book Review

Book Review and Comments
“Molokai” by Alan Brennert

When Rachel Kalama, a five year old girl, found a spot on her skin, “Molokai” began describing a saga of a dreadful disease that hit the Hawaiian Islands. Leprosy was a feared disease with a cure unknown. For Rachel and thousands later, Molokai unfolds the sadness and the bitterness in a life of isolation.

On the island of Molokai, on a remote peninsula known as Kalaupapa, Alan Brennert takes us back to ancient Hawaii and a life without promise, a people faced with the inevitable, death. Even more difficult was living.

Kalaupapa, a place not known to the world, juts out from a island in the Hawaiian chain. Its beauty of a tropical land, with breaking waves, blue skies, and trade winds, is kept from the world by towering cliffs. It becomes a forbidden land, a history not fully told, and not understood. Molokai opens the door to Hawaii’s history, the plight of so many, the goodness and sacrifice of dedicated nuns and amongst the stricken people themselves.

Molokai is a literary weaving of human emotions, Shakespearean in many ways, a search for normalcy where there isn’t normalcy, fact with fiction, ancient Hawaiian culture layered with cultures from other regions, and the search for peace in human turmoil.

The Author’s Perspective

Alan Brennert says that when he went to Hawaii twenty four years ago, he fell in love with the islands. He felt he was coming home. He states that nearly everything he wrote was based on fact yet this in a context of a novel. Rachel Kalama is entirely fiction, but others are actual people—Brother Dutton, Mother Marianne, Ambrose Hutchinson, Lawrence Judd, J.D. McVeigh, Doctors Oliver and Swift. Leilani is based on a medical history.

Kalaupapa

Since 1865, when Kamehameha’s “Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy,” about 8,000 people, men, women, and children, had been exiled to the peninsula. In 1969 the law was repealed. Leprosy is now termed Hansen’s disease. In 1874, a Norwegian physican, G. Armauer Hansen discovered the cause of leprosy, a bacillus (rod shaped bacterium). Hansen disease, with treatment, has been arrested and the medical colony on Kalaupapa has been closed.

To any reader who has a fascination with the history of Hawaii and its people, this is a book for you to read.

The Shack, Book Review

Books List – A Commentary

THE SHACK by William Paul Young

I must admit, I began reading the book twice and it didn’t catch my interest. I am not one who easily turn to novels to read unless they have an interesting line, a lesson for life, or brings a historical context..

For the third time, I started to read the book. So many people told me how they enjoyed the book. I was told, “After you read it, tell us what you think.” My wife, a librarian said, “You need to give it time.” Many churches were having group studies on this book so my curiosity was aroused.

The book first caught my attention when Mack’s young daughter was kidnapped. It turned into suspense, a mystery, and problem to solve. Life’s innocence was now caught in the element of evil and a theological question. Something beautiful, three children enjoying the day with dad, takes a turn. The author carefully builds the story into theological reflection, images, and internal struggles. These define life as we know it. The author creatively weaves many threads into a moving story, raising as many questions as there are answers.

So often we hear the phrase, “out of the box.” Theologically and biblically, the author develops a story, out of the box. It has orthodox premises of beliefs, but he goes beyond. This is refreshing, but for those in the box, it is disturbing. Some reviews raise the questions, is he biblically accurate? Is it theologically correct? The author moves into biblically understanding then moves out, stretching love and grace to another level. The perception of God is a surprise, curious on one hand, way out on the other. The point of the book is not to be stuck here.

The Shack, in this form, appears to me as a modern parable. It searches the inner emotions of a tragedy, seeking grace to lighten the spirit. Two options are offered, vengeance, endless resentment in tragedy and loss, or the way of forgiveness. The author captures the teaching of Jesus, not in ancient images, but in a new parable.

The author brings to this story many resources, his theological perceptions, his own struggle dealing with life and tragedy, learnings he has gained from a missionary experience and adjusting to different cultures, and new theological understandings. As he said, “I wrote this for my children;” to help them in their own faith journey. Remember, this is a novel, a tool an author can design and create as he pleases. An author is like an artist, he can move trees wherever he wants, create a picture like a Picasso or a Mona Lisa.

I found The Shack more enlightening than I first thought. It’s good reading.

November 8, 2009

The First Snow

The First Snow
Dennis Ginoza November 2, 2009


As we were traveling through Colorado, it was our hope to see the changing of the fall colors. In our hope, instead, we found green pine trees on the mountain slopes and the lower regions. The aspen had just begun to turn slightly, but not to our expectation.

Nature has its cycles, predictable, constant, and continous. This is our general sense. We also come to realize that nature has its quirks, shifts, and surprises. What we do know is that the sun rises and the sun sets. The tides rise and recede, the earth rotates on its axis and moves in its orbit around the sun, rainbows fill the sky as tiny rain drops and sun rays coincide. Nature is a beautiful thing.

So we ask, what happened to the changing of the leaves? In Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, fall was at the threshold, but had not entered its time. It simply was late. Finally, in late October, in Iowa, the leaves began to change.

As I said earlier, nature has its quirks. The morning of October 12, 2009, when we awoke in Minneapolis, my wife went to the hotel window and she exclaimed: “It’s snowing!”

In the open field, there was a blanket of freshly fallen snow, an incredible sight, refreshing and delightful. A total surprise, we began a new day. Of course, I, born in Hawaii, living now in California, the first snow was a true joy. I hurried downstairs, got out to the fresh snow and, like a little boy, threw a bunch of snowballs.

There is always an excitement when it comes to the first snow. In my freshman year in college, in Iowa, the first night it snowed, another student and I from Hawaii went out barefoot and ran and skidded in the snow on the street. That little child in us came out to play.

One October, when I was teaching in Philadelphia, in my seventh grade math class, one of the students yelled out, “It’s snowing!” The students all got out of their seats and ran to the window. “Yeah, it’s snowing,” they called out. In such a moment, what else can you do, but just enjoy it.

My first Christmas away from home, I was visiting with my friend and his family in Ohio. The open field just back of their home was covered with fresh snow. My friend Duane said, “Let’s go out in the snow. I want you to make an angel.” I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. I was from Maui. We grew up with sand, red dirt, and sugar cane fields. He showed me what to do. Then I laid on my back, moved my arms and made my first snow angel.

There is in all of our experiences, something new, something different, and something exciting. Riding a sea turtle, catching your first fish, riding a bike for the first time, dipping your toe in the Pacific Ocean if you’re from Kansas, or visiting Disneyland as a three year old. The first snow for one is just like that.

That evening it snowed in Minneapolis, the weather was reported, “Winter came two months early.” Fall just lingered and the leaves didn’t change like we had hope. Winter, on the other hand, came like a speeding train. This was another historic moment.

On October 19 and 20, Minnesota reported one of its earliest blizzards. The temperature dropped 50 degrees with a snowfall of fifteen inches. On October 10, 1977 2.4 inches of snow fell on Columbus Day. But that was not the earliest. On September 26, 1942, 1.7 inches fell on the Twin Cities. The St. Paul Dispatch reported even a prior snowfall: “The earliest trace was September 15, 1916.”

The most talked about snowfall was the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. A single snow storm lasted from October 31 to November 3. A record 28.4 inches fell on Minneapolis
and St. Paul.

Each day, we can get up bored, worried, and troubled. Or, we can greet the day with expectation, gratitude, and excitement, thus see the world in a new way. Life is filled with the riches of nature and experiences. The first snowfall brings to light the new, a joy, and another step in time. We remind ourselves, as we look closer at a snow flake, no two snow flakes are alike. Each is different. Such is true to each of us.

Might we begin each day knowing our own uniqueness. The first snow brings to mind this truth. Like little beads on a string it brings together a joy to behold.

Ten Helpful HInts on Remembering Names

Ten Helpful Hints On Remembering Names
Dr. Dennis Ginoza October 9, 2009

How many of us, after we have met someone for the first time, after a few seconds, have forgotten the name? This is a common problem. Remembering can be fleeting. On the other hand, remembering can be just another formed habit, in a good way.

Dale Carnie says, in selling a product, first sell yourself. He also emphasizes, a person’s name is, to that person, the most important thing.

How many times have we corrected someone who mispronounced our name. For some it can be irritating, even offensive. Or, if you can’t remember a person’s name, to avoid embarrassment, often one may avoid contact with that person. I have seen this happen.

Name remembering is an art, it requires a conscious effort, and it is has to be worked on.

I learned early on, when I was a junior in high school, remembering names can become second nature. As a student body treasurer I was given the responsibility to provide change for the students eating at the school cafeteria. By the year’s end I about knew the name of all the students.

Let me share some tools that I learned, hints, that might be helpful. Before I continue, let me cite a case in point. One August, when I was performing my first wedding at that church, as I was performing the ritual, the mother of the bride was sitting next to her sister from Iowa. This sister said to the mother of the bride, “I know your pastor. I went to school with him.”

At the reception after the wedding, she stood at the door and said to me, “Do you remember me?” I said, “Yes.” I said, “Nelda Palmer.” Then I said, “Don’t you ever do that to me again.” Luckily I remembered her name after over 30 years. I had by that time developed certain tools for remembering. Let me share them here.

1. Make remembering a priority. A priority means, that’s the first thing you do. You don’t move on to the next task until the first is done. Priority means, intention, a high purpose, and a task performed. Or simply said, “Do it!”

2. Repeat the name. When you are introduced, say the name out loud. If it’s Joel Van Arken, say, “Joel Van Arken, good to meet you.” Or if the name is, Caroline Schmidt, check the spelling. It could be Carolyn, and Schmidt may sound like Smith. Repetition is the tool for learning.

3. Look for an association. Names can often be linked with something common or something easy to remember. One day I met a homeless man named Steve McQueen. How can one forget such a name? Steve McQueen is the actor. Homelessness is a situation. And this Steve had long hair. Here are some associations, John the photographer, Joseph the marine, Guilford the blind man, Elmer the joker, Gelene a true friend, Mildred an exceptional teacher.

4. Put the name in a context. A context is an experience or a particular situation. One Sunday, a visitor Jan came to our church. She sat in the left section of the sanctuary, in about six rows back. She was placed in a context. Her attentiveness also caught my eye. The ball field, the doctor’s office, walking a dog, at the street corner named Maple Street, or within a story—these are all examples of a particular context.

At a church on my first Sunday, people came to greet me after the worship service. A woman said, to me, “I won’t tell you my name; you won’t remember anyway.” I said, “Tell me anyway.” First she said, “No.” I insisted. She said, “Frances Anderson.” I haven’t forgotten her name since.

5. Remember the name for what it is. Some names stand alone. Or they are like a stone among many stones, blending with everything and easy to forget. How many Jacks and Jims do you know? Take the names Marllyn, Marilyn, Marlene, and Marilynne. You just have to spell them out, hold them up in their own space. How about Bonnye, Bonnie, Connie, CJ, JD, OK, Rapha, Gary (a girl), Yolande and Yvonne, Jurgen, Carrillo (nick name), Don Pepe, Johniken (a girl). Remember the name on its own merit and put it on your memory shelf or file.

6. Play with the name. In every game, you remember the rules after you have played
with them, used them, and experienced them. Learning takes three forms, visual,
audio, and kinesthetic. Names can be put into a light moment. “Let’s see, aren’t
you Luke or are you John. Oh, there’s John, ah that’s Luke.” What’s your name
again?” Especially at weddings, church gatherings, parties where there are many
names to remember, people understand you can’t easily remember their names.
Names sink in when they are felt, looked at, walked with, and played with.
Where were you when John F. Kennedy was assassinated?

7. Make a list and review it. The more you go back to a name, the longer it will
stick with you. Remember Nelda? She was in my Sociology class. I had been in
her home. She was in a college play and her picture was in our Yearbook. I often
would return to my early college days and my yearbooks. It’s like dropping a
sinker on a line deeper and deeper into the depths of the water. The water is a
metaphor for our memory bank. Get it? I have old address books of people I have
met, lists in my daily calendar, and, in the church, a running list of people who are
first time visitors. Notes in the margins are little reminders also. February 17,
1994, Marvin and Elaine were in our home for a visit. That was the day the
Northridge Quake shook San Fernando Valley. We felt it in San Diego. Notations
are made on the blank sheets of the mind. Like inkblots, they can remain with us
for a long long time.

8. Write it down. Carry a 3 X 5 card in your back pocket or your purse. Elton
Trueblood, a Quaker writer, philosopher, and theologian, once reminded us at a
gathering in Richmond, Indiana, “If you have an idea, write it down, or it will lost
forever.” This is a simple task, but who carries a 3 X 5 card in your back pocket.
Or if you had one, who would remember to take a second to write it down. Just
remember, our minds play tricks with us. We can tell ourselves, “Self, don’t
forget this.” Then it’s gone. The mind is fluid, like a flowing river. Drop a hat in
a river and it will not stay in the same place. Such is the mind. Write it down.

9. Make it a habit. Habits are like a string of threads that you roll in a ball. They are a continuous behavior that follow a sequence. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: they are the first three books of the Bible, and John, the fourth book . Remembering becomes second nature. A habit is sequential like learning and reciting your a b c’s.

10. A name is not just a name. It is a person. It is a living being, an individual of
importance, unique, different, and God given. Dibbs was a little boy who was
intelligent, observant, but shy. He never participated in class. He always sat at the
edge of his class. He never spoke until he was four years old. The story of Dibbs
appeared in a book. Spenser, Colton, Chelsea, James, Andrew—they are all little
children that need to be loved. How can I forget them. Learn the name and know
the person.

Finally, just remember, the mind is an incredible memory bank. It has a capacity to remember, categorize, analyze, create, and explore the unexplored. I remember a speaker who told us, “One pastor in Texas could remember every name of the members in his church. They had a thousand members.” The prophet Isaiah emphasizes, “He shall know you by name.”

If I can give you one more clue, it is this. We remember in pictures. When we tell stories, when we are in conversation, when we describe an experience, when give details of an object, an event, a place, or a person, we are using words to describe a picture in our minds. If I were to ask you, please describe the kid of car you drive, you will do so from a picture in your mind. The mind is an incredible gift, just remember to use it.

Visit On An Iowa Farm

Visit on An Iowa Farm
By Dr. Dennis Ginoza October 8, 2009

I heard it said: “My grandfather owned a farm, my father had a garden, I have a can opener.” This is telling of our times.

My father was a gardener. He raised the best string beans. In his two gardens, he planted carrots, broccoli, cabbage, sweet potatoes, eggplant, pumpkins, beets, and of course, string beans. All the preparation was done by hand with picks, shovels, rakes and hoes. He fertilized the soil with chicken manure from hens that provided eggs.. We three sons helped him haul the horse manure from the nearby stables. In retrospect, he was a superb gardener realizing the necessity to feed his family living in a village along the hills of West Maui. As my professor in seminary who was an agriculture missionary in Africa would remind us, raising food in many world regions is labor intensive.

In the early 60’s, traveling through the Mid-West, a common site was small family farms, many just a mile or three apart. As one traveled the rural roads, you could see a barn, a silo, and cattle feeding in fenced in areas or larger pasture lands. The cattle were for marketing or cows raised for milk and its related products. The farm equipment such as tractors had open seats, for the most part, and in time, one would see the progression to closed cabs.


A recollection I have is when my father-in-law wanted some eight track tapes with Hawaiian music so he could listen to it as he worked the fields. Lightly, with a chuckle, I thought, farming is not so hard anymore; it’s mixed with leisure and comfort. Iowa, where I spent time, was a changing farm scene. And that brings me to this present day.

A few days ago, I stepped into a new era in farming. For me, this was a giant step as we live in a day where milk comes in a carton or plastic container, beef and chicken soups sit on shelves in the supermarket, fresh meat are displayed in giant cooling systems, and fresh vegetables and fruits are neatly laid out in racks for easy reach and purchase. Do we have any idea how farming has changed. Most of us have no idea.

The back drop of this day also is an earlier experience I had in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps volunteer. Earlier in Puerto Rico, then in Central America, I learned about the slash and burn system. Farmers used their corn seeds from the harvested crop for re-planting, then the field was slashed and cleared, and burned. Then the corn seeds were planted in an opening in the soil made with a tool, lucky if it was enriched with fertilizer.

Interestingly, the Iowa seed corn was introduced to the farmers by the development association I was working with. The new seed corn was not accepted easily for various reasons. Funny as it may sound, the farmers and their families did not like the color of the new seed corn. It was too light, not the deep yellow they were used to for their tortillas. Change, as we know, doesn’t come easily. What made the hybrid corn less appealing: every planting required new seeds to be bought. This was a start to make farming capital intensive, not labor intensive. Farmers didn’t have financial resources to easily make the change. As my seminary professor reminded us, this is the gap between third world farming and farming in the developed world.

Now, my day on an Iowa farm. I was invited to visit my brother’s-in-law farm. First his son Jason drove me to the site where huge, towering bins are built for storage, a dryer system that is computerized to test moisture and proper drying, a drop pit where semis unload the harvested corn, then the grain would be taken in underground plumbed lines to begin the drying and storing process. While one semi was unloading, another semi would be driven to the field to receive the additional loads for the process just described. Instructive and interesting—was my thinking.

As I sat in the combine with my brother-in-law, Bob Schager, I witnessed the wonder of modern farming. This was far from the days when a horse pulled a plow with a farmer guiding it down the rows for cultivation and far from picking corn by hand. The intensity of the work did not line a sweaty brow in the heat of the sun. If there was a sweat on the brow, the cause would be a bad weather day or declining market prices.

For two hours, I sat in a cab watching the harvesting of a large field of corn with more fields waiting beyond what my sight could see. As the combine moved, cutting and processing twelve rows of corn at a time, a computer screen displayed the moisture, 20% or 27%, and as I learned, that computer also had a GPS mapping system (Global Positioning System with information fed from orbiting satellites), which, would create a mapping memory. This memory would make possible an auto pilot system.

As the combine worked, Bob explained to me that the combine had three sensors which helped determine the level of the terrain so the chopping followed the ups and downs of the soil. Had the GPS system been working, the combine would have been on automatic pilot. This would have given him time to check other systems in the computer data for both the efficiency of the operation and the data collecting system, and whatever else it is designed to do. In another ride, I could tell you more.

As the combine was working, another piece of equipment, the grain cart (augur wagon) was driven parallel to the combine at a calculated speed and a workable distance from the combine. When the combine was about full, not missing a moment, hardly, the corn seeds would be transferred into the grain truck. All this was in a synchronized movement. The grain cart had in it, a computer system recording the weight of every load, data necessary for federal reporting. I could see in mind’s eye, two jets in flight, one a tanker refueling the other in mid-air with no time lost or stoppage of whatever was the required task. This, I saw happening in the corn field.

As I watched the grain cart, after it got its full load, it headed toward the waiting semi which would haul its load to the dumping pit by the waiting bins as described earlier.

What I witnessed in two hours was a giant step in farming. As I could see, it is designed for efficiency and productivity. This was not observed, but clearly this type of farming requires a well trained, clearly defined role of players making possible a harvesting system covering a larger farm, unlike the small farms I saw in the early 60’s.

Farming, from this limited explanation, clearly has changed. This change fits our time as manufacturing, production, labor forces, capital investments, agri-business and its management have global implications. Technology, as I have seen, makes possible new ways of putting food on our table. It is different and far from the day when the beans and carrots came from the soil just a few feet away from our dinner table.

Yes, I have a can opener, but more importantly, a new and fascinating understanding of an Iowa farm. Such was my day from the seat of a combine. The farm is the same, but the landscape of planting and harvesting is not.

One final thought: When I sit at the table and have my dish filled with fresh vegetables, a piece of meat, a baked potato, or a bowl of hot soup, I will remain thankful for the soil from which the harvest has come. Our link to the soil, to the falling rain, to the rich elements and to the working hand has not changed.

I Had a Feeling

”I Had A Feeling”
by Dr. Dennis Ginoza October 6, 2009

I have returned to an old stomping grounds, the state of Iowa. It is here where I went to school at William Penn University. Those four years gave me new experiences, interesting encounters with people from the Mid-West but also from the world, and helped me establish some roots in friendship. Foremost, it gave me a college education and the grounding to another phase in life.

In the course of the years, the roots have broadened and deepened. Today they are living relationships, some old ties, some faded ties, and they are cherished memories. Whatever their form, they are a part of me, some times like an old well that nourished me, sometimes they are a living well with fresh and new flowing water.

It is in returning to this Iowa soil, I have become more aware of these broadened and deepened roots. As memories, they cannot be forgotten. As new encounters, they are enriching and surprising.

The present tie is now with family for my wife is a girl who grew up on a farm in north central Iowa. This is now part of the living and growing roots. She has two sisters in Iowa with growing families.

As my wife and I began this trip, first a stay in Colorado, then stops in Kansas and Missouri, I had a feeling. I wanted to return to William Penn University in Oskaloosa, where, as a young boy from Maui, Hawaii, for more reasons than one, doors were opened for me.

Those years were formative years, a place where I felt I belonged, and a people I came to love. From here there were new ties made and job experiences that not only sustained me financially, but enriched me. I developed ties with people not only in Iowa, but in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana. Some of these ties are today, living ties. The small college community became for me, a large family, better expressed, a collection of families.

They say, you cannot return to an old home. That is true, but only to a degree. Yes you can, but realize that things will not be the same. How can they be? The winds of change are constant and holds time for no one. If they do hold, they do so only as memories, tales, and legends. Yet, in a new form they have a reality.

In those early steps were intertwining threads of what I brought with me and new threads that created a kind of life tapestry. One of those was clearly my interest in and desire to learn especially in faith. Faith is commonly referred to as a pursuit of religion or understanding or meaning and God.

Other threads included interest in sports, especially baseball, in leadership and organization, travels to explore the world, simply to get to know people, different job experiences, and the pursuit of learning.

So I had a feeling. I called the president’s office of William Penn just to say hello. President Ann Fields’ door was open and we visited for 40 minutes: Penn Hall looked the same as I walked them over 40 years ago, but it was not the same campus. To answer more of the my questions, the president called in Marsha who had been at Penn for 29 years. Marsha gave us a tour of the new facilities—a new sports center called Physical Activities Center, impressive, modern, and envious; a new high tech building that takes communication and net working into the waiting decades. I was impressed. Old ties fade and get renewed.

I had a feeling. Now I wanted to visit the First Christian Church where I served as the youth director. No, it wasn’t the same. The external white bricks were gone. The wear of time called for a major renovation. But there were old voices never to be forgotten. The youth director and secretary were as cordial as I remembered people to be. I walked down the stairs to see some men playing dominoes. Surprise. A dad of a set of twins I worked with was there. Hello Walter. Then one man said, I married Carol, one of the twins. Another man said, “And I married Karen, the other twin.” De ja vu! Then I learned Linda and Jerry returned to Oskaloosa. That night I got an email from Linda: “Can we get together?” We were college friends. She now had her Ph.D.

It was at this church, one Sunday as Rev. Goins was preaching, I wondered and asked myself: “Will I ever preach like that someday?” It didn’t occur to me at that moment that one day, this church experience was helping me form my future as an ordained pastor. It has become clear to me that the hallways we walk one day will lead to our future.

Some time ago I read where Carl Jung had used the word, convergence. It refers to how some people happen to come together at a particular time and a particular place. I find that this is true with all of us. It is meant to work for a higher purpose: that is my belief. Or, it might for some, just be a missed opportunity.

The voices of the past can prompt us to do something at the very moment. That something is in our thought, it’s in the back of our mind, then one word pushes us to bring it to life. As I was on the phone with another Penn college friend, Diane, she asked me, “Are you writing more in your blog?” Oh! And here I am. So this article.

I had a feeling. The other day I went for a walk across the street. I wanted some fresh air and a little exercise. I jogged a bit. As I was walking, I wondered, “What will I encounter today?” Yes, I had a feeling. I walked into the store to just look around.

I came across a rack with movies for sale. It said, “Buy One, Get One Free.” I perused the collection. A baseball movie caught my eye. I pulled it off the rack and it said, “Amazing True Story.” I read on, it’s a story about Norway, Iowa, a small town high school team that has won 19 state championships. The coach, Jim Van Scoyoc led this team to this incredible height. Then he was fired. Will the new 24 year old assistant coach take this team to its 20th state championship? I caught my breath. Jim Van Scoyoc
was a classmate of mine at William Penn. Wow! And I remembered, our baseball coach wanted me to play on that college team, but I decided, I needed to put my efforts in my study. You don’t know how hard that was. I must have played softball with Van Scoyoc in PE; I’m just guessing. Now he is a legendary coach. I bought the movie for $9.99.

Some things in our lives leave us forever and we can never get them back. But some things will always be a part of us. They are our roots. Our roots became like threads that shape our lives. Feelings traverse time, passing generations, and old encounters, and in a strange way, they remain as part of us. In this short segment of time, it has brought me to reflect, to cherish, and to recollect not only where I’ve been, but who I am and where I am today.

I had a feeling. Feelings are a link to yesterday, but also with what one may encounter in the next moment.

Three Minutes Retirement Speech

Dennis Ginoza
Retirement Speech
June 19, 2009 Annual Conference
University of Redlands, California

(Dr. Bill Klements, professor at Claremont School of Theology, chose not
to speak, he just greeted Bishop Swenson, received his pin and sat down.
From the audience there was applause and laughter. The MC, Derek Nakano
said, “Dennis, don’t think you have extra time.” Laughter. When Dennis Ginoza
Took his turn, he began by thanking Dr. Klements for his extra time. It was
humorous moment.)

God is good! Audience responded: “All the time!” Dennis: “All the time!”
Audience responded: “God is good!” Dennis, “Hey, you’re good!”

Bishop Swenson, members of Annual Conference, my
good friends and all who wonder who this character is, and all
good Methodists: This is my 40th consecutive Annual Conference.
Do I hear an Amen? Audience: “Amen!”

One thing I will miss in retirement is greeting the
people every Sunday with Good Morning in different languages.
Help me out folks! Good morning! Buenos Dias! Bon Jour!
Bon journo! Malolele! Chau An! Guten morgen! Kalymera! Salam
Alikim! Ohio goizamas! And Aloha!

38 years. In 38 years I have received insight and guidance from
what people have said. Dwayne Zimmerman said, “One thing you
don’t do your first year in the church: Don’t fire the choir director.”
Lyle Schaller says, “Every new idea is rejected three times.” He
was right! Don Locher said to me, when I was appointed to Reseda,
“Dennis, just love them.” Elton Trueblood: “Be tough with ideas,
but be kind with people.” Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over till it’s over!”
My Old Testament professor at Earlham said there are three things
We must read: the Bible—the good book, the newspaper, and
Shakespeare. Once a Baptist minister said, “The main thing is to
keep the main thing, the main thing.”

A few years ago, someone said, we all have to learn three
Languages: English, Spanish, and computer.” May we have the
video, “sil vou plait.” Please!

Video: images of 38 years: Calexico, Santee, Reseda, Chula
Vista, and Fallbrook. Fallbrook 15 years.

I have here a yo yo. A yo yo is a fundamental teaching tool.
One of the things I will miss is the children’s message. Once
There was a man who got lost in New York City. He stopped his
car to ask for directions. “How do I get to Carnegie Hall.” The
stranger said, ‘Practice, practice, practice!” If you want to get good
at anything, practice, practice, practice.” This is the same with our
faith. In the game of baseball, I learned, you have warm up.
otherwise you’ll mess up your arm. It’s the same with people.

And...every day we must walk with God. (Dennis walks with yo yo).
John Wesley said, “The world is my parish.” Dennis goes around
the world with the yo yo.)

Jesus said: “Go ye into the world and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them.” (Dennis
goes around the world with the yo yo).

This is my wife Sylvia, of 30 years, or was it 37? It
will be 37 years on September 2. Without her, all this
would not be possible. (Applause)

Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream.” I have a
Dream. I have a dream that I will see the glory of God, the
glory promised to us. (Dennis releases his butterfly
Balloon. The Fallbrook members present release ten
balloons in the audience.) Dennis says: I am free at last,
I am free at last!” And all God’s people will say: Amen!
The Fallbrook people echoed, “Aloha!”

(Dennis was selected to pass the legacy of ministry
from the retirees to the new class being ordained in
full connection.”)

First Look At Retirement

FIRST LOOK AT RETIREMENT By Dennis Ginoza

When the word got out that I was retiring from the ministry, I received varied responses: “You’re too young to retire?” “What are your plans?” “Are you going back to Hawaii?” “You deserve it!” The most often asked question was: “What are your plans?”

My quick response was, “First I want to do nothing.” Then I said, “I will be on vacation.”

Retirement was far from my mind five years ago. It seemed just a long way off. I had much to do, my ministry was not done, and there were things I still hoped for to be done in ministry.

A number of years ago, one of our pastors retired and at the Annual Conference, in a video, it showed an image of him in the swimming pool, floating on the water with a cold drink in his hand. The next image showed him and his wife in his car on the road with a sign on the back saying, “Florida, here we come!” Two years later, I was at a Logos conference in Pasadena and he walked into the restroom. I asked him, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I failed retirement.”

As my retirement approached in June, I had a remarkable send off. Our son Jeremy received his medical degree in May, so my wife Sylvia planned my retirement celebration that same weekend so Jeremy and other family members could attend. It was a celebration with many surprises. It was more, “This is your life.” There were video clips of my mother (age 94) and family members sending congratulations, a fashion show, my old high school lettermen jacket worn by a young boy, a Sunday morning skit by our sons Jeremy and Aaron about whether they should get up and go to church—on these I had no clue. Pastors and members from other churches added to the joy. My last Sunday at the Fallbrook Church was also a celebration and much like a graduation.

When I was preparing for my retirement speech at Annual Conference, given just three minutes, lots of thoughts ran through my mind on how I could capture 38 years in the ministry. One morning I woke up, ran through my thoughts, wrote them down and had my speech in hand.

I thought of all the people who affected my life. I decided that I would do something no one had ever done before. One of the things I knew I would miss was giving the children’s message. So I did tricks with my yo yo. Another thought that ran through my mind was Martin Luther King’s speech: he had a dream and he was free at last. This was how I felt—free from the many chores and details of ministry and always being accountable for every task. Not anymore. My closing was releasing a butterfly balloon, as in a resurrection, “I am free at last!” In the audiences were friends from Fallbrook and other churches and they released ten balloons. That too was never done before.



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In the course of time, as I reflect, I can see myself going through stages, first approaching retirement and engaging in retirement. Upon retirement, the first stage is Moving, relocating from one home to another. That is a major task, intense, frustrating especially when you have to downsize, tiring from moving boxes upon boxes. Moving also includes finding a comfort zone, when you can relax from the labor, though not all the boxes have been opened.

Following the physical move, having served at the Fallbrook United Methodist Church for the last 15 years, I found another stage, Letting Go. Letting go of a people, a church and its ministry, to open the way for the next pastor. This stage is not only physical and behavioral, but it is emotional. It is letting go of a bond cherished, a responsibility very much a part of the person, being a pastor. This letting go however doesn’t mean that many friendships are lost.

There is a stage that follows letting go, actually it is an overlapping stage with letting go. It is a moment of grief, sadness, a feeling a loss. As I said to my wife, “I feel I lost a leg.” In this metaphor, feeling the loss of a leg is just that, a metaphor. In time, one realizes, I did not lose my leg. I still have it. A new metaphor emerges, with that leg, now I am walking a different road.

After the stage of grief, I found myself Re-engaging. You can call it, filling your time, re-directing your life and energies, a kind of re-discovering of self. On the highest level, it came to me in a question: “What do I want my life to be in the next 20 to 25 years? This is the new road I am walking.

In this period of re-engaging, I have not sat still. It is connecting with people with whom I want to spend more time with. It is looking at the next day and month with my wife as to what we can now do, for enjoyment, relaxation, and enrichment. This has a mundane note—establishing our home and refurbishing it . For me, I found this engaging as I spent hours building closet shelves, installing new blinds, fixing and adding sprinklers, planting a flower garden, planting a lemon tree, building a patio roof, restoring old wood and re-painting .

In Re-engaging, as a pastor having served in ministry, it is finding a church home. One feels like a butterfly, visiting churches, churches where we know pastors and learning about what’s out there. But yes, as a United Methodist pastor, I am connecting with a Charge Conference which will be home base.

In Re-engaging, we will travel. Our first trip will take us to Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, seeing friends, sights, and places we have not been before. Re-engaging includes being a sheriff’s chaplain with the Fallbrook deputies and meeting with chaplains from across San Diego County. In one of my ride alongs, the

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deputy said to me, we are checking on a “dead body.” We responded to a situation where a man had died in his sleep the night before.

In retirement, as someone said to me, “Now you can do whatever you want to do.” How true that is. I now feel rested, sleeping as I need it, without pushing myself to the brink to complete a task even when I felt exhausted. I have books to read, so enjoyed “Three Cups of Tea,” an idea and approach that can change the world. Duke Snider’s “The Chosen Few,” identifies the top five Dodger players for each position; a reading for pure enjoyment. As long as I can remember, I have watched every Little League World Series Championship game. How about the Blue Bombers from Chula Vista winning the world championship. I share with them the excitement for I hold the memories of my early days I played baseball on Maui. I got to see the San Diego Padres win their game against the Cubs from box seats behind home plate. Thanks to a friend who rebuilds porsches, I did a first, drive a porche around the curves of Fallbrook.

As one author Lynn Grabhorn wrote, “Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting.” This defines in many ways, Retirement. For me, it also means, how best can I serve, how best can I live, and how best I can dream dreams and work toward them.

My belief in God remains unfaltered, it’s just a different road. Or might it be, it’s the same Road, it’s just a different wagon that will take me to where I am intended to be.


9/2/09
Fallbrook, California

As I Was Saying

Meditation: “As I Was Saying….”
Psalm 29
June 7, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

God does exist! Are there any questions?
Woody Allen says: “If God does exist, why doesn’t he
give me some sign—like depositing a million
dollars in my name in a Swiss bank?”

Once there were two men on a cruise ship. The first man
fell overboard. The second man saw all this so he
jumped in the water to save the first man’s life; which
he did. When both men were pulled out of the water
and back on the ship, the second man said, “I want to
know, who pushed me?”
God does exist! Are there any questions?

A few years ago, there was a woman who started to come
to our church. Her name was Mayne New. She was
a retired school teacher. Often, she would say, “I just
love this church.” One day she was driving on Reche
road and she was hit by another car. She had a neck
fracture and eventually we lost her. She had a daughter
in Seattle and a son in Germany. After her memorial
service, he son said to me, “In all the years, I have never
heard my mother talk about a church as she did this
church.” He went on to say, “My family and I would
like to make a substantial gift to this church.” (I thought,
probably maybe $2,000, that would be a substantial gift,
but I wasn’t sure.” He said, “It will about $20,000.”
I’d say: God does exist, wouldn’t you? …And that gift
helped us to purchase and install our video system.
The attributes of God are:
Gratitude, Generosity and Grace.

Today, this is my penultimate sermon. Penultimate means, next
to the last. I can’t believe that my time with you is
coming to an end. But remember, Yogi Berra said,
“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.”
I have cried with you, I have laughed with you,
I have struggled with you, and I have walked side by side with you.

In Psalm 29, verse 4, the psalmist says: “The voice of the
Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of God is a quiet voice, The voice of God is a blasting voice,
It will swirl, it will shake, it will thunder, and it will whisper.
The psalmist says, 2
The voice of the Lord flashes forth
flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes
the wilderness;
the lord shakes the wilderness
of Kadesh.

In all of us, there are three ego states: a child, a parent,
and an adult. In us we also have a human nature
and a divine nature. We are here to develop all of these.
When I was working in Honolulu, I saw
a part of me that was political. I was appointed to
the governor’s task force representing Palolo Valley.
I would go the meetings at the state capitol, and I found,
There was in me, another force. As I worked in the
church, I could see that the fundamental principle of
change is not political. But, I might say—the United
States Constitution is a light upon this planet. I have
come to believe, ultimate change takes place in spiritual nature.
This is the Course Jesus has set for the twelve disciples, the
early church, and for us today. This is where many
miss the mark. If there are two people in our history
that exemplify this—they are Albert Schweitzer and
Mother Theresa. The other two I would name are St. Francis
of Assisi and Mahatma Ghandi.

All of you know by now that I use athletic metaphors, life stories,
and then I bring it down the heart. My preaching professor
used to say, “Truth comes through personality.” When I
use life stories, I call them windows. Sermons need windows
otherwise they can be boring. Alan Loy McGinnis
writes about getting the best out of people. Pat Venditte
played for Creighton University. Venditte, a right hand
pitcher struck out the batter. . When the next batter came up,
Venditte switched his glove to the other hand, he had a
Special kind of glove. Now he pitched with his left hand.
He is the only pitcher in NCAA baseball that is ambidexterous..
When Venditte was three years old, his father noticed he could
Pick up the ball with either hand. There is a lesson here:
God is an amazing God. With God, all things are possible..
As I was saying, God does exist! Any questions?

The Bible says, Enoch walked with God, and he was no more.
Genesis 5:21-24
He did his work and he was raised.
Elijah parted the waters of the Jordan, went to the 3
other side and he chariots raised him up.
He did his work and he was raised.
Jesus suffered and died. He was resurrected
and he ascended.
He did his work and he was raised up.
And Jesus said, “Learn from me.”

Saint Frances de Sales says:
You learn to speak by speaking,
To study by studying, To run by running,
To work by working; and just so,
You learn to love by loving. All those who think
To learn in any other way deceive themselves.

In a book entitled, Miracles of Healing written by Brad and
Sherry Steiger, they write about a school of thought
in Hawaii called Huna. Huna is a healing process.
Huna teaches that we have three parts to our soul:
uhane, the weak spirit; unihipili the spirit that hides;
Aumakua, the old spirit, the mature spirit. Even before
Freud and Jung, the Polynesians had identified the three
parts of the mind, the conscious mind, the sub-conscious
mind, and the superconscious mind. Our bodies and minds
are fed by mana, the vital force. Peter calls it The Holy
Spirit. The old, mature spirit in us is the divine part of God
in us. The Aumakua is that which Paul calls the Mind of
Christ. Put on the Mind of Christ, it will bring you well-being.
It will transform this World.

So let me close with these thoughts. In all the years I have lived, I never
thought the day would come when I would be a part
of a mass evacuation. Remember the fires of 2007,
but we survived. God does exist! I want to say:.
thank you for my fifteen years of ministry with you.
I say to you: strive to be best in everything—
God is watching you..
When strangers come to this church, reach out
to them with the spirit of Aloha. Jesus said,
“Love one another as I have loved you.
When your new pastor comes—Brad and PJ Resare—teach
them what Aloha means.

Thirty Eight Years

FROM THE PASTOR
“Thirty Eight Years”

In a rural Methodist church on the west side of Maui, a small seed was planted. Every Sunday the church bell would ring calling the people to worship. A young boy’s heart was stirred.
That village was named Puukolii after a flower.
Yes, it was mine. My mother reminded me that at one point she was ill and couldn’t iron my Sunday clothes. I told her, “I’ll iron my own clothes.” I did. That began a journey.
Never in my wildest dream had I thought I would be a pastor. I walked through many thresholds—carpentry, baseball, 4-H, FFA,agricultural training, student teaching, national park ministry, youth work in three different states, Peace Corps, inner city teaching, —which laid many foundations.
In the sum of these experiences, there was an unseen hand guiding me along without my full awareness. I realized in time, God was calling me into the ministry. Along the way, I met people whose faith and knowledge stirred this call. Add to this a dream-encounter with Christ as a child. A personal conversion was another stamp toward this direction.
This call became clear in a collection of experiences, a deep hunger to learn more about the inner spirit and life, the love for serving people, and theological reflection and clarity.
One summer when I was visiting at the Lahaina Methodist Church potluck, Dr. Frank Butterworth had brought a church tour to Maui. He heard there was a young seminarian from Indiana. I met him. He said me, “Dennis, Irene and I want to have lunch with you.” I said, “I can’t, I work at the Maui Hilton.” He said, “We’ll meet you there for lunch. One door opened and another. By February the next year, I had a job at the Palolo United Methodist Church in Honolulu in education and youth and a ministry to low income families.
This provided a laboratory to complete my master’s project from the Earlham School of Religion; the University of Hawaii Research Center provided staff ressource. Pastoral call is a journey of stepping stones. This was another.


Rev. Dale Smith invited me to be on staff at the First United Methodist Church in Honolulu where I served for another two years and here, Sylvia and I were married. I was now a certified Lay Pastor.
The School of Theology at Claremont brought me to California to receive my advanced Doctor of Ministry degree.
Calexico. It’s summer heat was awful, the warmth of the people memorable. I cried when we left. Jeremy’s first birthday was a church affair. I was ordained an elder.
Santee. As a young pastor, I so enjoyed working and helping build a new sanctuary and offices. For two years, almost every Saturday was work party. Santee became a city and I was privileged to give the invocation at the inaugural council meeting. It was a wonderful home for Sylvia, Jeremy and Aaron, and me. Our final departure was riding in a red Cadillac convertible in the Santee Parade as Citizen of the Year. Oh, the memories.
Reseda. A well established church in San Fernando Valley. It had a wonderful choir, great leaders, many teachers and professors willing to serve, and a loving people. We had a good softball team.
Chula Vista. A church in process of building a new complex, it had its challenges. It was short stay.
Fallbrook. What can I say. Fifteen years—you know the story. Many lives touched, a church with expanding mission, a warm hospitable people, a place we have called home. We survived three major fire storms, 2001, 2003, and 2007. Thank you all for your kindness, generosity, and expressions of love.
Retirement awaits me. What does it mean? How do I know? I got some ideas and I am getting more.
I will encounter further the true teachings of Christ. There are still more stepping stones ahead of me.
—Dennis Ginoza

Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More

SERMON: “Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More”
Ephesians 1:15-23
May 24, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

Today I have asked Steve LeFevre to share some of his
thoughts and insights. He is a businessman and a good one.
He is a Christian and a good one. He reads good
Books, he drives fast cars (his wife Ellen keeps him straight),
and he is a Notre Dame fan and that’s okay. He is a graduate
of the University of South Dakota and majored in Jewish
engineering—actually it was business. At age 30 he was
the youngest Dodge dealer in the US. He was a member of
the Dodge Dealer’s Council representing 5 states. His dad
was a dealer of the early cars, DeSoto, Nash, Plymounth,
Studebaker, etc.; lots of them which no longer exist.


Steve LeFevre Presentation




723-5516, 723-4727, 723-0116, 451-8668, 451-0663, 451-1928
728-1472, 728-4038, 728-4248, 728-1191, 728-1689, 728-3979
728-3976, 728-1123, 728-4311, 728-7433…and so on.

A few years ago, Betty Jackson had volunteered to
make calls to people who came to the church
for the first time. So every Sunday after church,
I would call Betty. At first, every time I called
Betty, I had to look up her phone number. So I
decided I just need to remember her number. So
I started, Fallbrook has four prefixes, 723, 728, 731, and 451.

Betty’s number is 728-5210. All right…I repeated
728, 728… not 723 or 731 but 728. 52 that’s
a highway down south. 10 that’s another highway
up north. 728-5210 …that how I started to remember
Betty’s phone number. From that day on, I started
Put people’s phone number in my head.

When Plato was asked by one of his students, how do you
remember all your ideas? He said, “I just walk down
the street and visit my friends.” When Plato visited
one friend, he could recall all his ideas in the Republic.
When he saw another friend, it made him think about
his essay on Timaeus. And so it goes.
2
The mind is a wonderful gift.
The mind is the window to the world.
Not too long ago, there was a story on television about
the oldest working man in the world. At the age of 104 he still goes to work. He drives his car to
his office, sits at his desk, and mails out his
orders. He is a bee keeper. The interviewer said to him,
I understand you have a philosophy of life. He said,
“Yes, I do.” …”What is it?” …..He thinks and thinks
and he says, “I forget.” So the interviewer went on.
“Now do you remember?” He said, “Yes. …Use it or lose it.”

Did you see in the article inSan Diego Union entitled, “Dementia-free
Past 90: Secret May be Bridge.” The point is: use you
mind, keep active, and play bridge. Georgia Scott who
is 99 says, “It’s where our closest friends are.” How
many of you play bridge? How many of you do crossword
puzzles? How many of you speak a second language?

The apostle Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ.” In Ephesians
He says, “Pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give
you wisdom and revelation.”
Wisdom will tell you what’s important.
Wisdom will tell you, you never stop learning.
Wisdom will tell you, some people you can trust only
sometimes. Some people you cannot
not at all. Some people you can trust most of the time.

When I was a freshman in college, I spent my first summer in Defiance,
Ohio. I was the guest of my good friend, Duane Pickering. I
learned that his parents, Bob and Naomi Pickering, were so
inspired by Elton Trueblood, they left their home in Dayton,
bought a farm, took an old barn and converted that into a retreat
center. It is called the Tri-State Yokefellow house serving Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan.
*What I learned from that experience is,
if you have just one idea, it can change your life.
Bob Pickering had served as a county
commissioner and he got Duane and me a job with
the Toledo Construction Company and later the La Choy
Food Factory, in Archbold, Ohio.
*What I learned again is that, it’s not
what you know, it is as much, who you know.

*In his book, “A Place to Stand,” Elton 3
writes about Archimedes the Greek mathematician who
invented the lever. He said, “Give me a place to stand and
I will move the world.” Elton Trueblood says, ”The place
to stand is on Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*What I have learned is that first, I must put
my life into the hands of God,
in Jesus’ name.
*When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted
to change the world so I joined the Peace Corps.
I was trained in Texas and in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I did change some lives. I found a leader
to start a Boy Scout troop started. Iworked with
a health inspector eight families to give 50 colognes
(about $7.00 each) and we got a Care Pump over the
open well. Our Peace Corps group got the Vice President of Costa Rica to come out and speak at two of our leadership training seminars. I worked with the teachers of a school, visited the Department of Education and got
got three new classrooms built. We got a lot of volunteers in the construction project. I worked with leaders of several beach communities got help from the government to build a landing strip. That’s another story.

*What I have learned is that, first, I must change myself. That’s why God put me here. Until I change, I cannot change the world.

When I was pastor of the Santee United Methdist Church, there was
a woman named Marty Marshall. She had MS, multiple sclerosis.
Every Sunday her dad would bring her to church. She was cared for at the
County Facility called Edgemoor. I used to take Jeremy and Aaron
with me to visit her. Marty was sharp, witty, and funny. I used to
tell Marty, one day you will understand “why” things happen as
they do. When Jeremy was applying for medical school, he
mentioned that one of the experiences that helped him was his visits
with Marty Marshall. Today, Jeremy is a medical doctor.
*I believe today that in a little boy named Jeremy, a seed was
planted when he visited Marty Marshall.”

Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the
smallest of seeds and it will grow into a tree.

*Thank you Steve LeFevre for planting new seeds of ministry.
*Thank you all for the seeds you are planting today.

With Fondest Aloha

SERMON “With Fondest Aloha”
I Corinthians 13
May 17, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

One day I was driving my ‘68 Mustang on Nimitiz
Highway and I came to a red light so I
stopped. I noticed in my rear view mirror
a guy who comes out of his car, runs toward
me and says, “Indiana?” I said, “Yes!” He
said, “What part?” I said, “Richmond.” He
said, “All right1” He shakes my hand and
runs back to his car. He saw the license plate
on my car which I got in Indiana and he was
happy to see someone from Indiana.

A stranger welcomes a stranger, two people sharing
a good feeling, when you say my space is your
space – that’s the aloha spirit.

There is a saying in Hawaii that goes, Lucky come Hawaii.
There is no place in the world like Hawaii.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of the sound of
breaking waves, the cooling trade winds, and
the rainbows especially on the west side of Maui.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of going barefoot,
I did for 14 years, and swimming in the irrigation ditches.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of kalua pork and poi,
malasadas, sushi, papayas, mangoes, and pineapple.
When I think of Hawaii, I think of plumerias, orchids,
anthuriums, birds of paradise, and hula dancers.

They say Hawaii is the land of aloha, but do you know what
it means” Puna Dawson explains the meaning of aloha.
Aloha, A – L – O – H – A. A comes from the word
akahi which means to be kind. L comes from lokahi which
means to be inclusive. O comes olu’olu which means
to be agreeable. H comes from Ha’aha’a which means
to be humble. And last, A comes from ahonui which
means to be patient.

(Song: This is Aloha)

The book of Ecclesiastes says,
There is a time to be born and
a time to die. It also says, everything that
God made, God made for its suitable time.
2

So today, I want to say to you Thank You.
Thank you for your generosity,
Thank you for your friendship,
Thank you for all your support.
Thank you for all the potlucks, all the visits,
And all pastor appreciation Sundays—the
Surprise lunch at Marlin & Yvonne Clarks,
The Padre tickets and the night at the Omni Hotel,
The Luau at the Live Oak Park, the Pageant of the
Masters, the trip to Catalina Island, the Lawrence
Welk theater. All the other churches threw a party
when we were leaving.

When I first came here—the church had a deficit of $27,000,
we almost closed the Preschool. The Preschool
became one of the finest in town. Ten years ago, we
didn’t support one missionary, today we support three
and last year we raised $17,000 for missions. That’s
a Miracle. When I first came here, someone thought
I was a Korean, and today some of you aren’t sure what
I am. Just call me Pastor! I can say some words in
Hawaiian like humunukunukuapua and lauwilinukunukuoeoe.
I can also say—bendice, Senor, esta iglesia, God bless
this Church.

So I want to say, Thank You and Aloha…..
but I’m not leaving yet. I’m not done.

I hope that you will all continue with the Aloha spirit—
be kind, welcome people with love and hospitality,
be humble, and when someone asks you to help or
take a responsibility, just say “yes.”
Can you say “Yes?”

Noah said Yes! Joseph said Yes! Jonah tried to runaway, but
he got swalled up so he didn’t have a chance. Jonah said, Yes!
Paul said Yes! Jesus said Yes! He knew he was going to
suffer, he knew he was going to die, but he said Yes!
When we say Yes! To God – everything is going to work out okay.

Jesus teaches us today to be good stewards of our families and
our children. I have learned in Hawaii the importance
of family. When you call on family, they can’t say no.

3

Family is bound by love, duty, and blood. Family is
and will always be the cornerstone of every civilization
on this earth. Lose the family and civilization will begin
to crumble.

As a father, I have learned that love means sacrifice,
long-suffering, and the investment of time. Money is
never, never, the substitute of time. When I was the youth
director at the Quaker church in Richmond, Indiana, Susie
said to me, my parents don’t know how to love us. They
give us money for getting good grades, but that is not love.

This morning let me share with you some things about our two boys.
One night when I was putting our boys to bed, Aaron said to me,
“Dad, I don’t like you being a minister.” I said, “Aaron,
why do you say that?” He said, “Because you go to too
many meetings.” In that time, for two years, I was involved
with a building project of a new sanctuary. I decided I needed
to spend more time with our boys.

When Aaron was a sophomore, he took an electricity class. He
was good at it and he got his ham radio license. When
Aaron was a senior he was a top physics student. When he got the
top scholarship at Whittier College, as we were driving
home, I said, “Aaron, I know where you’re going to college.”
He said, “You don’t understand. I want to go to Pomona
College. It’s a better school.” Guess where he went?
Pomona College. I want to wish Aaron well as he was just
accepted at John Hopkins University for a master’s degree
in Communications. Aaron is also good at martial arts, so
don’t mess with him and he is a good dancer.

Jesus taught us, what have you gained if you gain the whole world
but lose your soul. When God entrust to us a family, our
children, and a Church, let us heed the call. As Frederick
Buechner writes, this is a Sacred Journey. Paul says we are
in a process of being adopted as sons and daughters of God.

Today, after our fellowship hour, we are going to have cake to
celebrate our Jeremy’s graduation from Western University
of Health Sciences. He is now, Dr. Jeremy Akeo Ginoza,
a doctor of osteopathic medicine. Congratulations Jeremy!



4
One day, Aaron told us, “Do you know that Jeremy is really good
In Calculus?” Aaron said, “He is really smart.” No, we
didn’t know. Jeremy doesn’t tell us everything. When Jeremy
was in the first grade, he was doing his spelling words on the
computer. When he was in the eighth grade he won the best
essay award in Los Angeles on Martin Luther King. He was
honored at the awards program at USC.

When our boys were young, every Sunday, Sylvia
and the boys sat in the pew listening to Dad. Our boys sang in the
choir, they played baseball. They were both good runners.
(Here in the slide Jeremy takes third in a the relay)
Aaron became our karate kid,
Jeremy became our cyclist.

When Jeremy was receiving his degree last Friday, I thought about
his eighth grade year. He almost dropped out of school. He
lost 30 days of school. He refused to take the bus so every
day, I drove him to school. The teachers told me, if he is
late, just write a note: Please excuse Jeremy, he is late today.

Today, I want to say, Jeremy, good going.
Be the best doctor you can ever be. We wish
you and Melanie our best as you complete your
residence in Yakima, Washington.

Isaiah 40:31 They who wait Slides: The Nettleton Family
upon the Lord, they shall renew Jeremy & Aaron
their strength. They shall mount up Jeremy & Melanie
with wings like eagles. They shall run
and not be weary. They shall walk and
not faint.

I am convinced, without a doubt,
a course has been set for all of us. Written
in every soul, stamped on every personality,
is a path and a task to do. Every night, a voice whispers,
listen to the still small voice of God.
Jesus holds a light and calls, “Come, follow me.” Jesus says
to the followers: Stay the course! Stay the course!
Faith, hope, love abide, but the greatest of these is love.

Where It All Begins

SERMON “Where It All Begins”
I John 4:7-21
May 10, 2009 Mother’s Day
Dr. Dennis Ginoza

To you all: Happy Mother’s Day!

One day a woman boarded a bus with 11 children. The
bus driver said to her, “Lady, are they all yours,
or are you on a picnic?” “They are all mine,”
said the lady, and believe me, it’s no picnic.”

When our boys were still young, I thought to myself:
what if one of us was gone, what would life be
for them? …..It brought tears in my eyes.

Today, let us give thanks to God for all our mothers for
The first touch,
The first expression of love,
The first bonding with mother.

I didn’t know this when I was growing up, but my older
brothers told me that after my mom had six children,
three boys and three girls, they thought that she
would go before my dad. She was still in her forties.
My dad was 30 when he married my mom; she was 17.
My dad died at age 68; my mother is 94 today

When we were growing up, life was not easy. Clothes
were washed by hand. Remember the old wash
boards. I remember my dad going around the
house saying, “Who left the lights on? Turn off the
lights.” Once I wanted to go to the movies and my
mom said, “You can’t.” I asked “Why?” She said,
“We don’t have any money.” Movies cost 50 cents
then. We didn’t get our first telephone till I was a
freshman in high school. My dad never learned to
drive until he was 65 years old. When he retired he
got a job at the Kaanapali Hotel nursery, he needed
to learn to drive. One thing about being poor in those
days—everybody else was poor.

You heard the adage: “There is no free lunch.” When we
had no telephone, no cars, no television, what we
had were lot of good friends and we learned right
away, the importance of family.
2
My sermon topic today is; “Where It All Begins.”
The Bible teaches us—In the beginning it was
God who created this world. From Genesis to
to Revelation, it starts with God and it ends
with God. Tell me: can someone tell me—
what is the first word in the Bible and what is
the last word? …….Anyone? ……… You
got it. In… and …..amen. In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. In
Revelation, it says, The Lord said, “I am coming
soon.” Amen.

In the Bible, in I John, it says that God is love. Those who
abide in love, abide in God. There is no fear
in love and love casts out fear. Then I John says,
“Those who say, “I love God but hate their brothers
and sisters, are liars.”

There is a Jewish proverb that says, “God couldn’t be
everywhere so he made mothers.”

God took the fragrance of the flower,
The majesty of a tree,
The gentleness of morning dew,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The beauty of the twilight hour,
The soul of a starry night,
The laughter of a rippling brook,
The grace of a bird in flight,
The tender care of an angel,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of …whole eternity,
The very depth of a family’s need,
Then! … God fashioned all, all of
these splendid creation of no other.
When God’s great masterpiece was
through, He just simply called it,
MOTHER!

A mother has to deal with boys and with girls,
and the telephone and the child’s
teacher and the broken down car, and
the dog and the cat and the dad and
and everything else under the sun. We say Yeah!
to our mothers!

3

Thelma Sprowls’ mother, Frances Adam was
a poet. She wrote a poem entitled Fifteen.

When a boy is fifteen, he isn’t a man.
But he isn’t a little boy either.
To be both, he tries as hard as he can.
The result is, he is usually neither.

The little boy goes with the kids to play ball,
Or rides on his bike in the street.
Then all of a sudden the young man calls,
And he tries, oh so hard, to be neat.

The young man combs his hair and shines his shoes,
And insists that his pants have a crease.
Then little boy whispers, “Aw, what’s the use.”
And the efforts at neatness soon cease.

Neither boy nor man holds sway all the time.
First one, then the other is seen.
A boy’s life has no reason or thyme
When he reaches the age of fifteen.

She also wrote poem entitled Food, Patty’s Pig, Those
Measly Measles, Anti-Gossip, War Mother’s Plea,
and to her daughter Thelma, she wrote: “You’ll
never know the happiness that you have given me.”
Frances Adams, she lost her mother when she was
eleven and her husband when he was forty-four.

When I first met my wife Sylvia, I learned that she
got a teaching degree from Iowa State Teacher’s
College at Cedar Falls and her master’s degree from
the University of Kentucky in Lexington. I also
learned that she was the valedictorian of her high
school graduating class: so I knew she was smart.
I also learned from her sister Bonnie that when Bonnie
was outside mowing the lawn, Sylvia was inside
reading her book. As a little girl, she had the makings
of a librarian, and that’s what she is.

When Aaron was a little boy, he didn’t like scrabbled eggs,
but he liked Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham. So one
4
day, Sylvia put green coloring on the scrabbled eggs, and
Aaron, Aaron liked it! When Jeremy was born, Dr.
Laura would love to hear this, she became a stay home mom.
Ever since that day, Sylvia never worked full-time. How nice!

So today, I want to thank Sylvia for being mom to Jeremy and
to Aaron. I took the boys to the ballpark, she took the
boys to the library. I taught the boys to drive a stick shift
car, she brought home the books. Every Sunday, I would
be at the pulpit preaching, she was there in the pew with
the boys. I must also tell you this, Sylvia never
had a lack of job. She was hired part-time at the Calexico
Library, the Quaker Church in La Jolla, the California Home
Stay program with students from Japan and Brazil; that was
in Santee. That gave her a free trip to Japan, I had to pay my
own way. She worked at a dentist office in Woodland Hills.
She worked full-time in Pomona, and part-time in the libraries
at Chula Vista, Carlsbad and Fallbrook.

I want to say, Sylvia, thank you for being Mom to Jeremy and
Aaron. Today, Aaron is in Washington, D.C. and the
pastor of the United Methodist Church had asked him to
give a talk on his belief in the Resurrection. ….Jeremy.
I asked Jeremy to share a few thoughts.


JEREMY’S THOUGHTS ABOUT MOM


Before we are born in this world, there is a lot of preparation
that goes on in that other world—the Pre-Birth World.
There must be. We must be told that this is an imperfect
world and we are sent here to make it better. We must
be told, “And don’t mess up!” Noah, Moses, and Elijah
got the message. And Jesus came to transform the world.

Jesus teaches us, there is a binding force that holds
everything together. Love is patient, love is kind,
love is never jealous or envious. Love gives and gives
and gives. Just before Jesus died, he entrusted his
mother Mary into the hands of the beloved disciple. To
John he said, “Here is your mother.” To Mary he said,
“Here is your son.”
God is good, All the time.
All the time, God is good.

Action!

MEDITATION: “Action!”
I John 3:16-24
May 3, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

Words are funny. They can make you laugh, they
can make you cry, they can motivate you,
they can cut you down, and they can build you up.

Here are some good words: Next! Nice going! Thanks
a million! You’re so right! Wow!

“If you really want to know who
your friends are, just make a mistake.”

Mr. Kresge of the Kresge chain stores gave one of the
shortest speeches at a college commencement. At Yale
University, he got up and said: “I never made money
Talking,” and he sat down.

Dag Hammarskjold give us these words of wisdom:
“It’s more noble to give yourself completely to one
individual than to labor diligently for the salvation
of the masses.”

Stephen Covey cites that most problems of organizations
stem from the difficulties of individuals at the very top—
between two partners in a professional firm; between the
president and owner. So he says, it is more noble to give
yourself to an individual.

Stephen Covey is right. Most of our problems come from
individuals. Remember the Hatfields and the McCoys.
This was a civil war between two families in Kentucky
and West Virginia. This feud kept going over a $l.75
fiddle and a stray razorback hog. By 1882, this feud got
worse. Three McCoy brothers killed Ellison Hatfield,
because he had insulted them. (Remember what I said
about words). “Devil Anse,” the head of the Hatfields
rounded up the three boys, tied them to the bushes, got his
rifle and put 50 bullets through them. After that, it became
life after life. The women also got into the act. This didn’t
end until the second decade of the 20th century. Almost
30 lives had been taken.

In I John chapter 3, verse 18 it is written, “Little children, let us love, not
in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
2
Jesus is teaching us here that words can be empty.
If you say one thing and do another, then your words
mean nothing. Your words need action.

When Jesus saw the crowds, 5,000 of them, and he
had compassion for them. He fed them with five loaves
and two fish. When Jesus saw Bartimaeus, the blind man,
he had compassion so he placed his hands on Bartmaeus
eyes and he was healed. And Jesus took the ultimate
action, he gave his life for us, for you and for me.

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but
in truth and action. Last week Beth Bulger told me
a neat story. Her husband Randy Bulger, at his baseball
+practice, gets all the players together and he offers a prayer.
Last weekend Randy couldn’t be at the practice. At the
Baseball practice, his son Colton jumped in and offered the
prayer. The two other coaches are not religious so Colton
took the lead. Now, Randy has the kids offering the prayer.

In all of our lives, little seeds are planted. Those seeds will someday
will bear fruit. When I was in college, whenever I went to town
to shop, I would walk by the Methodist Church. The parsonage
was right next to the church. If the pastor, Rev. Gerald LaMotte
would see me, he would say, “Hey, Dennis, how’re you doing?”
So we’d talk. Then he would say, “Let’s go inside and pray.”
One Sunday, at the Central Methodist Church, I was baptized. I was
a junior in college. What I have learned is that, little acts of kindness
will go a long ways. Rev. LaMotte died last year. I got a letter from
one of my college friends in Iowa who attended his funeral and it was
mentioned that Rev. LaMotte had touched three persons that entered
the ministry. One of them was her husband, Jim Stiles, who is a
pastor in Mason City and, yours truly, Dennis Ginoza.

James Dobson says, “Values are not taught, they are caught.” One
day our son Jeremy said to me, “Dad, remember when you
used stop and pick up trash, it used to embarrass me. Guess
what?” He says, “I’m doing it now.” When Jeremy was at
Pacific University, he organized a recycling project for the
school. He was proud and he said, “Dad, that was big!”

All our lives, we are influenced by people. Like little drops of rain,
a small push here, one small sacrifices, a prayer on your
knees – they all become one large act of love. When I first

3
came to this church, I went to visit Frank Cardiff and I’ll
never forget what he served me. A shrimp cocktail and cheese.

When I went to seminary, I studied basic courses in Old
Testament and New Testament, systematic theology,
the psychology of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud,
the history of Christianity, exegetical study of the Bible,
Quakerism and Methodism, Shintoism and other
world religions. I studied Joseph Fletcher’s
Situation Ethics and Harvey Cox’s Secular City. I studied
church management, preaching, counseling and Greek.
I took a course on monastic communities with a Roman
Catholic priest. I did eleven weeks of Clinical Pastoral Education:
at the Long Beach General Hospital working with women
alcoholics and at Pacific State Hospital with the mentally
challenged. Then I wrote a doctoral dissertation on Christian
Agape as the Basis for an Ethical Norm.

In all that I have studied and all that I had done, it comes down to Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” John says,
“No greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends.” (John 15:13) Without love, we are nothing.

Once a reporter was covering the conflict in Sarajevo (what was
then Yugoslavia. He saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The
reporter threw down his pad and pen and stopped being
a reporter. He rushed to the man who was hold the child.
He helped them both in his car. As he stepped on the
Accelerator, the man said, “Hurry, my friend, my child is
still alive. A moment later, “Hurry, my friend, my child
is still breathing.” Minutes went by, “Hurry, my friend,
my child is still warm.” Finally, “O God, my child is
getting cold.” When they got to the hospital, the child had
died. As the two men were washing theirs hands and
clothes in the lavatory, the man said, “This is a terrible task
for me. I must go and tell her father that this child is dead.
He will be heart broken.” The reporter was surprised. He
looked at the man and said, “I thought she was your child.”
The man said, “Yes, they are all our children. They are
also God’s children as well, and he entrusted us with their
care in Sarajevo, in Somalia, in New York City, in Los
Angeles, in Perry Georgia, and in Washington, D.C. (I add: Fallbrook).
Action! Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard
seed, the smallest of seeds that will grow into a tree.”