October 2005 - Page 3


Sharon gets Lily’s Goose ready for painting.	Hannah paints her goose.

Letter from Dawn and Steve

Family Sunday held on September 25 was a great success. Many thanks to everyone who made the day memorable. Special thanks to Darrin and Diana Mendes for organizing a hayride after the brunch that took the children down a lane to a treasure hunt for pumpkins.

As we mentioned in the September newsletter, this fall in First Day School we will be exploring bible stories from the Old Testament. We have found texts that retell these stories in more contemporary language and open-ended ways.

In October, the stories we will be reading are: two retellings of the creation story; a story of Adam and Eve which describes their first sunset in the garden; a story of Cain and Abel, through which we will explore conflict resolution and peace; the story of Noah’s Ark, where we will explore the concept of God’s covenant. This concept of covenant—between God and an individual, between two people, between an individual and his or her inner voice, between an individual and his or her community, is a theme we are planning to run through this fall in our readings of the Old Testament bible stories. It was Jean (Clerk of YM Christian Education Committee )who suggested this theme to us when she came to visit Allen’s Neck in September. Sharon A has offered to help develop art projects for the children to complement the stories we will be reading.

On Saturday, October 29, we are planning to hold a Halloween Party for the children. Details to come.

This fall, we would like to work more extensively with Ministry and Counsel to build a plan for the long-term future of the Allen’s Neck First Day School.

Let’s Value Love of People, Not Things.

It is universal that values are driven by what we hold dear. Values are the beliefs and actions that we as individuals adopt to best serve what we love.

A Father whose first love is his children will likely value safety, security and education among others. He will act on providing safety and security by providing a good home earned through hard work. Education will be secured by finding that home in a good school district. His decisions will be shaped by his values.

What is most unfortunate is the number of people who have apparently "fallen in love" with all of the wrong things - material things and things of pleasure. In both cases, self is the motivating factor. What used to be a search for a nice home in a nice neighborhood has become a quest for a huge home in a trendy neighborhood, common financial sense is forgotten. Pleasure-seeking in the form of alcohol and drug abuse, extramarital affairs and pornography bring with them extreme consequences. Yet, the trend toward pleasing self shows no signs of abating.

The bottom line is this:Values driven by the love of others, family, friends, even strangers are good. Values driven by the love of self, material goods and high-consequence pleasure are bad.

Raymond D. Fete Homeless Shelter Director, Massillon, Ohio.

Read by Dick, filling in for Peter at Sunday Meeting for Worship.