Letters to the Editor 08-26-2004
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Olympic Response - Conservative Christians - Wallet Returned
Olympic Response
Editor, Times-Union:Last night I was telling my husband Tom about the response the Iraqi Olympic Team received when they entered the stadium opening night, (a huge explosion of clapping and flag waving). The fear of what the response to our American young people as they entered was expressed, although they too received a respectful response. Anyway, my point was "hello," the Iraqi team wouldn't even be there if not for the United States. So today I was reading in the news how the soccer team was berating the United States and the coach as well. I guess some things in life still completely amaze me - how some people are just ingrates and it makes no difference what you do for them they still are ingrates. I sure am glad my respect for our military and our president is not based on what others say about us, but out of respect for what they do and how well they do it.
Remember November is coming upon us - be sure you are registered to vote. Be sure too you vote for the continued integrity and values our country was founded on. Know the people on the ballot.
Phyllis L. Barger
Warsaw
via e-mail
Conservative Christians
Editor, Times-Union:This is in regards to the letter from the "ordained minister," Mr. Jon Treesh, which was in the Times-Union on Aug. 5.
I confess that I missed the letter or letters from the "Conservative Christians" to which he refers but Mrs. Treesh evidently understood them to say that homosexuals should be put to death. I agree with him that such an idea is absurd since the Bible clearly condemns all sin including gluttony, gossip and greed. Those three alone would condemn at least 95 percent of us Americans and the sin of lust would surely get the rest.
But I am "truly concerned" that we have so many ordained ministers in our world today who are teaching so many others that God "chose to make" people "gay, lesbian and trans-gendered." If indeed God, the almighty creator of the universe, made them that way, how is it that some have changed to heterosexuals? I am certainly no "holier" than any other human and I'm as guilty as the rest of sin. As such, I believe we, as humans, should follow God's example. We should condemn the sin but love the sinner and do everything possible to help them quit sinning. Anyone can do it with God's help and the support of loving people.
I read my Bible often and I do not read it "selectively."
Timothy Mikel
Warsaw
Wallet Returned
Editor, Times-Union:One day last week, as I sat in my office overlooking the village in Winona, I felt the peace that transcended a morning when the lake was like glass and the birds started their happy chorus. In my time of reflection that morning, I found my thoughts taking me to faraway places where the ravages of war and hate replace the stillness of quiet mornings such as this, and where people are desperate for the freedoms we know and love.
I felt the contrast and wondered about the balance of life itself. I wondered if the perspective of life had been lost in the shuffle of survival and in the hectic pace of merely trying to address the demands of daily living, here and afar.
It bothered me, thinking about all of this, the disparity of peace and conflict, of love and hate. I wondered about the discord in this great symphony of life. But I needed to leave these thoughts and the peaceful interlude of this beautiful morning, as I had a list of things to get done and needed to get started.
Throughout the day, I ran errands, hurrying as I went, becoming integrated into the fast pace that would allow me to complete my tasks. When I arrived home in the evening, I found a message on my answering machine, left by one of my neighbors. Sometime in the course of the day, my billfold had fallen from my purse. And sometime in the course of this same day, someone had found it in the street. He then took the time to find where I lived and since I was not yet home, left it at my neighbors', ensuring that all of its contents were safe and intact.
I was touched by this random act of kindness and thought about the person who so willingly took time out of their day to return my billfold, someone I didn't know.
I knew then the perspective of life had not been lost, that there was still caring despite a world which seemed so fragmented. That the hearts of humanity still held true to the basic core of "love thy neighbor."
I thought back on my morning, now realizing that our prayers can be our own random acts of kindness, for those whose spirits are broken by the raging fires of war, that they can somehow find a place of quiet solitude amidst the clamor of days filled with fear and despair.
That they, too, can somehow feel peace and balance in their hearts resulting from the caring of those who don't know them. My questions of the morning now had clarity.
This one man, on this one day, touched my life.
He gave me more than just my billfold, but something far greater.
With deepest gratitude, I say thank you.
Gayle Eppich Erickson
Winona Lake
via e-mail
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- Olympic Response - Conservative Christians - Wallet Returned
Olympic Response
Editor, Times-Union:Last night I was telling my husband Tom about the response the Iraqi Olympic Team received when they entered the stadium opening night, (a huge explosion of clapping and flag waving). The fear of what the response to our American young people as they entered was expressed, although they too received a respectful response. Anyway, my point was "hello," the Iraqi team wouldn't even be there if not for the United States. So today I was reading in the news how the soccer team was berating the United States and the coach as well. I guess some things in life still completely amaze me - how some people are just ingrates and it makes no difference what you do for them they still are ingrates. I sure am glad my respect for our military and our president is not based on what others say about us, but out of respect for what they do and how well they do it.
Remember November is coming upon us - be sure you are registered to vote. Be sure too you vote for the continued integrity and values our country was founded on. Know the people on the ballot.
Phyllis L. Barger
Warsaw
via e-mail
Conservative Christians
Editor, Times-Union:This is in regards to the letter from the "ordained minister," Mr. Jon Treesh, which was in the Times-Union on Aug. 5.
I confess that I missed the letter or letters from the "Conservative Christians" to which he refers but Mrs. Treesh evidently understood them to say that homosexuals should be put to death. I agree with him that such an idea is absurd since the Bible clearly condemns all sin including gluttony, gossip and greed. Those three alone would condemn at least 95 percent of us Americans and the sin of lust would surely get the rest.
But I am "truly concerned" that we have so many ordained ministers in our world today who are teaching so many others that God "chose to make" people "gay, lesbian and trans-gendered." If indeed God, the almighty creator of the universe, made them that way, how is it that some have changed to heterosexuals? I am certainly no "holier" than any other human and I'm as guilty as the rest of sin. As such, I believe we, as humans, should follow God's example. We should condemn the sin but love the sinner and do everything possible to help them quit sinning. Anyone can do it with God's help and the support of loving people.
I read my Bible often and I do not read it "selectively."
Timothy Mikel
Warsaw
Wallet Returned
Editor, Times-Union:One day last week, as I sat in my office overlooking the village in Winona, I felt the peace that transcended a morning when the lake was like glass and the birds started their happy chorus. In my time of reflection that morning, I found my thoughts taking me to faraway places where the ravages of war and hate replace the stillness of quiet mornings such as this, and where people are desperate for the freedoms we know and love.
I felt the contrast and wondered about the balance of life itself. I wondered if the perspective of life had been lost in the shuffle of survival and in the hectic pace of merely trying to address the demands of daily living, here and afar.
It bothered me, thinking about all of this, the disparity of peace and conflict, of love and hate. I wondered about the discord in this great symphony of life. But I needed to leave these thoughts and the peaceful interlude of this beautiful morning, as I had a list of things to get done and needed to get started.
Throughout the day, I ran errands, hurrying as I went, becoming integrated into the fast pace that would allow me to complete my tasks. When I arrived home in the evening, I found a message on my answering machine, left by one of my neighbors. Sometime in the course of the day, my billfold had fallen from my purse. And sometime in the course of this same day, someone had found it in the street. He then took the time to find where I lived and since I was not yet home, left it at my neighbors', ensuring that all of its contents were safe and intact.
I was touched by this random act of kindness and thought about the person who so willingly took time out of their day to return my billfold, someone I didn't know.
I knew then the perspective of life had not been lost, that there was still caring despite a world which seemed so fragmented. That the hearts of humanity still held true to the basic core of "love thy neighbor."
I thought back on my morning, now realizing that our prayers can be our own random acts of kindness, for those whose spirits are broken by the raging fires of war, that they can somehow find a place of quiet solitude amidst the clamor of days filled with fear and despair.
That they, too, can somehow feel peace and balance in their hearts resulting from the caring of those who don't know them. My questions of the morning now had clarity.
This one man, on this one day, touched my life.
He gave me more than just my billfold, but something far greater.
With deepest gratitude, I say thank you.
Gayle Eppich Erickson
Winona Lake
via e-mail
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