The Beacon
Blue Mound UMC October 2024
Did You Know?
Mr. Spock’s Vulcan Salute Comes from Leonard Ninoy’s Jewish Heritage
The story behind this famous greeting originates with Leonard Nimoy, the actor who portrayed the iconic Vulcan character Spock on the original Star Trek series. In the episode 2, ‘Amok Time,’ Spock greets other Vulcans for the first time in the series. Nimoy decided that it would be a good idea if they used a unique greeting, not a handshake, as with the human species.
Drawing inspiration from his own Jewish heritage, he created the Vulcan salute, basing it on the hand position used by Jewish priests (kohanim) during a religious ceremony called the ‘kohanim blessing.’ During this blessing, the kohanim extend their both arms with their hands in a similar position, forming the shape of the Hebrew letter ‘shin,’ which represents the name of God. One part of the blessing: “May God bless you and guard you.” Nimoy had observed the blessing when he was a young boy with his father.
Nimoy felt that the gesture conveyed a sense of spirituality and uniqueness that suited the character of Spock, who was portrayed as highly logical and spiritually centered. He suggested incorporating the gesture into the character’s mannerisms, and it became one of Spock’s signature traits throughout the Star Trek franchise.
The Vulcan salute has since become an iconic symbol not only within Star Trek fandom but also in popular culture.
Accompanying the Vulcan Salute was the spoken blessing, “Live Long and Prosper”, also first used in “Amok Time”. The phrase was scripted by Theodore Sturgeon, a fiction writer. It to become an iconic catchphrase.
Live Long and Prosper
Pastor’s Corner Page 1 of 2
Joni Mitchell wrote a song titled Big Yellow Taxi in which these words are found:
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
I think it’s true that sometimes we don’t appreciate what we’ve got until we lose it. My hope and prayer are that we never lose what we’ve got at Blue Mound. I want to share with you an article written by a woman named Sarah Stewart telling what her church that’s closing has meant to her. I hope this gives you some food for thought…>
To experience a great love is a great gift. Mine happened to be my local church.
In late August, Seventh Street United Methodist held its final service. Facing shrinking numbers and sweeping changes made at this year’s General Conference, the decision was made for the church to close after more than 100 years of serving as a witness to the gospel on the corner of Seventh and Bryant streets in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
I grew up with Seventh Street UMC as did my mother and her brothers. My grandparents and great-grandmother attended there. I want to express gratitude and love for my church one final time.
It is important to allow people the opportunity to grieve for their closing churches. People often say the “church isn’t the building”. The idea being that we should be able to readily detach ourselves from the places in which we meet. After all, if we are so attached to our church and its interior life, we may neglect to go out and share the gospel. And while we should go out and share the gospel, this statement ignores something profoundly important: buildings matter. Because the people in them spend decades serving God together in those buildings, and the gifts they have donated for use of the church, in many cases the gifts they have labored and sacrificed to make, were for the service of God. And now in the case of my church, they will most likely be auctioned off and the building bulldozed.
When I return home, I will miss my church building. I will miss the freedom to enter it and sit in its pews and pray and know that I had a place where I was always welcome.
Even more than the building, I want to express my love for the people who attended there. They have been one of the great blessings of my life. They have loved me and shown Christ to me and that is a great gift. I am quite certain that I will never be so deeply loved by so many people as I was by my church. To be loved so intensely is a blessing, and by loving my church and being loved by my church, it became a living witness to me that deeply impacted my ecclesiology. It taught me to love, serve, and treasure The Church. Despite its imperfections, my church was a small witness to the blessing that Christ gives us in the church universal.
Pastor’s Corner Page 2 of 2
My church also helped to foster my love for music, and I will cherish the hymns, bluegrass, and gospel songs that I learned through its ministry. I will always stand on my tiptoes when I sing “Love Lifted Me.” The music ministry at my church, particularly its choir, was an excellent example of intergenerational ministry. Those relationships are essential for keeping young adults connected to their faith, and they certainly helped as I grew in mine. I will miss how joyful people were as they participated in our music ministry, an important demonstration of using our talents for the service of God. I will miss standing at the piano with our pianist and worship leader, learning songs, and enjoying one another’s company while preparing for Sunday morning. And I will always be grateful for the investment they made in teaching me to read music and to sing.
Also impactful was the reverence with which I saw members of my church take communion. Cradling the bread in their hand and whispering “thank you, Jesus.” Those simple, discrete acts of devotion demonstrated to me a deep and winsome faith on the part of its members.
Most of all, I am grateful for steadfast devotion to God that I saw the members of my church live out in their daily lives. We had members experience tragic events, the loss of homes, and the loss of children, and yet they demonstrated a deep-rooted trust that God was with them in the darkest moments, and He was their source of comfort. Part of that comfort was given to them by the steadfast presence of love by their fellow church members, who faithfully lived out their covenant vows to care for one another. They also demonstrated this devotion in the ministries of the church. Prison ministries, ministries to shut-ins, and most of all our children’s ministries. And they practiced those incarnationally, engaging with people in person for the sake of the gospel. I consider myself blessed to have grown up participating in the ministries of my church to children.
My church is now closed. I am not sure what will become of the building, but the long-term impact of its ministry will be a blessing to those who had the opportunity to encounter it, and it will continue to be a blessing to those with whom its laity interacts. I will always be grateful to my church for helping me to love Christ and love His bride the Church. For this and for so many other blessings, thank you. Eternal thank-yous!
Wow, don’t you think that’s a lovely tribute to her church? I hope it makes you think about how lucky we are to have Blue Mound in our lives. And I hope it makes you want to recommit to supporting Blue Mound with your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. God has blessed Blue Mound, God is blessing Blue Mound, and God will continue to bless Blue Mound through you, and me, and all of us together. May it be so!
Peace be with you,
Buster
October Celebrations
Birthday
01 Stacy Schertz
Suzanna Stenger
David Muns
15 John Smith
16 Charlie Ziegel
Jeanne Levelle
17 Charles Bressler
21 Wallace Trietsch
24 Carolyn Brooks
27 Shirley Haisler
Anniversary
03 Aaron and Katie Klein
11 Shayne and Jesse Miller
20 John and Dorothy Smith
Hayride and Wiener Roast
Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 5:30 pm at my home 2862 Henry Lane in Sanger. This is where Shirley Haisler grew up and it has been a continuous farming operation way over 100 years. We will have a Hayride and Wiener Roast. Please bring wieners for your family and a side or dessert. If you have chairs, please bring them. You might like to play games or just sit and talk. We have roasting sticks. Carri is furnishing drinks. It is in front of my home so restrooms are available. Billy Wright II will be driving for the Hayride this year. You can come and enjoy the meal and don’t have to go on the hayride. Rain or Shine. Maybe not the hayride but I have a party room so we can eat and play games in the house. I have ramps so wheelchairs are welcome. Call if you need directions or if you have questions. -Kay Trietsch
Everyone Is Welcome. Join Us and Bring a Friend!
Fun Fall Maze Puzzle
October Calendar
06 Holy Communion
Church Charge Conference
13 Second Sunday Lunch, Noon
26 Family Game Night, Fun and Food. 6 p.m.
New Nursery Worker, Raquel Ortiz will join us on Sunday, October 6.
Give Her A Warm Blue Mound Family Welcome!
Conference Information
On Saturday September 28th will be a Uniting Conference in Abilene where we’ll unite three conferences, including our own, creating the new Horizon Texas Conference. What was before three conferences with three bishops, will now be one conference with one bishop.
On Sunday October 6th we’ll have our Church Charge Conference right after church. This is the annual meeting where we approve the reports we send to the conference each year. For the most part I’ll prepare the reports and present them. We’ll approve them as they are, with the understanding that in some cases we still have work to do to get them in their final form. On Monday October 7th I’ll turn in to the conference (our District Secretary) the reports we approved the day before.
On Sunday October 20th will be our Cluster Charge Conference at 3:00pm at First UMC in Denton. This will be a gathering of the UMC churches around us to “officially approve” the reports we submitted to the conference on Monday October 7th. Mostly we’ll just worship together and hear from our District Superintendent Debra Hobbs-Mason. I imagine she’ll bring us a word from Bishop Ruben Saenz too.
BLUE MOUND UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
8421 N. Interstate 35, Denton, TX 76207-1537 (940) 382-0825
Midway between Denton and Sanger at Exit 473
Sunday School: 9:30 am, Sunday Worship: 10:45 am
Website: www.bluemoundumc.org
Linda Boyer, Newsletter Editor
Need to contact Pastor Buster Noah?
Email: pastor@bluemoundumc.org
