Within Sight Of The Promised Land
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Within Sight of the Promised Land" by Frank Ramirez
"The Nature of Love" by Peter Andrew Smith
* * * * * * *
Within Sight of the Promised Land
by Frank Ramirez
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
The LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."
-- Deuteronomy 34:4
He was there at the creation of the new age. When others mocked at the idea, he spoke and wrote and argued as a true believer and finally convinced others. Having left the land of his birth he wandered in the wilderness for decades stubbornly attempting to lead others beyond the frontier into the future. Having finally lived long enough to come within sight of the Promised Land he passed away without crossing over himself.
Willy Ley was born October 2, 1906, in Berlin. When, as a child, he wrote a school essay stating he wished to become an explorer when he grew up his teacher mocked him, telling him he didn't have the proper background, and besides, there was nothing left to explore in the twentieth century.
Ley became interested in rocket science at a time when it was ridiculed by the popular press. Having studied astronomy, geology, paleontology, and physics during college, he came across the book known in English as The Rocket into Planetary Space by the German scientist Hermann Oberth. Ley laboriously rechecked all the mathematics in the book and decided that the era of space travel need not be far off. Ley's first book on space flight was published in German in 1926, and a year later he was one of the founding members of the German Rocket Society.
Ley's prolific writing for the general public raised the level of interest in rocketry in Germany. His crowning achievement was his work as a consultant on the Fritz Lang film Die Frau im Mond (The Woman in the Moon), for which he designed realistic space ships and insured that the details surrounding space flight were accurate. The film was a sensation in 1929.
However the Great Depression forced Ley and the Rocket Society to abandon most of their efforts to launch rockets. Soon the only real work on rockets in Germany was conducted in secret by the military.
The rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler alarmed Willy Ley, so in 1935 he forged papers that allowed him to travel to England carrying only a few changes of clothing and his favorite books. He then emigrated to the United States and became a citizen. Ley soon became even more familiar to the American public than he had in Germany, writing stories about the future of space travel for popular magazines, acting as a consultant to television shows from Disneyland to Tom Corbett: Space Cadet. His books, often profusely illustrated, not only told accurate history of rockets and space experiments, but also imaginatively predicted a future where space travel would be common. As one who loved science fiction, he wrote many science articles for science fiction magazines, inspiring many who would go on to design and launch the ships that traveled into space.
A constant presence on television in the '50s and '60s, and an enthusiastic supporter for science and the peaceful uses of space, he turned from prophet to chronicler as the United States engaged in a race to put a human on the moon before the end of the 1960s. As dreams became reality he continued to write books that explained the fundamentals of space science in a clear and accurate manner.
However, on June 24, 1969, only a few weeks before Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the moon, Ley died. Like Moses, he came close to the Promised Land, but he never saw the culmination of his dream that he had so enthusiastically prophesized.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
The Nature of Love
by Peter Andrew Smith
Matthew 22:34-46
Mary knocked as she opened the door to the church parlour. "Can I talk to you?"
"Certainly," Carla said. "Come on in."
"Are you sure?" Mary looked at the stack of papers and the open laptop sitting in front of the other woman. "I can come back later."
"No, I'm just writing a report for the Annual Meeting before my life changes." Carla put a hand on her very large stomach.
"You don't have to worry about that now, do you?" Mary seated herself in an empty chair. "You must have more important things to do before the big day."
"You sound like Pastor Mike and the personnel committee." Carla took a sip of water. "Truth is that once the day arrives I know I'm not going to have any time to think about reports. That is of course assuming I can even remember my own name much less what happened in the office this past year."
"Been there." Mary chuckled. "You'll be a great mom. Your child is so blessed to have you and Steven as parents."
"Thank you." Carla smiled. "You didn't come in here to tell me that though did you? How has your first day been?"
Mary looked down at the floor. "I don't know if I am going to be able to continue as secretary."
"Why not? You've worked in offices before."
Mary looked up at the woman she was replacing. "I can handle the phone and office tasks. It is not that."
"Pastor Mike has a tendency to leave things to the last minute unless you give him a deadline." Carla looked over at where the offices were located. "Believe it or not he has never been late when I told him I needed something on a certain day."
"I think I'm okay since I can stay late on Fridays but that's good to know." Mary fidgeted and then got up. "I guess I'll be fine. I shouldn't have bothered you."
"It's the people dropping in, isn't it?" Carla asked before Mary could step out of the parlour into the hallway. "The ones who come in from the street looking for help?"
Mary turned and looked at her. "How did you know?"
Carla patted the seat beside her on the couch. "It took me the longest time to become comfortable with the street people."
Mary sat down. "Really? You're so good with them."
Carla smiled. "I wasn't when I started. In fact, I was in tears the first Christmas we did the food hampers."
"Why?"
"Someone yelled at me when they came to pick it up."
Mary's eyes went wide. "Why would they yell at you?"
"That's what I didn't understand. I thought I was a failure. I was ready to hand in my resignation to Pastor Mike." Carla looked at her temporary replacement. "He explained people get tense at Christmas and then sat me down and reminded me of something."
"What?"
"That Christian love is a choice we make each and every time we act or speak to someone else."
Mary frowned. "So you are saying we have to take abuse?"
"Absolutely not." Carla shook her head. "If someone is yelling or aggressive tell them to stop and remember there are always other people in the building. If you ever feel unsafe you push the panic button under the desk and help will come running."
"I'm confused then."
Carla tapped her chin with her hand. "Do you always like Tommy?"
"My son is a handful on good days." Mary sighed. "But he is my son and I love him no matter what."
"Then look at everyone who comes through the doors as family. You treat them with the same patience, respect, and love as you treat Tommy." Carla held up her hand. "I know it sounds strange but if you do that it gets easier to deal with the people dropping in from the streets."
Mary shifted in her seat. "I don't know. Alan was in earlier and I have a hard time talking with him."
"I usually open a window when I see him coming," Carla said. "Did you know that his parents worked in an embassy when he was young and he speaks Dutch?"
"Alan? Really?"
Carla nodded. "That's not to say that he won't annoy you at times but I do what Pastor Mike suggested and when I look at him I remember that he is someone Jesus loves and wants me to love."
"That really helps?
Carla touched her hand. "It makes all the difference in the world for you and for them. Jesus commands us to love other people because love is a choice we make. Don't forget that."
The doorbell rang signalling that there was someone waiting to be let into the office.
Carla looked at Mary. "You want me to deal with that?"
Mary shook her head as she went to the door. "No, I think it is time for me to start loving my neighbour as myself."
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
*****************************************
StoryShare, October 26, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Within Sight of the Promised Land" by Frank Ramirez
"The Nature of Love" by Peter Andrew Smith
* * * * * * *
Within Sight of the Promised Land
by Frank Ramirez
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
The LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."
-- Deuteronomy 34:4
He was there at the creation of the new age. When others mocked at the idea, he spoke and wrote and argued as a true believer and finally convinced others. Having left the land of his birth he wandered in the wilderness for decades stubbornly attempting to lead others beyond the frontier into the future. Having finally lived long enough to come within sight of the Promised Land he passed away without crossing over himself.
Willy Ley was born October 2, 1906, in Berlin. When, as a child, he wrote a school essay stating he wished to become an explorer when he grew up his teacher mocked him, telling him he didn't have the proper background, and besides, there was nothing left to explore in the twentieth century.
Ley became interested in rocket science at a time when it was ridiculed by the popular press. Having studied astronomy, geology, paleontology, and physics during college, he came across the book known in English as The Rocket into Planetary Space by the German scientist Hermann Oberth. Ley laboriously rechecked all the mathematics in the book and decided that the era of space travel need not be far off. Ley's first book on space flight was published in German in 1926, and a year later he was one of the founding members of the German Rocket Society.
Ley's prolific writing for the general public raised the level of interest in rocketry in Germany. His crowning achievement was his work as a consultant on the Fritz Lang film Die Frau im Mond (The Woman in the Moon), for which he designed realistic space ships and insured that the details surrounding space flight were accurate. The film was a sensation in 1929.
However the Great Depression forced Ley and the Rocket Society to abandon most of their efforts to launch rockets. Soon the only real work on rockets in Germany was conducted in secret by the military.
The rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler alarmed Willy Ley, so in 1935 he forged papers that allowed him to travel to England carrying only a few changes of clothing and his favorite books. He then emigrated to the United States and became a citizen. Ley soon became even more familiar to the American public than he had in Germany, writing stories about the future of space travel for popular magazines, acting as a consultant to television shows from Disneyland to Tom Corbett: Space Cadet. His books, often profusely illustrated, not only told accurate history of rockets and space experiments, but also imaginatively predicted a future where space travel would be common. As one who loved science fiction, he wrote many science articles for science fiction magazines, inspiring many who would go on to design and launch the ships that traveled into space.
A constant presence on television in the '50s and '60s, and an enthusiastic supporter for science and the peaceful uses of space, he turned from prophet to chronicler as the United States engaged in a race to put a human on the moon before the end of the 1960s. As dreams became reality he continued to write books that explained the fundamentals of space science in a clear and accurate manner.
However, on June 24, 1969, only a few weeks before Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the moon, Ley died. Like Moses, he came close to the Promised Land, but he never saw the culmination of his dream that he had so enthusiastically prophesized.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
The Nature of Love
by Peter Andrew Smith
Matthew 22:34-46
Mary knocked as she opened the door to the church parlour. "Can I talk to you?"
"Certainly," Carla said. "Come on in."
"Are you sure?" Mary looked at the stack of papers and the open laptop sitting in front of the other woman. "I can come back later."
"No, I'm just writing a report for the Annual Meeting before my life changes." Carla put a hand on her very large stomach.
"You don't have to worry about that now, do you?" Mary seated herself in an empty chair. "You must have more important things to do before the big day."
"You sound like Pastor Mike and the personnel committee." Carla took a sip of water. "Truth is that once the day arrives I know I'm not going to have any time to think about reports. That is of course assuming I can even remember my own name much less what happened in the office this past year."
"Been there." Mary chuckled. "You'll be a great mom. Your child is so blessed to have you and Steven as parents."
"Thank you." Carla smiled. "You didn't come in here to tell me that though did you? How has your first day been?"
Mary looked down at the floor. "I don't know if I am going to be able to continue as secretary."
"Why not? You've worked in offices before."
Mary looked up at the woman she was replacing. "I can handle the phone and office tasks. It is not that."
"Pastor Mike has a tendency to leave things to the last minute unless you give him a deadline." Carla looked over at where the offices were located. "Believe it or not he has never been late when I told him I needed something on a certain day."
"I think I'm okay since I can stay late on Fridays but that's good to know." Mary fidgeted and then got up. "I guess I'll be fine. I shouldn't have bothered you."
"It's the people dropping in, isn't it?" Carla asked before Mary could step out of the parlour into the hallway. "The ones who come in from the street looking for help?"
Mary turned and looked at her. "How did you know?"
Carla patted the seat beside her on the couch. "It took me the longest time to become comfortable with the street people."
Mary sat down. "Really? You're so good with them."
Carla smiled. "I wasn't when I started. In fact, I was in tears the first Christmas we did the food hampers."
"Why?"
"Someone yelled at me when they came to pick it up."
Mary's eyes went wide. "Why would they yell at you?"
"That's what I didn't understand. I thought I was a failure. I was ready to hand in my resignation to Pastor Mike." Carla looked at her temporary replacement. "He explained people get tense at Christmas and then sat me down and reminded me of something."
"What?"
"That Christian love is a choice we make each and every time we act or speak to someone else."
Mary frowned. "So you are saying we have to take abuse?"
"Absolutely not." Carla shook her head. "If someone is yelling or aggressive tell them to stop and remember there are always other people in the building. If you ever feel unsafe you push the panic button under the desk and help will come running."
"I'm confused then."
Carla tapped her chin with her hand. "Do you always like Tommy?"
"My son is a handful on good days." Mary sighed. "But he is my son and I love him no matter what."
"Then look at everyone who comes through the doors as family. You treat them with the same patience, respect, and love as you treat Tommy." Carla held up her hand. "I know it sounds strange but if you do that it gets easier to deal with the people dropping in from the streets."
Mary shifted in her seat. "I don't know. Alan was in earlier and I have a hard time talking with him."
"I usually open a window when I see him coming," Carla said. "Did you know that his parents worked in an embassy when he was young and he speaks Dutch?"
"Alan? Really?"
Carla nodded. "That's not to say that he won't annoy you at times but I do what Pastor Mike suggested and when I look at him I remember that he is someone Jesus loves and wants me to love."
"That really helps?
Carla touched her hand. "It makes all the difference in the world for you and for them. Jesus commands us to love other people because love is a choice we make. Don't forget that."
The doorbell rang signalling that there was someone waiting to be let into the office.
Carla looked at Mary. "You want me to deal with that?"
Mary shook her head as she went to the door. "No, I think it is time for me to start loving my neighbour as myself."
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
*****************************************
StoryShare, October 26, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
