When does the Monday meander become the Tuesday twaddle? Walking home from the office yesterday I smelled it. Must have been the rain we got this weekend mixed with the now brown leafed layer on the church lawn. It was definitely the rich scent of late fall. No more making hay while the sun shines; now everyone is buttoning up for the cold spell ahead. This harvest season coincides with what the news anchors are calling “these uncertain times. Philosophers and Theologians have been referring to the “age of uncertainty” for a number of years now. It’s interesting to think about the words we seem sure of. For example, we talk about “making money.” But really, only those who work at a mint (or forgers) make money. The rest of us accumulate it, or not. Do you, or someone in your family, “earn a living?” How can anyone ever earn the right to live? We work for what we need to live and hope that we will be able to live well with the reward for our work. What we earn are tangible goods like the produce from a garden, or less tangible goods like money, or perhaps the least tangible and most valuable, respect. In the Bible, God expends a great deal of effort untying our sense of self from the money we manage. Put in perspective, money is the means of exchange that allows us to enjoy more to eat than what we can grow ourselves, more to wear than what we can weave or sew, more to enjoy than what we can make or imagine. Money is an instrumental value, good for what it can be used for. People, on the other hand, are not instruments. People have value in and of themselves because you and I are made in God’s own image. In this time of harvest, may God provide all that you need, including the blessing of becoming day by day more like the God we recognize in Christ Jesus. That is a grace unearned and a value beyond measure. Keeping in Touch: *Feeling crafty, or just like getting out of the house to be with friendly faces? Join the fair crafters Sat. morning at 10 in Torsey Fellowship Hall. On November 29, we’ll need extra hands with sewing machines to zip up the thermal window coverings for the sanctuary. *Rev. Don Hegeman of the Winthrop UMC will be available for Pastoral needs Nov. 21-25. The number will be on the church voice mail. *Please keep in prayer- those who are anxious about the coming winter or the financial turmoil the world is experiencing. -thanks that we’ve been able to help two more families with fuel needs this week as they wait for state assistance to kick in. Continue to pray that those looking for employment be guided to the right doors. -parents of teens testing life’s limits. -Our Sunday School as they gear up for this year’s Christmas play.