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Vol. IV, # 16, Nov. 25, 2005
Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we all are grateful and thankful
that we live in a free country that has regular elections. We have
many who are in need of our prayers. Don Bunn was released from
Westport Manor to his home on last Tuesday morning. He will have
a day nurse to assist with his health needs. Sadly, Don learned
a day later that his son Donnie died from complications of diabetes.
Don's son was in his mid fifties and is survived by a wife and
two children.
 Norm Vaughn informed PH that Edye Stolz, Jane
and Norm’s
younger daughter, will have surgery for treatment of breast cancer
on December 15 in Peoria, Illinois. The extent of the surgery will
be determined after the results of a recent MRI have been interpreted.
Norm stated, “We are praying for a completely clear, lump-free
reading of the MRI."
Don Thomson continues to have his ups and downs. His appetite
has decreased and his pain medicine still needs regulation. Hopefully
he will not have to return to the hospital. He remains at Westport
Manor.
Remember in your prayers::Don Bunn and his son's family, Don
Thomson, Edye Stolz, Baby girl Ella Sofia and her mother, Kathy
Wade, the
RRCB Micah Team, CrossOver West Clinic, Kay and Bob Culpepper,
Philip and Shanna Davis, the VCU BSU, Julia Tyler and her parents,
the youth of the church, the Church clergy, the church staff
and all of the mission efforts of RRCB. Prayers should also
be offered
for our men and women in the armed forces, civilians around
the world in harm's way and for those only known to you.
 This Sunday Teacher Bob will lead us into chapter
14 of Second Samuel. We will be dealing with a triangle situation
between
Joab, the woman from Tekoa and King David. Now, who do you think
is the clever one and who is the schemer? Come to the SSBSC this
Sunday and find out. Also, we will celebrate the first Sunday
of Advent and the reception after church will be in the “lower
commons.” Also, in case you don't read the Spire closely,
Teacher Bob's photo is in there.
 PH failed to publish last week that Dorcas Fowler turned twenty-nine
on Monday, November 21. Also Betsy and Chris Foster celebrated
their thirty-second anniversary on the same day.
Our annual Christmas Social will be at 6 PM on Saturday, December
17 at the home of Carolyn and George Thomas. Details follow:
 CHRISTMAS SOCIAL
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17TH
Home of George and Carolyn Thomas (Directions in next week's PHA)
6:00-7:00 PM: Fellowship; 7:00 PM: Dinner followed by Christmas
carols.
Needed:
Appetizers -
Beverages (soft drinks, beer, wine) -
Breads/rolls -
Desserts -
Hot veggies -
Meat and meat casseroles - Simpson
Plates/cups/flatware (plastic) -
Salads - Simpson
Questions: Charlotte and Bill Simpson (285-3185)
or >wsimpson04@comcast.net<
Attached to this PHA is a photo taken several
years ago of our two Don’s when we had the Christmas Social at the Thomas’ home.
As PH has no original ideas to close this holiday weekend PHA,
PH will take the liberty to print an article written by PH for
a recent issue of the Deja View, the newsletter of the Central
Virginia Post-Polio Support Group
Our God Our Help in Ages Past
On the morning of Sunday, August 10, 1941, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt met for a combined
religious service on the afterdeck of the British ship H.M.S.
Prince of Wales. England had been at war  with Germany for two years and
the English people had endured considerable bombing of their cities.
The United States would not enter World War II until the Pearl
Harbor attack four months later. However, Roosevelt and Churchill
had been in correspondence for some time and England greatly depended
on Roosevelt and the USA for supplies and weapons with the likelihood
of the USA becoming an ally of Great Britain.
This secret conference between Churchill and Roosevelt
occurred off the coast of Newfoundland in Placentia Bay at Argentia
Harbor.
Roosevelt arrived on the USS Augusta on August 8 and the two men
met on Saturday, August 9 on the Augusta. Their meetings over the
next few days brought about what later was called the “Atlantic
Charter.” The sea voyage had involved some risk for both
men, especially Churchill. German submarines were active in the
North Atlantic, but both men made their respective trips safely
to this first summit meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt. The
Prince of Wales and many of its crew would perish on December 10,
1941. The Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese bombers near Singapore
with a loss of 325 men who had been among the ship's crew on August
10, 1941.
The events of Sunday, August 10, 1941 deserve closer attention.
A religious service combining the crews of the Prince of
Wales and the Augusta was held with Churchill and Roosevelt present.
Roosevelt had to make the transfer from the Augusta to the Prince
of Wales and then walk a considerable distance to the afterdeck
of the Prince of Wales. Roosevelt, the polio survivor, walked in
his braces awkwardly, but with great dignity using his son's arm
to maintain his balance. The two men sat side by side under a quadruple
turret of fourteen inch guns.
There were three hymns sung during the service.
Churchill selected “Our
God Our Help in Ages Past” and “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Roosevelt
selected the Navy Hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” Neither
man knew exactly what the future might be for the free world. However,
both men sought the inspiration of God. Roosevelt was an Episcopalian
and Churchill referred to himself as a “buttress” rather
than a “pillar” of the Church of England. Years later
Churchill stated regarding this service, “Every word seemed
to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live.”
After the service Roosevelt was given a tour of
the Prince of Wales “in
his chair” and he also presented each sailor of the Prince
of Wales with a personal gift of fruit, cheese, cigarettes and
other items that were scarce in Great Britain. Both men would carry
on a close relationship throughout the war until Roosevelt's death
in 1945.
Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748) was the writer of many hymns including “Our
God Our Help in Ages Past.” He was the oldest of nine children
and the son of a school master. He had rather delicate health most
of his life and was considered an invalid by his mid thirties.
He was a clergyman as long as his health permitted, but early in
his adult life he began writing poetry and hymns. Any older or
even modern day hymn book includes several of his hymns. His hymns
have been a lasting gift to the church for over three centuries.
“
Our God Our Help in Ages Past” is a paraphrase of Psalm 90.
Watts studied the Psalms and was a great admirer of the Psalms.
We are approaching the Christmas season once again. Sometime during
this season many of us will sing the hymn “Joy to the World,” which
is a Watts hymn.
For many of us who have lived with the residual effects of polio
and now for those of us who are living with Post-Polio Syndrome,
medical science and even alternative health care approaches have
limitations in improving our quality of life. We have learned a
lot about what we should not do to avoid an intensification of
the symptoms of PPS and many of us have found compensatory ways
to improve our quality of life.
Beyond the knowledge of medical science and the
support of our wonderful support group, I search for “our help in ages past.” Many
of you may also search for meaning in realms beyond polio and the
struggles of daily living. A hymn that has inspired many of our
ancestors and has as much meaning for us as anyone is “Our
God Our Help in Ages Past. There are six verses to this hymn. I
will end this short missive with the words of three of those verses:
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
References
1. Black, Conrad: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Champion of Freedom:
published by Public Affairs in the United States, 2003,
pp 650 - 653.
2. http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpwatts.html
PH
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