Rajah News - June 2021

Rev. David
Newhart
THE CHAPLAIN’S STUDY
J.R.R. Tolkein wrote a series of books called the “Fellowship of the Ring,” a classic tale of fantasy
about a long ago land. A group of nine very different people form a fellowship to help rid the world of
the evil powers that are beginning to take power in the world. The book was written during the beginning
of WWII. This story tells of the victory of good over death. At the end of the first book one of the twelve
sacrifices his life for the sake of the others so that they may escape to freedom.
This same thing is true of Jesus Christ dying on the cross. He does that for all people of all time and is
the ultimate sacrificial act of any religion. No other faith in the world has a God who dies, and this Jesus
the Christ is the one who makes a new life for everyone who believes that he is the savior.
We are a family in Christ, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and it is that family that keeps in
love simply said, “To love and be loved is everything in this life.” We all have a family tree that ties us to our
past and links us to our future. We are the children of God and bound to our Lord through baptism. It is here
with the help of our parents that we grow and develop our character and personality with God as our major
parent then we are set in God’s love. What more could we be but at the best of being God’s children. We are by no means perfect.
Only God is perfect but we work as those who love and are loved. It is that love that is perfect because it is of God. We are in the
world but not of the world. We do not get our being from the world but from God and have that responsibility to live up to God’s
purpose on earth.
We as Shriners are given that ultimate gift through the love of God in our world. We are called to share that love with all those
less fortunate than we are. We are called to give of ourselves to benefit others no matter their faith, color or nationality. We shall
continue to do that because we are the instruments of peace in this world. We need to see the many different ways we can work
toward world of justice, integrity and peace. The evil in the world that we face must be constantly dealt with and it is through work
and our sweat that this power is held back from taking over. We are the instruments of God’s peace.
Larry Christman
STRING BAND
Greetings from your String Band
I hope our Snow Birds had a safe trip back to PA in time to see all the beautiful spring colors in full
bloom.
Thanks to Chris, Bruce, Tom D, Doug, and Mike for prepping the float for the upcoming parade
season.
As more vaccines are being given, we are looking forward to our first parade on Memorial Day (May
31st) in Mahanoy City. Hope we have good weather!
Upcoming...MASA will be here before we
know it and some fall parades are being scheduled.
This year we are planning a combined String
Band/Concert Band picnic on September 26th.
With the support of our Ladies, our purpose
is that we might play our instruments so that
someday a physically challenged child may walk
and play again.
Stay safe & well and hope to see you soon,
Sharing this beautiful image of the Editorial
Without Words statue against an amazing sky
at Hospital Shriners para Niños - México. The
iconic statue can be seen at all of our locations,
as well as Shriners Fraternity buildings.
22
Did everyone see the Shriners Hospital for Children Xfinity car #78, driven by Jesse Little at Texas
Motor Speedway on May 22nd? For $78 you could be a sponsor and get your name on the car. I did this
in memory of our son who recently passed away. He was an avid race fan. As of this writing, their goal
of $50,000 has been exceeded for the hospitals. We wish Jesse well.