6 minute read
Worship Acts of virtue
By GEORGE MASON
Hello, it’s me, again.
With a reminder to be kinder
Apologies to Adele and my grade-school grammar teacher (pop artists aren’t much on predicate nominatives). After saying goodbye a few months ago to my regular monthly column, I am back in a quarterly rotation with some admired colleagues.
What have I missed? The opportunity to write about the spiritual significance of unfettered access to guns after Uvalde; Southern Baptists facing up to a legacy of institutional coverups of sexual abuse; Jan. 6 Congressional hearings; the Russian invasion of Ukraine; stock market swooning and inflation ballooning; COVID-19 hanging around like an old boyfriend: Nothing much, huh?
Let’s take a summer break.
Bad news has a way of dominating our dispositions. We get cranky with ourselves and one another when it seems the world is cracking apart. But the goodness of God shines through like a shaft of light through a dark cloud. We see it in the small acts of kindness of good people.
Like the young couple who found a wallet while strolling through the Water Gardens in Fort Worth a few months ago. Yours truly had absentmindedly left it on one of the concrete steps under a tree. The sinking feeling of reaching for my wallet at a restaurant and finding an empty pocket led to my rushing back to the spot and finding it gone. After canceling credit cards and applying for a replacement drivers license and insurance cards, I settled in to days of beating up on myself for my stupidity.
Then out of the blue, a call came to the church that someone had found my wallet. They had sleuthed the Internet and figured out who I was. I drove to Fort Worth and recovered the wallet with more cash in it than I knew I had. After paying a hefty reward that was received with embarrassed gratitude, my faith in humanity was restored along with my valuables.
In this summer of our discontent, I am reminded that goodness can still be found among us. I don’t know whether the young couple was informed by a faith tradition or was simply acting out of shared sense of humanity. But either way, this is what keeps hope alive when we think all is lost in our striving for self-interest. Neighbors I didn’t know cared for someone they didn’t know as if it had happened to them.
Our community and our country depend on acts of virtue. People looking out for one another as if everything depends upon our actions. When we despair for the state of the world and worry that we can’t count on anyone but ourselves, a simple gesture of kindness changes everything.
What if we could imagine the consequences of every vote and every political decision on people we don’t know before we act? How would it change our city, our state and our country if we followed the example of a young couple like them?
The ties that bind us would never be broken.
GEORGE MASON is pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, president of Faith Commons and host of the “Good God” podcast. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.
WORSHIP
BAPTIST
PARK CITIES BAPTIST CHURCH / 3933 Northwest Pky / pcbc.org Bible Study 9:15 / Worship Services 10:45 Traditional, Contemporary, Spanish Speaking / 214.860.1500
WILSHIRE BAPTIST CHURCH / 4316 Abrams / 214.452.3100 Open to all / Worship at 11 a.m. Sunday School at 10 a.m. / wilshirebc.org
BIBLE CHURCHES
NORTH HIGHLANDS BIBLE CHURCH / nhbc.net / 9626 Church Rd. 214.348.9697 / Sun: LifeQuest 9:00 am / Worship 10:30 am / Sun: Youth 6-8 pm/Wed: AWANA 6-8 pm
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185 Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel 10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org
EPISCOPAL
ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH / stjd.org Worship: Sat 5:30 pm, Sun 8 & 10:30 am / Christian Ed Sunday Morning & Weekdays, see calendar on website / 214.321.6451 / 848 Harter Rd.
LUTHERAN
CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA / 1000 Easton Road A Welcoming and Affirming Church / Rev. K.M. Truhan Sunday School 9:00 am / Worship 10:30 am / CentralLutheran.org
FIRST UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA) / 6202 E Mockingbird Ln. Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am / Call for class schedule. 214.821.5929 / www.dallaslutheran.org
METHODIST
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH RICHARDSON
503 N Central Exwy / fumcr.com / 972.235.8385 / Dr. Clayton Oliphint 8:45, 9:45, 11:00 am Traditional / 11:00 am Modern
LAKE HIGHLANDS UMC / 9015 Plano Rd. / 214.348.6600 / lhumc.com Sunday Morning 9:30 am Sunday School / 10:30 am coffee Worship 8:30 am & 11:00 am Traditional / 11:00 am Contemporary
PRESBYTERIAN
LAKE HIGHLANDS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 214.348.2133 8525 Audelia Road at NW Hwy. / www.lhpres.org 9:00 am Contemporary, 9:55 am Christian Ed., 11:00 am Traditional
NORTHPARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / Summer Worship at 10:00 a.m. www.northparkpres.org / 9555 N. Central Expy. / 214.363.5457 Welcoming Seekers, Thinkers and Doers.
NORTHRIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 6920 Bob-O-Link Dr. 214.827.5521 / www.northridgepc.org / Sunday Worship 10:00 am Church that feels like church and welcomes like family.
PARK CITIES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH/ 4124 Oak Lawn Ave Sunday Worship 9:00 & 11:00 A.M. To all this church opens wide her doors - pcpc.org
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
DON’T PANIC, CALL DAN.
COMPUTER TROUBLESHOOTING No job too small or too large.
972-639-6413
stykidan@sbcglobal.net
June MLS home sale statistics*, plus annual totals area home valuesREAL ESTATE REPORT
SUB SOLD SOLD Year-To-Date Year-To-Date Avg Days on Avg. Sales Avg. Sales AREA JUNE ‘21 JUNE ‘22 Sales ‘22 Sales ‘21 Market YTD Price YTD ‘22 Price YTD ‘21 1 2 3 13 22 10 $466,308.00 $399,340.00 2 7 3 37 50 14 $403,418.00 $313,619.00 3 11 7 41 42 16 $350,239.00 $319,708.00 4 26 15 113 137 20 $307,774.00 $236,532.00 5 14 8 46 50 31 $421,155.00 $383,196.00 6 0 2 13 12 23 $723,638.00 $534,357.00 7 7 9 51 34 14 $651,503.00 $597,195.00 8 3 3 13 17 15 $752,596.00 $545,259.00 9 12 10 38 51 20 $619,058.00 $544,716.00 10 14 10 74 53 22 $242,056.00 $206,383.00 11 4 3 10 13 8 $751,100.00 $676,627.00 12 1 1 9 15 4 $901,556.00 $644,100.00 13 12 13 62 68 19 $643,561.00 $537,224.00 14 4 6 21 12 9 $637,336.00 $541,008.00 15 7 3 26 42 24 $586,313.00 $547,147.00 TOTAL 124 96 567 618 249 $8,457,611.00 $7,026,411.00 AVG 8.26 6.40 37.80 41.20 16.60 $563,840.73 $468,427.40
Sponsored by:
PATTY COLLINS PATTYCOLLINS@EBBY.COM 214-862-5524
*Statistics are compiled by Ebby Halliday Realtors, and are derived from Dallas Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Numbers are believed to be reliable, but are not guaranteed. The Advocate and Ebby Halliday Realtors are not responsible for the accuracy of the information.
75 - Central Expressway Walnut
B r a n c h
Forest 32 1 Whitehurst 6
Greenville10 Royal
Park Fair Oaks
7
W e s t Fo r k J a c k s o n
4
635 - LBJ
Abrams
8
Walnut Hill 11 ChurchSkillman
9
12
13 Audelia 14 15 Ferndale Plano Rd
Northwest Hwy 5
Jupiter
Lightweight fall tops at The Store!
2022
Mon. – Sat. 10:00 – 5:00 9850 Walnut Hill Lane, Ste. 226 (at Audelia Rd.) 214-553-8850 · thestoreinlh.com
ARE YOU
FULL-TIME & PART TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE
WESOME?
WE’RE HIRING A SALES PRO! IF YOU CAN SELL, LET’S TALK.
SALES@ADVOCATEMAG.COM MONTH TO MONTH - NEVER ANY CONTRACTS!
Plans as low as $19 a month.
Classes • Personal Training • Hydromassage • Infrared Sauna • Tanning • Body Scan •
TOP REALTORS
