Commun ty Matters Newton Presbyterian Manor
Being glad By Jerroll Martens, chaplain Newton Presbyterian Manor
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth.” (Proverbs 24:17) We have heard, or perhaps said, “It serves him right.” It is usually in the context of someone who is evil, someone who has wronged us, or simply someone we do not like. What is the Christian to do? It is not wrong to rejoice when evil is defeated and the right prevails. However, on a more individual basis, the Bible has several references to this. Job searched his heart to see if he had rejoiced when something bad happened to his enemy. Job knew that to be wrong. King David had opportunities to “get even” with his enemies but he refrained. It is so easy for us to rejoice in our heart when something bad happens to someone we do not like. We must guard against that. In the final sense, let’s remember that we are all sinners, and if God gave us what we deserve, our case would be hopeless. His grace has extended to us love and mercy we do not deserve. May we find joy in His grace to us and to others— even those we may not like.
September 2018
Aliene Bolton: Hooser girl to storyteller From earning the nickname, “Kinks,” to writing a column in the Leon, Kan., newspaper and developing a fascination with airplanes, horses and building homes, resident Aliene Bolton has written a collection of stories documenting childhood memories growing up close to the Oklahoma border in the small town of Hooser, Kan. The memoir, “A Hooser Girl,” was something Aliene’s grandson asked her to write 22 years ago, but she didn’t get serious about putting pen Aliene Bolton holding her book. to paper until recently. Today, she’s looking forward to sharing her stories. Enjoy the following excerpt from “A Hooser Girl.” ‘Glimpses of the Past’ The Hooser boys soaped the rails in my Dad’s day. He told how one or two boys would distract the store keeper at the front while others would go in the back and steal a bar of soap. Because the train always had the same number of cars, it was consistent where it stopped at the depot. So they knew just where to make the tracks slick. It must have been “great sport” to watch that big engine spin its wheels. Boys will have fun in any given era. We had dirt streets. Didn’t every early cattle town have dirt streets? When it rained, they turned into mud. I did go barefoot all summer, most farm kids couldn’t wait to shed their shoes after the long, cold winters. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s affected Hooser as well. ALIENE, continued on page 2