Communications Blog
by Eileen Hodgetts

Yesterday was a beautiful day, but did you feel it....that little nip in the air? Fall is treading on the heels of summer. Right now everything is mellow and lovely, but it all looks a little tired, a little dusty, in need of a rest. It's coming. My dog Alfred and I took a walk in the woods yesterday and everywhere we went I saw fruit. Some of it can be eaten by humans, and some of it looked highly suspicious, But even I can identify an apple tree, so I had an apple. While I snacked on the apple, Alfred snacked on grass (he's not your average dog) and we enjoyed some moments of quiet surrounded by God's bounty. And then we were off again chasing grasshoppers, and rabbits, and imaginary wild game.

By the way, did you know that reliable records place Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) in Pittsburgh in 1790, where he was planting apple tree nurseries, and acting as a missionary for the Svedenborg Church? I can't help wondering if the tree I was eating from, was a descendant of one of Johnny Appleseed's original plants. If only all of us could leave such a legacy!

Returning to the subject of Fall...if the days are getting shorter, and the air is getting colder, and football season is ramping up, then it's time for ADULT EDUCATION. We have a full program of Sunday morning Adult Education classes starting right after Labor Day. We also have numerous Wommen's Bible Studies waiting to greet all the weary mothers who have finally waved their children off to school and are ready for a little adult conversation that doesn't revolve around skate boards, swimming pools, and baseball practise. Click here for information on all our offerings.

And ONE MORE THING! You really don't want to miss this this amazing celestial event. No one alive today will ever see this again. The planet Mars is as close to earth as it will come in the lifetime of anyone living today. Check it out on the western horizon. You might think it's a plane coming in to land at Pittsburgh International, but it's not; it's our celestial neighbor. I've been looking at it through binoculars, and it's possible even to see the famous red tint.. Last night with Mars in the West and a full moon moon high above, it was as though God was displaying his work for the whole earth to see, and to know how great is our God, and how fleeting are our daily concerns compared to the promise of an infinity spent with the maker of the heavens. .

Psalm 8: 3,4, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is Man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?