February 2000

Congregational Lunch and Annual Meeting
Date Changed to February 13

 Our Year 2000 Congregational Lunch and Annual Meeting will be held after worship on Sunday, February 13.  We will look back at the events of 1999, our Sesquicentennial year, and consider what’s in store for our 151st year. (The February church newsletter shows the meeting on Feb. 6, but the date was changed just after press time.) To reserve a place at the lunch, please contact the church office.

Rev. Robert W. Bohl to be Guest Preacher on February 13

Our guest preacher on February 13 will be the Rev. Robert W. Bohl, Pastor of Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, Kansas. Rev. Bohl was Moderator of the 206th PC(USA) General Assembly (1994) and a Founding Co-Moderator of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians.

Emergency Family Shelter

In November, our Session approved the Mission Committee’s motion to use lower level church rooms  for an Emergency Family Shelter for 25 people each night in March, 2000. This program will be similar to one we participated in during 1991, in partnership with San Francisco’s Department of Human Services and Episcopal Community Services. Food will be prepared off-site and brought to the church.

The Mission Committee still needs volunteers to help with children’s activities each Friday night and to serve as church host or hostess each night.

Pastor’s Letter

I am a fan of Professor Stephen Jay Gould, who teaches biology, geology and the history of science at Harvard. In The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, Norton, 1980, Gould wrote: “Many things are impossible for nature. But what nature can do, she does surpassingly well. Good design is usually expressed by correspondence between an organism’s form and an engineer’s blueprint.” p. 306. Gould is a scientist foremost, but enough of a philosopher and poet that he is able to look beyond form and function to discern deeper meaning.

In an essay on Natural Attraction, Gould writes about the range of visible adaptations that inspire us with their beauty and functionality: “the cheetah running, the gazelle escaping, the eagle soaring, the tuna coursing, and even the snake slithering or the inchworm inching.” However, Gould often finds more fascination and inspiration in the adaptations that we cannot see as readily. It is in these less obvious examples that we discover nature’s true mystery and wonder, and by implication, a greater appreciation, not only for the creation but also for the Creator.

In 1975 colleagues at nearby New Hampshire University discovered “magnetotactic bacteria in sediments near Woods Hole, Massachusetts. (Just as geotactic  organisms orient toward gravitational fields and phototactic creatures toward light, magnetotactic bacteria align themselves and swim in preferred directions within magnetic fields.”) After a year of culturing and isolating a pure strain, they were able to demonstrate that the bacteria produce within their minute bodies, a perfect machine. By incorporating in their one-celled bodies the free compound Fe3O4 (lodestone) in dimensions of exactly 500 angstroms (an angstrom is one ten-millionth of a millimeter), the bacteria have created an effective compass.

“But evolutionary biology is preeminently the science of ‘why,’ and we must ask what such a small creature could possibly do with a magnet.” The answer is evident when one considers that “down” is the direction of nutrients. But the bacteria cannot simply stop what they’re doing and fall to the bottom of the pond; they are suspending in their watery medium by the forces of Brownian motion (the play of dust particles in sunlight provides a standard illustration of Brownian motion.) The bacteria require a stronger force: magnetic attraction. In northern latitudes, “north” will have a downward orientation, a trait we dampen out of our compasses since we don’t need to know which way is down.

One would expect to find that bacteria in the Southern Hemisphere would have a magnet oriented toward the South Pole; indeed, that is the case. Gould concludes that we are an imperceptive lot, “surrounded by so much, so fascinating and real, that we do not see (hear, smell, touch, taste) in nature.” With so much wonder and mystery surrounding us, so much that is truly fascinating and real, how can we continue to allow pollution and violence, racism and homophobia, poverty and suffering to distract our energies and distort our world? The lowly bacterium, wearing a necklace of magnets, declares the glory of the Lord. May this realization lead us as well, in our words and actions, to give our appreciation, fascination, wonder, glory and honor, and, like the psalmist declare: “let everything that breathes, Praise the Lord!”  Peace and fascination be with you!                                                                                                                  Harrell Davis

Dear Old First Presbyterian Church,

On behalf of the staff and children of Edgewood Center for Children and Families, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of wonderful Christmas gifts. We were deeply moved by the generosity of your church. The presents were chosen with such love and care, we could feel the presence of your great compassion for those in need.

As you know, the 48 boys and girls who live at Edgewood have been abused and abandoned by their families. When they receive kindness from the greater community, they learn that there is an extended family in the world — men, women and children like yourselves who care deeply about what happens to them.

Thank you again for the gifts you have given us; not only the dolls and games, but the light of your kindness and love.

Sincerely,

Yvette De Andreis

Community Relations Coordinator

(As you can tell from this letter, your generosity was really appreciated. If you are interested in learning more about Edgewood and the work they do, we will be posting information on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall. There is also an opportunity to tour their facility. If you are interested in such a tour, please contact Betsy Chiao.)

Lectionary

Feb 6          Isa. 40:21-31; Ps. 147:1-11, 20c; 1 Cor. 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

Feb 13        2 Kings 5:1-14; Ps. 30; 1 Cor. 9:24-27;  Mark 1:40-45

Feb 20        Isa. 43:18-25; Ps. 41; 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12

Feb 27        Hos. 2:14-20; Ps. 103:1-13, 22; 2 Cor. 3:1-6; Mark 2:13-22

Mar 5          2 Kings 2:1-12; Ps.50:1-6; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

Tutorial Computer Center

When Forge Toro began working with Tutorial's computer center a year ago,  there wasn't  much to work with: one computer, to be exact. He put an appeal in the Sunday bulletin for donations of used computers, and ("I was so amazed") received four of them right away, and a few more since then. He has been able to take outdated machines with resale value of little or nothing and (by creative scrounging) assemble a useful and much enjoyed computer lab where Tutorial students learn spelling, math, history and other subjects through entertaining educational programs, and some basic computer techniques into the bargain.

The array of computers in Classroom A has begun to benefit other areas of the congregation's life. Perplexed computer owners consult the center's small but highly relevant library. People working to upgrade their skills find advice, instruction books and machines to practice on. The Windows machine known as Pokemon (all the computers have names) is now connected to the Internet and providing free e-mail service; some of our over-scheduled church officers, volunteers and committee members are dropping in to check their e-mail between meetings.

Since the computer center is now used to capacity only one hour a week, we hope to make it available not only to the Senior Center, but to the church and congregation as a whole, especially to those currently without e-mail. You will be hearing more about this in the months to come.

In the meantime, donations of equipment and other materials (software, CD’s, paper, printer cartridges, manuals and instruction books) are most welcome. Where hardware is concerned, Forge says, "I'd love to get a Pentium machine with CD ROM drive, or any kind of MacIntosh. Newer is better."

Welcome

to Joshua Kai-Ming Cheng, son of Andy and Yvonne Cheng, brother of Samuel. Born January 9; 8 lb. 4 oz.

to Jeremy Olin Ridge, son of David Ridge and Cheri Cook-Ridge, brother of Samuel. Born January 18; 9 lb. 1 oz.

In Memory - Alberto Barrios

Alberto H. Barrios died Tues. Jan. 25, 2000 at home.  Mr. Barrios was a veteran of WW II, retired from Bechtel Corp., long time volunteer at Newcomer High School, member of SIRS Branch 57 and an elder at Old First Presbyterian Church.  He loved to sing and play his guitar; he shared his gift of music with many over the years. 

He is survived by his wife of 55 years Sara B. Barrios; daughters, Thea Peterson of Knoxville, Tennessee and husband Owen; Clare Barrios-Knox of Santa Barbara, California and husband Roger; Martha (Tita) Barrios Mead of Atlanta, Georgia and husband Ken;  grandchildren, Peter Vawter, Mary Elizabeth and Heather Peterson, Ryan and David Mead;  sister Juanita Barrios;  nieces Michele Barrios and Janet  Breedon. 

A Memorial Service and Celebration of Life was held at Old First on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2000. Donations may be made to the Old First Church Memorial Fund.