MORGAN'S MOMENT...
Enough ads to use up two trees
     I thought
     as I lugged the paper home.
Some ads I like and some I don’t
     and none
     seem worth even one tree.
I want to be patriotic you know
     so as a patriot
     I read most of the ads.
Are there any goods I could buy
     to help recovery
     and aid my country?
My Depression Kid self rises up
     crying out
     against buying unnecessarily.
I was taught to save and conserve
     in hard times
     not spend and consume.
Why is it unpatriotic to conserve oil
     by raising mileage requirements
     instead of drilling in Alaska?
My flag is flying but I’m not buying
     I’m sorry
     but am I unpatriotic?
— Art Morgan 
DECEMBER MOMENTS
We have two big moment events in December. The first is the Sunday Advent Brunch on December 2nd. The other is Christmas Eve at the Old World Deli. 
MOMENT MINISTRIES
December 1, 2001
home address:  25921 SW Airport Ave.
Corvallis, OR 97333   541-753-3942
email at  a-morgan@peak.org
ADVENT SUNDAY
CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH - DEC 2
As we have done from year 1 (almost ¼ century ago) the folks connecting with Moment Ministries have gathered for a Sunday Brunch at the beginning of the Christmas season.
It is one of the two Sunday events we celebrate. (The other is Easter). 
We meet at 10 a.m. and light a Christmas candle and declare the season begun. Then we eat a shared brunch. Then we bring out the Christmas music and sing until our spirits are as full as our bodies. (Thanks to Paul and the musicians).
The message is thankfully brief (a moment by Art).
There is always warmth, good food, good talk and a feeling that there is something about Christmas worth celebrating.
Nancy and Greg are waiting for us at
           3230 NW Garfield Avenue
MOMENT WRITINGS
We are surprised and complimented when people ask for various materials we have published. Most people don’t have time to spend on the Internet. We do put some of our stuff on our web page, including many blue sheets and back pages. 
We are glad to send materials, but remind you that it’s mostly on our web page. 
Try www.moment-ministries.peak.org 
Materials on that page may be copied and quoted. If, by chance, you publish them for financial gain, let us know. We would be amazed.
HOW TO KNOW GOD
“The Soul’s Journey Into the Mystery of Mysteries” — by Deepak Chopra
This book is recommended by a number of theologians, physicians, psychologists, and others. It is a well-informed book, but not always an easy read. Those who regret religion’s absence from the modern world and from relationship with world religion and philosophy, this book will be a surprise. Although the book tries to focus on knowing God rather than knowing about God, we find that it offers direction for knowing about God. Worth a look.

(back page)

UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS
         One of my favorite carols has always been “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and a favorite line has been, “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.”
         I’m writing this from our place on Puget Sound. It’s been a dark and dreary Thanksgiving week, brightened by a warm fire, a cozy cabin, good food, interesting books and visits with friends. We added a string of Christmas lights across the window in stark contrast to the black night beyond.
         We could be more isolated than we are if I could keep from listening to the morning news before I leave the warmth of bed, or if we could skip buying the newspaper. I’m not sure this exposure to the outside world enlightens our darkness or not.
         What made me think of “under cover of darkness?”
        It could be that the thought occurred to some time ago when we began hearing of all the political agenda that was being pushed for reasons of “national security.” I forget which ones got my special attention. What was Ashcroft doing in Portland, Oregon threatening to take away licenses from physicians who participated in Oregon’s assisted suicide law? Like it or not, it appeared that he was following a conservative agenda under cover of darkness.
         Or maybe it was when (again in Oregon) we began hearing radio commercials urging us to call our Senator to vote to open Alaskan oil drilling to free us from dependence on foreign oil in a time of national crisis. It may or may not be a good idea, but pushing this agenda seems to be taking advantage of the cover of darkness.
         At the very same time I was reading how a proposal to rescind a mileage requirement for SUV’s was attached to some bill. It snuck through, virtually undetected, under cover of darkness. Those who claim to know say that this mileage requirement alone would save more oil than the Alaska fields could ever produce. 
         In a more enlightened time we might hear more question about the suspension of constitutional rights and processes and the tilt toward a militarist government, all claimed as necessary for these dark times.
         It makes one wonder what else is happening “under cover of darkness.”
         I know I’m isolated. Probably paranoid. Not enough long walks in the fresh air.
         But it’s the season for trembling in the darkness. Humans have known the feeling from the beginning. Christianity is a late-bloomer when it comes to celebrating the winter solstice. There’s something deep inside us that is suspicious of what happens under cover of darkness. We stoke up the fire and turn on the lights to put the darkness away.
         We peer out there and wonder whether what we see is just shadow or a run-away imagination. We hope it’s only that. We fear that what we fear may be true.
         At the same time, we hope for light. In fact, we believe in it.
         That’s strange. We who have a history in Christian culture sort of wrap our faith in the metaphor of the Christmas story. We know that it’s mostly story, and full of legend. We also know that it is full of absolute truth. At some point darkness gives way to light. I say it again; at some point, darkness gives way to light.
         It’s one of those things you mostly just have to believe, especially when you are in the dark. As a pastor, I’ve seen it over and over. It hurts my heart to remember some of the darkness people I have known walked through. Those awful times—and I think of many of you who are on my blue sheet list—seemed so dark that it seemed impossible that the darkness would ever go away. To talk of the return of light made no sense at all.
         “Yet in the dark streets shineth…” Those of you who have been there know it better than I…the light in life somehow manages to find its way in the darkness. The memory of the darkness only makes the light more treasured.
         The Christmas season is one way of expressing a faith born of experience. Under cover of darkness many evils occur. But also, under cover of darkness, when we most despair of its coming, light emerges. Those who despair of God, of sensibility and value in life, find hope in spite of darkness.
         The proclamation of Christ as light of the world is a wondrous way of affirming what appeared in our world under cover of darkness.
— Art Morgan, Advent 2001