SS feature : Washington Adventist University
Burnt Mills Sabbath School
Welcome to Burnt Mills Sabbath School !
Our Sabbath School Program at 10:30 am on October 30, 2010 presented by Steev Yovan, features the Washington Adventist University (formerly Columbia Union College). The Columbia Union Conference has designated Sabbath, October 30, as a day to share the good news about WAU in churches around the union. We are fortunate to have faculty, staff and students of WAU in our local church. There will be reports, music and highlights throughout the sabbath school and worship service. Come share in the blessing.
Abigail: No Victim of Circumstances | October 30, 2010 |
Proverbs 14:33 - Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known.
Matthew 15:10 - Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.”
Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
Romans 8:34 - Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Comments from Ellen White:
“[Abigail’s] words could have come only from the lips of one who had partaken of the wisdom from above. The piety of Abigail, like the fragrance of a flower, breathed out all unconsciously in face and word and action. The Spirit of the Son of God was abiding in her soul. Her speech, seasoned with grace, and full of kindness and peace, shed a heavenly influence. Better impulses came to David, and he trembled as he thought what might have been the consequences of his rash purpose. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ Matthew 5:9. Would that there were many more like this woman of Israel, who would soothe the irritated feelings, prevent rash impulses, and quell great evils by words of calm and well-directed wisdom.
“A consecrated Christian life is ever shedding light and comfort and peace. It is characterized by purity, tact, simplicity, and usefulness. It is controlled by that unselfish love that sanctifies the influence. It is full of Christ, and leaves a track of light wherever its possessor may go. Abigail was a wise reprover and counselor. David’s passion died away under the power of her influence and reasoning. He was convinced that he had taken an unwise course and had lost control of his own spirit.
“With a humble heart he received the rebuke, in harmony with his own words, ‘Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil.’ Psalm 141:5. He gave thanks and blessings because she advised him righteously. There are many who, when they are reproved, think it praiseworthy if they receive the rebuke without becoming impatient; but how few take reproof with gratitude of heart and bless those who seek to save them from pursuing an evil course.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 667.
Adapted from Contemporary Comments:
“For 22 years Alan Newton was a victim of circumstance. In June of 1984, a woman who had recently been beaten and raped looked at nearly 200 photos of possible perpetrators and pointed to Newton. She also identified him two other times: in a lineup and later at the trial.
Yet all along Newton maintained his innocence. He claimed that on the day of the attack, he was at the movies with his fiancé, her daughter, and other relatives. Afterwards, he said he went to his fiancé’s house. In 1994, ten years after the crime, Newton had asked for DNA testing. It was issued but the kit used was somehow misplaced and wasn’t found until 2005. Once found, the genetic tests proved what Newton had claimed all along—he was innocent.
“It’s been a long time getting to this point,” Newton told msnbc.com in a telephone interview last week—after five years of living in freedom. “I’m still going through mixed emotions because I always felt that this should have been taken care of a lot earlier.”
Rather than live out the rest of his life as a victim of circumstance, the newly freed Newton decided to rise above it. He enrolled at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and currently has a full-time job at City University of New York’s Black Male Initiative. And he’s perfect for the job of recruiting, retaining and assisting black men in college. He also lives in his own apartment in Manhattan, and hopes to enroll in law school soon.
But his story gets even better. Because his case was so badly botched, last week a federal jury in Manhattan ordered the city of New York to award Alan Newton $18.5 million! The jury believes that the city violated his constitutional rights, and that two officers involved in the case did not produce the evidence when he requested it back in ’94.
The feeling of freedom is wonderful for this man who was once serving up to 40 years. “It validates that my struggle was valid. It validates that corrections need to be made. It validates that there’s more people out there similarly situated that are still locked up…and they’re still living with the stigma.”
The Old Testament character we studied, Abigail, also refused to be a victim of circumstance. Having no choice in the matter of whom she married, she found herself with a selfish, unkind man who drank too much. When he refused to give aid to David and his men, David decided to wipe out Nabal and his people. But Abigail wasn’t about to simply stand by and watch those she cared for killed due to her husband’s greed. She took the initiative and went to David herself, bringing what he’d requested, while urging him to avoid more bloodshed.
Like Alan Newton and Abigail, we have a choice when damaging circumstances come our way. Once victimized, we can choose to stay a victim or become a survivor. Therapist Michael V. Cohen, Ph.D, suggests this step, among others, towards healing: “Try to find some deeper meaning in what happened to you. True, you were victimized but you can become a survivor. Survivors often find that changes in their outlook on life are possible, even preferable. What have you learned from your traumatic experience? Record these insights in a journal or voice them in a support group that is sympathetic to your situation.”
Wishing you an abundance of Sabbath blessings – fellowship, nurture, peace, love, joy, rest . . . . !
Regards,
Joseph Pakkianathan
Burnt Mills Sabbath School