The city of Butler wants to say thank you to all who donated toys or made a monetary donation. This year Butler's Christmas Kids project was a great success and we couldn't have done it without your help, we were able to give toys to 81 girls and boys. Each year you surprise us with your generosity.

Again Butler's Christmas Kids say "Thank you."

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The Pendleton County American Red Cross would like to thank those that have taken time out of their lives to help volunteer to help others. We have really grown in number of volunteers this year and would like to take this time to say once again to welcome you to the Pendleton County Unit. Also thank you for all you do. You do make a difference.

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The Norman Family, our daughter Tammy Gore and granddaughter Brittney Gore are searching for words good enough to thank the owners and staff of Randy's Clothing and Falmouth Christian Church for their wonderful generosity in all the precious gifts and love they gave so freely to Tammy and Brittney. While our resources are limited, Tammy and Brittney would have had all the love this family can give them on our Savior's birthday, but they had no idea that total strangers would give so freely of their Christian love and God-given resources. Tammy escaped from an abusive marriage shortly before Thanksgiving and both her and Brittney really needed the joy and happiness your love and gifts are giving them. Thank you all so very, very much. God will bless both Randy's Clothing owners and staff and Falmouth Christian Church with great love and prosperity of witness and wealth. In fact I wish to thank any church, person, organization or group that gave gifts of Christian love and gifts of joy to any needy family or person all over the world. God's magnificent and unlimited blessing on everyone on this our Lord and Master's birthday.

~ The William Norman Family

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that touched us so deeply, it’s daunting to comment since the wounds are still tender. Parents with tear-stained faces deserve our comfort and compassion. The Newtown community needs our support as they try to heal. These things we can agree on. But what do we say when words can never be enough in the midst of such sorrow? Sometimes nothing.  However, as uncomfortable as it may be, a few observations are in order.

Heaps of blame have been dished out for the unspeakable acts committed against the 20 defenseless children and six adults in the town painted as idyllic and peaceful. It’s the fault of assault weapons, high capacity magazines, violent video games, a callous culture, and the NRA, or so we are told. Some say it’s the GOP, God, antiquated laws and Adam Lanza’s mother who tried to move him away from his obsession with gaming and into society. However cathartic blame may be, it doesn’t help the hurting find answers.

Connecticut’s chief medical examiner is looking for explanations in the genes of the killer’s brain while the emotionally shattered are flocking to churches, seeking pastoral counsel, and attending vigils. A real dichotomy is emerging as to where ultimate answers can be found and whether they are in the spiritual or earthly realm.

President Obama perhaps found the middle ground by touching both. He spoke to the soul in last Sunday’s memorial service and when he quoted Scripture he appealed to the ultimate source of authority and articulated at least in part, a message that could truly console and comfort.  He quoted II Corinthians which challenges us to fix our eyes not on the physical but rather on the unseen and eternal.  “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.”

In contrast, shrill calls for assault weapon bans and ramped up school security have drowned out the reality that the grieving are not primarily seeking help and consolation from legislative bodies, but are finding it in the church. If spiritual solace aids the souls of the grieving then why should moral and spiritual solutions for our torn culture be left in the pews? Absent from the mainstream media and its addiction to the sound bite is serious public discussion of good and evil, human responsibility, sin, and moral judgments. Our hearts are sick with grief and our collective soul yearns for an answer but what our hearts know to be true, our minds seem no longer to be able to speak, at least in moral terms because generations have been deprived of a moral vocabulary. The cognitive dissonance is surreal.

"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart," said Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1973. Guns are certainly part of this discussion, but where, as Solzhenitsyn would insist, is the discussion of the human heart? And moral training? Why the inordinate focus on the material object of destruction as if the human soul had nothing to do with how that object was used?  New gun laws may become a reality but lasting solutions to evil apart from the moral and spiritual realm will inevitably remain elusive.

So we turn to Christmas, the story filled with eternity and weaved with strands of both hope and tragedy; Hope in that the Messiah came to restore peace and righteousness; Tragedy in that innocent babies were killed by a jealous King Herod, and that God’s great gift to mankind was eventually rejected and crucified. Yet Christmas is ultimately a triumphal story of God’s love that we find wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger—the spiritual meeting the physical we call the incarnation.  May each of us embrace Him this season.

Sincerely yours,
Richard Nelson
Executive Director
Commonwealth Policy Center
PO Box 5
Herndon, KY 42236
(270) 719-1640 (cell)
(270) 271-9472 (office)
www.commonwealthpolicycenter.org

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Dear Editor,

Nine members of the 4-H Crossroads Club cleaned up five miles of roadway on New Hope Road and a section of Hwy 10 on November 3, 2012. We picked up 24 bags of trash. New Hope Road had a lot of trash, especially at the place where it intersects AA Hwy. Please keep all of your garbage in your vehicle until you return home. Let's all work together to keep the roadways clean!

Sincerely,

Autumn Ferguson
Leader  4-H Crossroads Club

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Dear Editor,

The Phillip Sharp Academic team picked up 38 bags of trash on Highway 22 West on Saturday, November 24, 2012. It took 16 people and two hours to pick up all the garbage. It is sad that this job even needed to be done. We are disappointed that people litter so much, and we were surprised at what we found.

During the garbage pick-up, we noticed some patterns in the type of litter. Most of what we picked up were cans and bottles of beer and alcohol. Not only did people litter, but apparently they were drinking and driving. Two more things we found the most of were dip cans and fast food bags. We are very upset that the people take littering so lightly, and harm  our beautiful planet.

Sincerely,

Phillip Sharp Academic Team
Ben Bowen, Bailey Hardy and Andrew Hicks

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Dear Editor,

The PCHS Navy JROTC unit cleaned seven miles of Lightfoot Fork Road on Saturday, November 17, 2012. Twenty four  and eight members of the SMS eighth grade ROTC club and eight chaperones began the trash pick-up at 8 a.m. and by noon they had filled 39 trash bags with assorted trash. The trash included soda and beer cans, bottles, fast food discards, as well as tires and building materials. Odd items included a muffler, automobile logos, DVDs and a road sign. The aluminum cans that were collected were separated and later taken to a recycling center. When the job was done, the group enjoyed pizza and soft drinks.

Commander, Joel Nahari

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Dear Editor,

Our youth group picked up trash on Hwy 27 beginning at US 22 and going north five miles on November 2. There were 12 people who picked up trash and we had 42 bags full of trash and five tires in this stretch. We also had some swimming pool floats and (filled?) gas cans, but most of the trash was paper and plastic from fast food and drinks.

It was kind of scary picking up trash when dump trucks or tractor trailers went by and the air almost lifted us off the ground, but we stayed back from the road as far as we could.

Thanks for the opportunity to improve our neighborhood.

Brett Bowen
Mt. Carmel Baptist Church

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Dear Editor,

Members of the Pendleton County Lady Cat Golf team cleaned up Hwy 1054 on Saturday October 27, 2012. Even though the weather wasn't very cooperative we still had a good turn out of support. We picked up 18 bags of trash. There were a lot of bottles, cans, cigarette packages and fast food containers along the side of the road. Thanks to all that showed up to help. Let's all do our part to keep Pendleton County beautiful.

Sincerely,

Lisa Cobb
Pendleton County Lady Cat Golf Team

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Dear Editor,

Seventeen members from the Butler Baptist Church Wellness Program picked up trash along road 609 on November 3, 2012. We were amazed about just how much trash there was. We filled 21 bags of trash, along with finding seven tires and one sign. The sad thing about this is that most of the trash was probably left by people who do not live here. Most of the trash was probably thrown out by people going to and leaving from the Wood Fest. It is really sad that people do not care about leaving their garbage where someone else lives. We would encourage you to think twice before throwing something out alongside the road. We want to thank all who make this possible so that we can help to keep our county clean.

Rev. Daryl Mullins

Butler Baptist Church Wellness Program

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