Welcome to the St. Martin's Prime Timers Webpage.

We meet each Sunday in the Payne Education Center from 10:10am to 10:50 in rooms 207-209.  Coffee and breakfast snacks are provided. Currently we are exploring the Wisdom literature of the Bible, with readings from the Book of Proverbs.

Skip Allen led the Prime Timers class this week, and at the 11am service received a certificate for completing the four year Education for Ministry program.

Prime Timers Good News

For just $1 you can take over the podium at the Prime Timers and tell us your good news.

This week as Max Kech prepared to go on the Amistad Mission trip  she introduced her daughter Julie and her husband Dan. She also suggested using our "Henny Penny" money to provide logo T-shirts for the kids down there, since they requested them.

Elizabeth Sleeper is our "snack department." For the last year or so she recruited Prime Timers to bring in the snacks we enjoy at the beginning of our class. As many of you know Elizabeth's husband Lockert is out of the hospital and now makes it to church, but not to class. Elizabeth would like another Prime Timer to take over for her at the end of May. The job consists of circulating the paper calendar to sign people up for "snack duty." Then you follow up to make sure the snacks actually show up on the appointed week. You can contact Elizabeth at her email, listed below in our roster, or you can call Max Kech or Caroline Maryan, her phone is the same as Skip's!

Choosing the Path of Integrity

Today our teacher was Skip Allen, leading us through another session of "Wisdom Literature" in the Proverbs. He reminded us that the Proverbs are attributed to King Solomon, although maybe he didn't write all of them, since there are 3,000. Certainly his spirit is there.

Proverbs may well be a collection over a considerable period of time in ancient Israel. Many of the themes appear in other ancient works and suggest a possible common source.  In fact Proverbs, the book of Job and Ecclesiastes have parallels in Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature. Proverbs 22:17-24:22 reflects a classic Egyptian wisdom text, The Instruction of Amenemope. The "problem literature" of Mesopotamia bears a striking resemblance to the tone and form of Job and parts of Ecclesiastes.

Skip read some further examples where Proverbs follows the Aramaic wisdom text the Words of Ahiqar. While all these parallels provide interesting history and a richer context for the words we read from the Bible, it must be said that the writers of these books of the Bible fully subsumed the teachings into an Israelite perspective, integrated with the teachings of the Torah and the Prophets. Wisdom is to be sought, wisdom is most important.

Here are a number of passages you can click on, or read in your own Bible as illustrations of some themes in Proverbs, 12:11, 12:24, 10:2, 11:24, 11:4, 11:28.

Proverbs is a good example of the Old Testament, where God is actively working in people's lives. There is a lot of direct cause and effect wisdom. Skip suggested that life may be more complex than these passages, leading to Ben Welmaker  suggesting that we can only hope that some of these work out. Virtue is many times its own reward. This lead Katie Givens to suggest the movie "The Quiet Man" as an example.

Max Kech then read our healing prayer, followed by Skip Allen's benediction and the end of class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

St. John from the New Church stained glass windows. Today's gospel reading was John 15:9-17.

Max Kech celebrates her second anniversary at St. Martins!

The Lesson for Sunday, May 28th is titled "Living Out Wisdom"

Key Verse:  Proverbs 31:30

Focus of the Lesson:  People choose the criteria for living to which they commit and by which they are thus guided to make decisions. Which wise criteria for living  should one be committed to and guided by in order to achieve prudent behavior? King Lemuel's mother praises the women who respect God and follow God's guidance in loving and caring for their families.

The reading is Proverbs 31:8-14, 25-30. This text is from the New International Version^®.

8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for
  themselves,
   for the rights of all who are destitute.

9 Speak up and judge fairly;
   defend the rights of the poor and needy."

10 A wife of noble character who can find?
   She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her
   and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,
   all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax
   and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,
  bringing her food from afar.

Proverbs 31:25-30

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
   she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her:

29 "Many women do noble things,
   but you surpass them all."

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

NIV®