The Message Given at
Manhattan Meeting of the Religious
Society of Friends: 6-1-2008

By Noel Palmer, Pastor

As my wife Daisy and I return from our winter months in Florida, it seems natural that Friends would ask, what do you do while you are away in sunny Florida? It is true that the pace of life is quite a bit scaled down from what it is here in New York. We do much more reading and make time to volunteer in teaching program, or the Soup-kitchen luncheon program in the community.

On First Days we worship with Jacksonville Monthly Meeting Friends at the Bolles School Library on Bartram Road. This is not a large meeting but the fellowship is warm and the after-meeting sessions are generally informative.

In reflecting on a text that I would consider appropriate to answer the question, what has been happening to us over these months? I would quote Psalm 121: 5-8: “The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

This keeping of the Lord is more real than we can even relate for we have experienced physical healing. For some time I have been suffering from fairly severe knee and back pain as a result of arthritis. It happens that my wife also suffers from arthritis. I like to think myself as a tennis enthusiast and one of the pastime I share with others on the courts is two hours three days a week. I was not able to play tennis from the time I left Florida in May of last year but I thought I would see Dr. Dudley Bringer one of the physicians in the Clinic in St. Augustine. He examined my knee and said he could give me a shot but that would be no good for the diabetes that I also have. However, he said he would give me some tablets which should be taken one a day. He advised me to see an orthopedist and set up a program for continued help. It was not long before those tablets began giving me significant ease.

Daisy herself was able to receive substantial medical assistance with the pains that have bothered her from time to time. We both rejoice that God has been hearing our prayers and has kept us through these months.

We look beyond our physical healing and are buoyed by the inspiration we receive from the various devotional materials we are able to read. Indeed, the scripture often takes on new meaning and sometimes more than one message is conveyed in almost the same words. Here in the words of our text, when the Psalmist says, “the sun shall not smite thee by day; nor the moon by night.” He is reinforcing the fact of His protection on those who are His. The reference here is similar to that as stated in John 10:28 “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

While we were in Florida, my niece called one night to let me know that my 89 year old sister who is her mother was taken to the hospital. They live in Boston and while I would have loved to get there as quickly as possible, it was not possible to get there before a day or two. The best thing we could do was to call upon the Lord and ask Him to have mercy and see my sister through. By His divine Grace when we called the following day she had made a meaningful change and as time progressed she was discharged.

The preservation of God is manifested in ways past finding out and as we live from day to day we are called upon to be ever mindful of His eternal presence. Daisy and I were recently on our way to a meeting to Powell House; Daisy had a Committee Meeting and there was no one else from our Meeting going and the e-mail said anyone who can use a hammer might come to help work on the Bugg House. I therefore decided to join the group. On our way up the Taconic for some distance I observed a car a fair distance behind mine then I saw that he came directly behind me. We were both climbing the hill and going at the 40 mile an hour speed. After some time he turned on his lights signaling me to stop. At a safe spot I pulled over and stopped. I started taking out my licenses. He by then reached up to my car and asked do you know why I stopped you? I said No officer, he said, “You were crossing over the white line.” He said nothing else, he just handed back my license, went back in his car and drove off at a great speed.

Again, I was thankful that the guidance of God is real and I can say “The Lord is my keeper.”