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Re: [Oe List ...] Song
by Zoe 12 Apr '14

12 Apr '14

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Song
by Frank Knutson 12 Apr '14

12 Apr '14

I have had a a request to find the lyrics to a Phase I song. “There was a Camp in New Orleans” (something like that). Does anyone know it. Please send it to me via this email. Thanks Frank God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason. ~Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings, p. 56

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4/10/14, Spong: The Reverend Fred Phelps, 1929 - 2014
by Ellie Stock 10 Apr '14

10 Apr '14

Homepage My Profile Essay Archive Message Boards Calendar The Reverend Fred Phelps, 1929 - 2014 “I believe that all homosexuals should be castrated with rusty barbed wire.” Those words came at me from a television screen a number of years ago. The spokesman was identified as an ordained Christian minister, who headed a Baptist Church in the mid-west. I then learned that this church’s website was “godhatesfags.com.” It was in this manner that the Rev. Fred Phelps, founder and recently deceased pastor of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church, first entered my consciousness. During the following years, we would confront each other many times. Westboro Baptist Church was not a typical Christian community. Not only was it founded on hate, but its membership barely stretched beyond the bloodlines of a single family. Fred Phelps was the father of 13 children, the grandfather of more than 50 and the great-grandfather of an ever rising number. At the time of his death about two weeks ago the Westboro Baptist Church claimed only about 70 members. It could be and was characterized as a fundamentalist church, by which I mean that its members clearly resisted any new ideas and quoted a literal Bible as the ultimate source of authority for their version of truth. This justified in their minds their visceral hostility toward homosexual people. They had apparently memorized the nine verses out of the entire Bible that have been regularly used to justify a virulent homophobia. First there is the Sodom and Gomorrah story from Genesis 18, which together with two later references to it, one in II Peter and one in Jude, constitute three of the nine aforementioned biblical texts. The Sodom and Gomorrah story is basically about a violation of the hospitality code of the Middle East, but it has been incorrectly interpreted to have been a story about rampant misbehavior thought to be homosexual in character. This was the “sin,” homophobic people have said, which brought down the wrath of God in fiery destruction upon these cities. From this biblical story, the pejorative terms “sodomy” and “sodomite” have their origin. If those who quote this story to justify their prejudice ever took the time to read it in its entirety, they would find it very strange. It winds up defining Lot, who at the end of this story impregnates his two daughters while in a drunken state, as “righteous.” It seems that an incestuous orgy is OK! Homophobic prejudice has had a way of relativizing any other moral weakness. I recall a television interview in 1992 when candidate Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, won a sweeping victory in the Georgia Democratic primary, even while allegations about his sexual indiscretions with more than one female were dominating the media. A reporter asked a voter from rural Georgia, that conservative, Bible-quoting, church-attending state, why it would give its vote to a candidate of questionable moral character. The answer given by this Georgia voter was: “Well, at least we know he ain’t no ho-mo-sexual!” In addition to the Sodom story, these people quote two verses from Leviticus, which brings the count to five. These two verses define homosexuality as “an abomination” and prescribe the death penalty for those who practice it. This is the text (Lev.20:13) that inspired Fred Phelps’ best known poster: “God said, fags should die!” Fundamentalists, who like to cherry pick their proof texts, fail to recognize that Leviticus also prescribes the death penalty for those who have sex outside of marriage, those who worship a false god and even those who have sex with their mothers-in-law! Another book in the Torah, Deuteronomy, prescribes the death penalty for disobedient children. Fundamentalists never quite get around to quoting these verses for few of them would still be alive if society took them literally! Three other verses of the Bible (that brings us to eight) are equally flimsy when examined, since the word that has been translated “homosexual” in those texts now appears to refer to male prostitutes in Pagan Temples. The final of the nine texts, and the only verse in the authentic writings of Paul that clearly condemns homosexuality, is found in Romans 1. It is probably the weirdest verse in the entire Bible. There, Paul calls homosexuality a God-given punishment imposed on those who do not worship God properly. When one notes how passionate Paul was before his conversion about keeping the law and worshipping properly, one has to suspect that when Paul wrote this verse, he was being autobiographical. Fred Phelps’ church had as its primary “outreach ministry” the task of picketing any church or Christian leader who gave support to the cause of justice for gay and lesbian people. This “ministry” was not always rationally exercised. For example, when the national Episcopal Church began in the 1990’s to take a non-condemnatory stance on gay issues, Fred Phelps and his friends decided to retaliate by picketing the Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka. At that time, the Episcopal Bishop of Kansas was a very fine, but deeply conservative, man named William Smalley. The Phelps’ picketers were so constant, so hostile and so offensive that Bishop Smalley, in reaction, became more and more liberal on the issue. Insensitive prejudice is frequently not just revolting, but it is also counter-productive. I endured and engaged this man and his picketers physically on four different occasions. The first time was in Rockford, Illinois, where one of his operatives placed his face within one inch of mine, while he shouted obscenities and assured me that hell was my ultimate destination. Phelps was also a lawyer and his strategy was to elicit a physical response so that he could bring a personal injury lawsuit against his victims. One learned strong personal discipline in the presence of his abuse. The second occasion was at Lee’s Summit, Missouri, at the national headquarters of the Unity Movement. The third was at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis in 1995, where I joined with twelve other bishops to celebrate the Eucharist at a gathering for Integrity, the Episcopal organization for gay and lesbian Christians founded by Dr. Louie Crew. I had incurred Fred Phelps’ wrath when the diocese I served as its bishop, passed tradition-shattering resolutions in favor of gay equality in both ordination and marital status in the 1980’s. On December 16, 1989, in Hoboken, New Jersey, I had, quite deliberately and publicly, ordained an openly-gay man living in a publicly acknowledged partnership, to the priesthood. At that service I introduced the two of them as a family. At that 1995 Indianapolis General Convention, the picketers and the Indianapolis police were both out in force. The Integrity service had a police barricade around it, yet no one was prevented from worshiping. Hostility and even fear was in the air, but the church was packed. My wife, Christine, was seated in the congregation as the bishops processed in to begin the service. She noticed that the people in the pew in front of her were not participating in the worship, displaying hostile body language in the process. One of them held a note in his hand. Christine moved close enough to be able to read it. It said, “Which one is Spong?” The man next to him identified me to him. A few minutes later this note-bearing man left his pew and went out of the door. Somewhat anxious, Chris spotted one of our diocesan clergy, a bright, attractive, athletic priest, named Edward Hasse, who had been a member of the Ithaca College football team and who is today a regular marathoner, and she asked him to follow that man, He did so, notifying security of the possible danger. The security in that church tightened perceptibly. Nothing happened, but in that atmosphere of violence it was almost expected. My final picketing experience with Fred Phelps and his church family came at the 1998 General Convention of my church meeting that year in Philadelphia. It was my last General Convention as an active bishop. On this occasion Fred Phelps bestowed upon me one of my highest compliments. The poster these demonstrators carried through the streets of Philadelphia announced: “Spong and Tutu are fag lovers!” Desmond Tutu had been a friend of mine for years. I, indeed, was one of the bishops who laid hands on him in 1976 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to make him an Anglican bishop. I admired both him and all that he had endured in the struggle for justice in that country. Fearing for his life and health, I had on several occasions made arrangements to get him out of South Africa to come to the Diocese of Newark. Ostensibly he came to serve as “assisting bishop,” but in reality, those trips were designed to give him a chance to escape for at least a brief time the threats and hostility, which were his “daily bread.” When his Apartheid government revoked his passport, I personally called on the South African ambassador in Washington to make my protest known. I recall to this day the contempt in which that ambassador held this great human being. For me, to be linked on a poster with the name of Desmond Tutu while fighting against prejudice, was an occasion of both joy and pride. In 2000, when Harper-Collins published my autobiography under the title Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love and Equality, I insisted that among the photographs included in that book would be Fred Phelps and his picketers carrying that sign. Fred Phelps later picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the young Wyoming man who was beaten into unconsciousness, hung on a fence post in sub-zero weather and left to die. It was that incident, the Republican Senator from Wyoming, Alan Simpson, told me later that changed his attitude on homosexuality. Then Phelps began to picket at military funerals to protest the revoking of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the armed services. Now with his death this twisted voice of hatred has been silenced for ever. I am not moved to celebrate his death for I carry no animus toward him for the things he did, not just to me, but to my gay and lesbian friends. In the last analysis, I think Fred Phelps probably did more good than harm. Sometimes overt prejudice creates its own even more powerful counter-negativity. So my prayer for Fred Phelps is that he will rest in peace and experience the unbounded love of God, which he obviously never felt in his earthly pilgrimage. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Charles Loving, via the Internet, writes: Question: I am a curmudgeon and have become an atheist after 73 years as an Anglican. Of course, the first ten years were a wash. In those days I believed in Jesus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas. From ten on, however, I began to doubt the veracity of the Bible and its legends. It started to drive me crazy. I wandered to other churches and none gave me any solace. None of the stories made sense. The ark and Adam and Eve just didn’t make sense. My father was a student of religion and took me to every church he could think of. He introduced me to opera with his transvestite brother who was a good Anglican. As an adult I taught Sunday school, telling lies to children. I lied to myself. I read a lot of books and my faith eroded away to nothing. I still go to church every Sunday for some unknown reason, maybe just habit. My vicar just doesn’t get it. My bishop pretty much doesn’t like me because I am a pain in the neck at council. Answer: Dear Charles, I have always liked 73 year old curmudgeons, but that self-definition is not your problem. Neither is the fact that you are an atheist. If believing in God required me to treat Adam and Eve and Noah’s flood as if they were literally described and historically correct events, I would be an atheist too! Your problem is rather that in all your years as an Anglican, you were never educated by the church you attended. You were instead propagandized by biblical non-sense masquerading as Christian Education. No reputable biblical scholar in the last 200 plus years has treated many of the stories of the Bible as if they were literally true. In this brief column, I cannot rescue the Bible from the fundamentalist mentality in which it appears to have been captured for you. I tried to do that in this column over a period of three years by going into the background, issues and context of every book in the Bible. Those columns were later published by Harper-Collins under the title Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. It was recently re-released in a paperback edition. What I can do in this column, however, is to state some facts about the Bible that you should have been taught years ago. 1. The Bible in its entirety was written roughly between 1000 BCE and 135 CE. It reflects the level of knowledge and the level of consciousness that people possessed in that period of human history. 2. The four gospels were written roughly between the years 70 CE and 100 CE, or 40 to 70 years after the crucifixion. They were written in Greek, a language that neither Jesus nor his disciples spoke much less wrote. They are not written by eyewitnesses. 3. Paul, who wrote between the years 51-64 CE, never seems to have heard of Judas Iscariot, the Virgin birth or the idea that Jesus performed miracles. The creeds and doctrines of the Christian Church, which were developed in the 3rd and 4th centuries, would have been totally foreign to Paul. 4. Of the five major writers in the New Testament, only two, Matthew and Luke, include the story of Jesus having had a miraculous or virgin birth; the other three do not. The last gospel to be written, John (95 CE-100CE) not only has no supernatural birth story in it, but it also refers to Jesus on two occasions (chapters 1 and 6) as the “son of Joseph.” 5. Most of the miracle stories told about Jesus appear to have been either Moses or Elijah stories magnified and wrapped around the memory of Jesus or prophetic “signs of the Kingdom” that were placed into his life and memory in order to designate him as the expected messiah whose task it was to inaugurate the Kingdom. 6. There are almost no details of the Easter stories found in one gospel that are not contradicted in another gospel. This list hardly scratches the surface of the biblical data that might be included. My point in relating these biblical bullet-points to you is to let you know that these are not just my private opinions, but the attested conclusions of most biblical scholars. I know these things because I have been taught them as a student and I have taught them as a member of the theological faculty of some of the finest theological seminaries in the world. I have shared these ideas in lectures and through my books all over the world throughout my entire career. I have served my church actively as a priest for 21 years and a bishop for 24 years and have continued to do so for 14 years now in retirement. All clergy, who have been educated in a competent theological seminary, would also know these things. Of course, there is a lot of superstition and ignorance in the way Christianity is publicly proclaimed, but that is not Christianity’s fault. It is the fault of some poorly informed Christians. Without doubt, for the uninformed public God gets confused with Santa Claus and Jesus with the Easter Bunny, but that is because the leaders of the Christian Church have been too lazy to teach what they know and are unwilling to challenge the 4th grade Sunday School level of knowledge, which a large number of church-goers have not yet outgrown. I want for you the chance to know what Christianity is all about and how to read and study the Bible. Your letter reveals only the profound ignorance that you have assumed to be Christianity and that, quite rightly, you cannot bring yourself to accept. Please do not stop being a curmudgeon, but be an educated curmudgeon. The church has a great need for some people to play exactly that role. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements Discover more of Bishop Spong's writings and books here and support our mission as well. Copyright © 2014 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved.

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Join Brenda Shoshanna, Larry Ward, and Judy Lief — and us — for “Love & Intimacy: What the Buddhists Teach” [feedly]
by Steve 09 Apr '14

09 Apr '14

From July 18-20, the Shambhala Sun Foundation and the Omega Institute will present Love & Intimacy: What the Buddhists Teach, a weekend course perfect for anyone who wants to examine their relationships in the context of the Buddhist path. This will be our eighth annual “What the Buddhists Teach” program at Omega, and will be led by (left to right) Brenda Shoshanna, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Manhattan and a long-time practitioner of Zen and Judaism; Larry Ward, director of the Lotus Institute, and a dharma teacher ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh; and Judy Lief – teacher, author, and editor of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Profound Treasury collection. (Judy also wrote the lead piece for our current issue‘s special section on distraction.) The workshop runs from July 18 – 20 at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and is open to all. Complete information can be found here; or click here to jump immediately to the program’s registration page. ---- Join Brenda Shoshanna, Larry Ward, and Judy Lief — and us — for “Love & Intimacy: What the Buddhists Teach” // Shambhala SunSpace From July 18-20, the Shambhala Sun Foundation and the Omega Institute will present Love & Intimacy: What the Buddhists Teach, a weekend course perfect for anyone who wants to examine their relationships in the context of the Buddhist path. This will be our eighth annual “What the Buddhists Teach” program at Omega, and will be led by (left to right) Brenda Shoshanna, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Manhattan and a long-time practitioner of Zen and Judaism; Larry Ward, director of the Lotus Institute, and a dharma teacher ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh; and Judy Lief – teacher, author, and editor of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Profound Treasury collection. (Judy also wrote the lead piece for our current issue‘s special section on distraction.) The workshop runs from July 18 – 20 at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and is open to all. Complete information can be found here; or click here to jump immediately to the program’s registration page. ---- Shared via my feedly reader Sent from my iPhone

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Fwd: HELLO
by wangzhimu2031＠aol.com 09 Apr '14

09 Apr '14

Got three of these from Lucille's email. Will someone please forward it to her as the "hijacker" evidently got her legitimate email. Jaime -----Original Message----- From: Jaime R Vergara <svesjaime(a)aol.com> To: wangzhimu2031 <wangzhimu2031(a)aol.com> Sent: Wed, Apr 9, 2014 8:23 pm Subject: Fwd: HELLO j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate! -----Original Message----- From: Lucille Chagnon <lifeline248(a)aol.com> To: svesjaime <svesjaime(a)aol.com> Sent: Tue, Apr 8, 2014 10:20 pm Subject: HELLO Hi, How are you doing. I hope all is well with you and your family. I'm in a mess right now and I'm very sorry for involving you in my present situation but I was left with no choice but to contact you. I would have called you but my phone keeps showing No signal here due to no network...I had a trip to Portugal to see my cousin she is suffering from Kidney disease and she needs a Kidney transplant. Kidney transplant is very expensive here, I want her to come back with me to have the surgery. I need to take care of this, but I traveled with little money due to the short notice I never expected things to be the way they are, my debit and credit card can't work here. I need a loan of $1,800 from you and I'll refund you when I return. I will appreciate whatever amount you can come up with,if not all get back to me. I'll advise on how to transfer it. Lots of love, Lucille

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Salmon: Special Announcement
by William Salmon 08 Apr '14

08 Apr '14

Colleagues -- As this is my 80th year (April 20, 1934), I've planned to have my memorial on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27th. I want to be there to enjoy it. I've told our daughters that after I'm gone they can plan something that is meaningful to them; this is My Memorial. Attached is something of the rationale in a short article on, "Making Death My Friend." Also attached is a brief outline of the two events scheduled for Saturday, July 26th (at a downtown venue) and Sunday, July 27th at Trinity United Methodist Church. Both events are in the afternoon, although starting at different times. Finally, my plans are gelling very well. In seeking to reserve rooms for those out-of-town people who may attend, I ran into the information that (in my honor--of course) there is a 1,000 old restored car auto show in the park that weekend. I finally found 7 rooms: King sized bed suites for $79.00 a night at the following: AmericINN (Just West of the Ramada and nearer the Interstate) 785-826-1711 Ask for the "Salmon Rate" July 26 and 27th The catch is that reservations need to be made on--or prior to--June 25th. It will be a special treat for me if it be the case you can attend. Otherwise, send a card--or note; a story would be the best. I'm still teaching as a Para-Educator at Salina Central High School in the Special Education Department. I really love it. In some ways, this second vocation is easier to do since the local church ministry has crabs. (OK. OK) I find nothing but support and appreciation in the school venue. Perhaps, when you come to Salina--on whatever pretext that may be--I'll share with you some of the miracle stories. Inner Peace, Bill

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blogging about The Fourth Turning Conference in Boulder. Ken Wilber's talk
by David Dunn 06 Apr '14

06 Apr '14

Hello colleagues. Here's a shortlink to the blog that is beginning to have content worth reading: http://wp.me/pCtdB-7y Today's great quote from Ken Wilber: "The era in which there are only fixed ideas from the mind of God is over. The surf is coming in and everyone has to be on a surf board. There has never been an era that has been more exciting and important. We have a chance to create real humans for the first time in history. What an opportunity to die proud of having been involved in this enterprise. Let’s hope we can do that." Davd — "Mystery, possibility, and the power to choose" David Dunn 740 S Alton Way 9B Denver, CO 80247 720-314-5991 dmdunn1(a)gmail.com

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Global Buzz April 2014
by ICA International 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website Please click the link below for the April issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: April 2014 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://ica-international.org/buzz/7dayreport-14/2014-04-01.php ICAI Communications

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Hamiltons' Mom Opal Inman Obituary and Memorial Information
by mellowmilan＠verizon.net 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

This has been a tough week for families. Milan's mother joined the chorus. Probably most on the listserve didn't know her but she was a part of the support system for many years. Milan and Linda Attached and inserted below is the obituary for our mother and information regarding the memorial service which is to be held next Thursday, April 10 at 11 a.m. with a lunch fellowship time to follow. Please pass on this information to anyone who we may have omitted who knew her. Thank you so much for all your E-mails, cards, etc. After next Thursday I will be putting a video of Opal's life up on You Tube and send you the site so you can share in the celebration of her life. If you have any last thoughts or stories you want to E-mail us about Opal please do so. We will be sharing selected excerpts at the service on Thursday. Grace, peace and love to you all. Sincerely, Milan and Linda Opal Leslea Pic.jpg OPAL MARIE WILLIAMS HAMILTON INMAN age 97, of Redlands, CA completed her journey of nearly a century on March 31, 2014. Opal was born on June 14, 1916 on a farm near Amsterdam, Missouri, one of four children of John and Cecil Williams. She grew up in South Dakota and attended country schools, including high schools in Springfield and Avon, where she graduated in 1935. In 1941, the family moved to a farm near Charles City, IA where Opal married Floyd Hamilton. She and Floyd moved to Minneapolis where she spent many years as a working mother managing the deli at Stillman's Grocery and being an active member of the First Christian Church. She and her husband moved in 1958 to Ogden, UT where she lived for more than a decade, working in customer service at the Bon Marche Department Store. She and Floyd were also active members of First Christian Church in Odgen. A job transfer resulted in a move to Van Nuys, CA, where both worked at Marquardt Aircraft and were active in the Central Christian Church of Van Nuys until a sudden illness forced an early retirement for Floyd. Opal continued to work at the company until she retired to care for her husband, who died in June of 1976. In 1980, Opal married Harold Inman, combined their single households and moved to Lake Elizabeth, CA where they joined First Christian Church of Lancaster. After Harold became ill, Opal cared for him until his death, then moved to Redlands in 1995, where she lived in the Braemar Cooperative Apartments, She became active in State Street Christian Church until the congregation closed. Opal moved her membership to Redlands United Church of Christ and took on many leadership roles through the years, including organizing the annual rummage sale. Through the years, Opal was known for her pies, cookies and candy making, along with other culinary achievements, which she shared liberally at church events. She also quilted and was best known in her later years for her beaded holiday crafts. She never missed the "Art for Heaven's Sake" show until an auto accident left her wheelchair bound and required a move to Asistencia Villa. Here she lived the last two years of her life and continued her beading. Opal is survived by her only son, Milan Hamilton and daughter-in-law Linda of Redlands, one sister Thelma Paine of Minneapolis, MN, granddaughter Leslea Sullivan of Minneapolis, grandson Robbin Hamilton of Riverside, CA, numerous nieces and nephews, great-grandchildren, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and many she considers her adopted children and grandchildren. Opal will be interred in Chatsworth, CA at Oakwood Memorial Park with her first husband, Floyd. A memorial service will be held at Redlands United Church of Christ, Olive Avenue and Bellevue, Redlands on Thursday, April 10th at 11:00 a.m. with a lunch and fellowship time following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Opal's memory to the Redlands United Church of Christ, 168 Bellevue Ave., Redlands, CA 92373. Condolences may be sent to the church. Linda and Milan Hamilton 80 North Center Street Redlands, CA 92373-8116 Phone/Fax: (909) 793-4482 E-mail: milanandlinda(a)verizon.net

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Opal Inman Obituary and Memorial Information
by Milan and Linda Hamilton 04 Apr '14

04 Apr '14

This has been a tough week for families. Milan's mother joined the chorus. Probably most on the listserve didn't know her but she was a part of the support system for many years. Milan and Linda Attached and inserted below is the obituary for our mother and information regarding the memorial service which is to be held next Thursday, April 10 at 11 a.m. with a lunch fellowship time to follow. Please pass on this information to anyone who we may have omitted who knew her. Thank you so much for all your E-mails, cards, etc. After next Thursday I will be putting a video of Opal's life up on You Tube and send you the site so you can share in the celebration of her life. If you have any last thoughts or stories you want to E-mail us about Opal please do so. We will be sharing selected excerpts at the service on Thursday. Grace, peace and love to you all. Sincerely, Milan and Linda Opal Leslea Pic.jpg OPAL MARIE WILLIAMS HAMILTON INMAN age 97, of Redlands, CA completed her journey of nearly a century on March 31, 2014. Opal was born on June 14, 1916 on a farm near Amsterdam, Missouri, one of four children of John and Cecil Williams. She grew up in South Dakota and attended country schools, including high schools in Springfield and Avon, where she graduated in 1935. In 1941, the family moved to a farm near Charles City, IA where Opal married Floyd Hamilton. She and Floyd moved to Minneapolis where she spent many years as a working mother managing the deli at Stillman's Grocery and being an active member of the First Christian Church. She and her husband moved in 1958 to Ogden, UT where she lived for more than a decade, working in customer service at the Bon Marche Department Store. She and Floyd were also active members of First Christian Church in Odgen. A job transfer resulted in a move to Van Nuys, CA, where both worked at Marquardt Aircraft and were active in the Central Christian Church of Van Nuys until a sudden illness forced an early retirement for Floyd. Opal continued to work at the company until she retired to care for her husband, who died in June of 1976. In 1980, Opal married Harold Inman, combined their single households and moved to Lake Elizabeth, CA where they joined First Christian Church of Lancaster. After Harold became ill, Opal cared for him until his death, then moved to Redlands in 1995, where she lived in the Braemar Cooperative Apartments, She became active in State Street Christian Church until the congregation closed. Opal moved her membership to Redlands United Church of Christ and took on many leadership roles through the years, including organizing the annual rummage sale. Through the years, Opal was known for her pies, cookies and candy making, along with other culinary achievements, which she shared liberally at church events. She also quilted and was best known in her later years for her beaded holiday crafts. She never missed the "Art for Heaven's Sake" show until an auto accident left her wheelchair bound and required a move to Asistencia Villa. Here she lived the last two years of her life and continued her beading. Opal is survived by her only son, Milan Hamilton and daughter-in-law Linda of Redlands, one sister Thelma Paine of Minneapolis, MN, granddaughter Leslea Sullivan of Minneapolis, grandson Robbin Hamilton of Riverside, CA, numerous nieces and nephews, great-grandchildren, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and many she considers her adopted children and grandchildren. Opal will be interred in Chatsworth, CA at Oakwood Memorial Park with her first husband, Floyd. A memorial service will be held at Redlands United Church of Christ, Olive Avenue and Bellevue, Redlands on Thursday, April 10th at 11:00 a.m. with a lunch and fellowship time following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Opal's memory to the Redlands United Church of Christ, 168 Bellevue Ave., Redlands, CA 92373. Condolences may be sent to the church. Linda and Milan Hamilton 80 North Center Street Redlands, CA 92373-8116 Phone/Fax: (909) 793-4482 E-mail: milanandlinda(a)verizon.net

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