{"id":100127,"date":"2026-09-15T05:28:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=100127"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:28:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:28:50","slug":"the-deacons-bench-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2__trashed-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=100127","title":{"rendered":"From the Deacon’s Bench"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Clay Collins<\/a>, Guest Columnist<\/em><\/strong>
207 837-0564<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n  <\/strong>Ephesians 6:10-11<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Happy Fall! The time of year when summer vacations are coming to a close, and the children are getting ready to start school. Whatever it is, from school or a new career, it will be a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this new challenge, we will make mistakes. When we do make a mistake, I hope we will stop and observe the situation for what it is. Try to discover if anyone was at fault or if the incident was truly faultless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter who was at fault (if anyone), do be sensible and kind. Step back, take a deep breath, and be kind. Kindness solved more problems than anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the next time, remember, \u201cBe well, do good work, and keep in touch.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benediction:\u00a0Gracious Father, bless those who sin against us. Give us the strength to overcome anger wherever or whatever it may be. Help us to forgive quickly, and not hold grudges.\u00a0\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thought for the month:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of us sit high enough to look down on anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While Chaplain Christine is burdened with technology challenges, she has invited Past MSG Chaplain Clay to share some spiritual thoughts with our Grange Flock. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Clay Collins, Guest Columnist207 837-0564 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0   Ephesians 6:10-11 Happy Fall! The time of … Continue reading “From the Deacon’s Bench”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[115,394],"tags":[690,206,25],"post_folder":[704],"class_list":["post-100127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chaplain","category-guest-articles","tag-friends","tag-grange-advocacy","tag-grange-heritage"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Clay Collins, Guest Columnist207 837-0564 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0   Ephesians 6:10-11 Happy Fall! The time of…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-q2X","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100128,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100127\/revisions\/100128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100127"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=100127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}