The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 21

INSIDE Television 2C Inside Religion 2C Dear Abby 3C Comics 9C Coming Sunday The Jackson Sun's features editor Jacque Hillman remembers her recent dinner date with Morgan Freeman at his restaurant Madidi. Living Saturday, November 6, 2004 Don't expect a sip from communion cup SThe coop A Villi mVVV mm i tm i JmA, i I M- By KEVIN ECKSTR0M Religion News Service As Americans rush for a limited supply of flu vaccines, the Roman Catholic bishop of Vermont has told his priests not to allow parishioners to drink from a common Communion cup or exchange a sign of peace. Bishop Kenneth Angell of Burlington, in a brief message sent to priests on Oct. 25, said the ban will remain in effect through Easter (March 27) as a "protective measure." Angell's directive is thought to be the first in the country as many Americans plan to go unvaccinated in the flu season. Vaccine supplies were slashed after a British lab that supplied most of the vaccines was shut down for unsanitary conditions.

"Because of the flu vaccine shortage, I am requesting that, as a protective measure we do not give the Sign of Peace' or the chalice for Communion starting Oct. 31 and remaining in effect until Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005," Angell said. Last year, parishioners in three California dioceses were asked not to hold hands during the Lord's Prayer, and priests were instructed hot to place Communion wafers on worshippers' tongues. Similar changes were made in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo. In April 2003 during an outbreak of the SARS virus in Canada, Catholic officials discouraged a handshake during the sign of peace and told worshippers not to kiss the crucifix as a sign of veneration during Holy Week.

In 2000, Canadian cardiologist David Gould said parishioners face more risk of catching a cold from airborne germs. LUIS M. ALVAREZThe Associated Press A parishioner has communion at the First Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Coral Springs, Fla. ORDINARY PEOPLE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES CHARITIES Operation Christmas Child West Jackson Baptist Church will again serve as the drop-off site for Operation Christmas Child, a global project that sends shoe boxes filled with gifts to needy children and their families. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief ministry led by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.

Last year, West Jackson Baptist collected approximately 7,000 gift-, filled boxes from Jackson and surrounding counties for the project. This year's gift box goal is 10,000. 'Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are a hands-on way for everyone from pre-schoolers to senior adults to be involved in touching a child's life across the Maurice Hollingsworth said. He is associate pastor at West Jackson and site coordinator for Operation Christmas Child. For more information about participating in West Jackson Baptist's Operation Christmas Child project, call 660-4535.

The Jackson Sun On the Web To learn more about Operation Christmas Child, visit www.samaritanspurse.org v. mmm I I i a. 'Sole Survivor' Tis the season for shopping, cooking, parties and tired sore feet. A free session, "Sole Survivor," will address common foot problems, therapy interventions and prevention strategies to get you through the holidays. The seminar will be held at 7 p.m.

Nov. 11 at the J. Walter Barnes Conference Center at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital To register, call 425-6448 or go online to www.wth.org and click on "Calendar." Students will rake leaves today South Side Project Graduation will host a "Community Leaf Raking" today and Nov. 13. South Side seniors will be raking leaves for dona-tions to their project graduation.

South Side residents who are interested can call 423-0095 or 217-0807. Support group The Jackson Area Brain Injury Support Group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. For more information, call Laura Mills at (888) 425-6930. Family whose house burned needs furniture Cassie and Robert Maharrey, 1618 Park-burg Road in Pinson, lost their home and all their possessions to fire.

They have four children, two girls and two boys. Any monetary donations can go to AmSouth Bank off South Highland Avenue under the Maharrey Family Fund. Any furniture or clothing can go to Stor-UR Stuff Storage, 80 Harts Bridge Road, under Maharrey Family Fund. The Red Cross has given the family vouchers for clothes, but they need furniture. Right now they're sleeping on pallets on the floor.

For more information, call Denise Lewis at 267-3553 or 424-8601. Celebrity birthdays Today: Actress Sally Field is 58. Singer Glenn Frey is 56. Actress Lori Singer is 47. Actor Ethan Hawke is 34.

Sun and wire reports Sun Line What is the recipe for sugar-free tomato jam? B.P., Jackson Green Tomato Jam: 2 cups ground green tomatoes, 1 small package sugar-free gelatin liquid sugar to equal IV2 cups sugar, bring tomatoes to a boil and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add sugar substitute and sugar-free gelatin. Pour into 3 or 4 jars and refrigerate. Note: Raspberry or strawberry flavored gelatin is good. Call Sun Line, 425-9656, or write to P.O.

Box 1059, Jackson TN 38302. Include name and address. Or call the state Consumer Affairs Division at(800) 342-8385. ER1KA ALEXANOERThe Jackson Sun What keeps Brenda Pittman going, she said, is 'my faith, my kids and my Looking on the Nominate someone An ancient Chinese proverb reads 'Don't curse the darkness-light a This proverb was used by Adlai Stevenson 65), praising Eleanor Roosevelt in an address to blight the United Nations General Assembly in 1962. Stevenson said: 'She T1 sine 01 Most Americans believe kids not spiritually ready Less than 10 percent of Americans surveyed think children are being given good spiritual or moral preparation for life.

The Barna Group, a Ventura, marketing research firm, polled 1,011 adults nationwide about how well they think children under the age of 13 are being prepared for life, and asked about physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and moral aspects of that preparation. The lowest ratings were given in the areas of spiritual and moral preparation, with 8 percent of adults saying kids are "superbly" or "pretty well" prepared spiritually and an equal percentage applying the same terms to morality. Seventy-five percent of adults said children are not well prepared morally and 71 percent said they are not prepared spiritually. In comparison, 18 percent of adults said children are well prepared intellectually, while 50 percent said children have insufficient intellectual preparation. Sixteen percent said children are physically well prepared, while 54 percent said children have inadequate physical preparation.

The research has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Religion News Service would rather light candles than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives is an occasional series in the Religion section of The Jackson Sun. Is there a person in your life who has inspired you? Let us know about it. E-mail the nominee's name, along with your name and phone number, to reporter Wendy Isom at wisomjacksonsun.com Mother of three with rare disease finds solace in faith Glancing at her three sons, all under age 11, she quickly quips: "The guys are ready to drive for me." Pittman, who sits propped by pillows in a blue recliner chair in her mother's home, said she finds solace and strength in prayer and service to others. Pittman, a graduate of Union University, formerly worked as a social work manager for The Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

She also formerly worked as a teacher and counselor for Youth Villages. Pittman works with the children at her church when she is able. The woman with the sunny smile also writes poems, shares encouraging words and stays in constant By WENDY IS0M wisomjacksonsun.com Brenda Pittman of Jackson has a rare autoimmune disease that has attacked nearly every part of her body except her funny bone. The 39-year-old single mother of three was recently diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a painful and incurable progressive neurological disorder that causes stiffness and spasms of voluntary muscles. "With this disease, you can have bouts of depression or bouts of laughter," said Pittman, who chooses to laugh, joke and stay positive.

Since the disease alters her balance, she is no longer able to drive a car. prayer for the health and well-being of others. Pittman has also had epilepsy since she was 6. "Being with her is a privilege," friend and church member Donna Hewitt said. "When you get a charley horse, that's what she feels like most of the time," Hewitt said.

In spite of her condition, "she's so upbeat," Hewitt said, adding that "God uses her" to inspire others. The family lives with Pittman's 65-year-old mother Corky Simon. Pittman's fellow church members at Evangelical Community Church recently built a wheelchair ramp and a special Please see FAITH, 2C God has knack for finding us wherever we may go to find him Norris Burkes Fill the places I've emptied And empty what consumes me. Release what I've captured Hold what escapes me Invade what I defend And defend what I've surrounded. Amen As I climbed off the rock, I noticed my children writing messages in the sand.

And like an Etch-a-Sketch turned upside-down, the messages in the sand were quickly rinsed away in the finicky waves. It was a metaphor that I saw my pastor re-enact the next day in church. While church is usually a more traditional place to seek God, my pastor often works outside tradition. That Sunday morning, he'd brought a tub of sand and placed it on the altar. During Communion, he challenged us to come and write in the sand the thing that separates us from being the person God created us to be.

Still meditating on the pastor's challenge, I saw myself come to the wet sand where the waves swept every third wave or so. There, I wrote the thing that seemed to separate me so often from God. Now, standing amid several others who'd come to the altar, I wrote the word "Self." Then, as quickly as I'd written it, the pastor told us to smooth over it. "As scripture promises," he told us, "God erases our failures. God stands ready to separate us from our failures 'as far as the East is from the Wow, God had a residence here in my sandy church as well.

On the previous day, I had encountered God on a rock. Now on this Sunday, the rock on the beach had moved to my place in the pew. It's easy to find rocks. What's hard about rocks is figuring out what to do with them. Will we hide under them? Will we proclaim from them? Will we fight to defend them? Will we throw them? Or will we use them as touchstones to a higher place where we can see beyond ourselves? My guess is sacred ground can be found in many places.

Sometimes God finds us in Sunday hymns, and other times God find us in the seaside winds. Norris Burkes is a civilian hospital chaplain and an Air Force Guard chaplain. E-mail him at norrischaplainnorris.com or visit www. chaplainnorris.com. As I minister, I've heard people claim they didn't need a church to worship God.

They've told me God could be found anywhere even on a beach. So last week, I went to the beach to see if God indeed had oceanfront property. It had been one of those weeks when the inconsistencies of my faith had been apparent to more than just myself. It was one of those weeks when I was longing to simply be the same person I had been the previous week. So, on the water's edge, I found an isolated rock and quickly breached its top.

Sitting atop the rock with my soul exposed, I began searching the waves for some kind of epiphany. As I searched, the cold wind seemed to pound my heart like a norrischaplainnorris.com burglar's hammer hoping to unlock a treasure, and I hid my face beneath my sweatshirt's hood. From this rock, I was hoping to find a still place, a place where I could hide and be exposed, see and be seen a place high enough to make my prayer heard but low enough to nurture humility. My prayer began: Lord, find what I've hidden Touch what I've hurt Open what I've closed Teach what I wouldn't learn Abby Lit, Nova Elementary Send pictures to Scoop's Art Scene, 245 W. Lafayette St.

Jackson, Tenn. 38301 Editor: Jacque Hillman Phone: 425-9679 Toll free: (800) 372-3922 Fax: 425-9639 Internet: jhillman jacksonsun.com.