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Advent Daily Devotional: WEEK of PEACE: DAY 10 -Tue, Dec 7

Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—
in peace because they trust in you. — Isaiah 26:3

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord
shall be your rear guard. — Isaiah 58:8

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When you light Advent candles or read and reflect, you are participating in a contemplative practice. Peace grows out of such habits.

Such practices strengthen the spiritual muscles upon which you draw. They create resilience and balance in your body, heart and mind. It can be a still and quiet experience: holding a yoga pose, maintaining a prayer position, or observing utter silence. Sometimes it involves movement of the body such as walking, dancing, or kinesthetic activities like knitting. Maybe it takes the form of unleashing a restless mind through journaling or creative expression. One way or another, set apart time and nurture your spiritual being.

By renewing your energy, you sustain radiance to share and nurture wellbeing to cradle the light within.— Rev Gail

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Sometimes you need to know that you have good people at your back when things go awry in your life. 
Good relationships can bring peace of mind, not to mention longer life, companionship, health, happiness, and a host of other benefits.  At bottom, we are social creatures who need each other. — Meg Selig

Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light
shining somewhere nearby. – Ruth Renkel

JCC & Around Town: TUE, DEC 7 – SUN, DEC 12

TUE, Dec 7

  • Community Event: CHAIR YOGA
    9:15am • Zoom.
    Pre-registration required. Register for the Zoom link. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvd-CpqD4sEtdFkuT2horCr6QrTMdCHnGD. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Options: 3 weeks, 6 weeks, or drop-in. / 3 Week Series Begins 11/30. / 6 Week Series Begins 1/4/22. This class is sponsored by the Whitney Community Center in Jackson for Jackson residents however, non-Jackson residents are encouraged to attend. Non-Jackson residents pay a class fee . Join Anjali for this exercises class using light hand weights, a strap, blocks and a tennis or myofascial ball. We will perform most of our exercises sitting in a chair with core strength and joint mobility as our focus. Chair exercises can be very effective in strengthening and stretching the body and is cued for individuals to listen to their own bodies. 3-week series – $30* / 6-week series – $60* / Drop-in – $12*. + 3% credit card processing fee if paying online. *A portion is donated back to the Whitney Community Center! More info: https://www.anjali-rose.com/yoga
  • Community Event: FLOW & ALIGN YOGA
    4:30pm • Zoom.
    Pre-registration required. Register for the Zoom link. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrf-Gvqz0sRf0_-P230qBI9VLMei_Ytw Options: 3 weeks, 6 weeks, or drop-in . / 3 Week Series Begins 11/30 / 6 Week Series Begins 1/4/22. This class is sponsored by the Whitney Community Center in Jackson for Jackson residents however, non-Jackson residents are encouraged to attend. Non-Jackson residents pay a class fee. Props include a mat, eye pillow, and blanket. Fees: 6-week series – $60 / Drop-in – $12 + 3% credit card processing fee if paying online. More info: https://www.anjali-rose.com/yoga
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-7pm • Jackson Library
    Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org

WED, Dec 8

  • FITNESS CLASS with Laurie McAleer
    9am • JCC
    Free fitness class. Personalize your wellness routine with Laurie McAleer
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
    Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • ADVENT 3-Week Study Group: The Redemption of Scrooge
    5pm: Dec 8, Dec 15, Dec 22 (zoom)
    • RSVP to jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org so we can provide a copy of the book.
    • Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83028442916. Option: Call in via touch-tone phone: 929.436.2866 Meeting ID: 83028442916 (#)
    • The Redemption of Scrooge is written by Matt Rawle. Book description: Is redemption possible for Ebenezer Scrooge? Pastor and author Matt Rawle  discovers the teachings of Jesus in the words of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Rawle dives deep into the dark, sad, greedy world of Scrooge and discovers a man in dire need of a second chance. Along with Scrooge, we meet the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and in the process learn about living with and for others in a world blessed by Jesus. Rediscover and reinvigorate your faith this Advent and Christmas season and look at this familiar classic through the lens of faith.
    • Combine with suggested social outing (for those who choose to participate in theater experience) to enjoy A Christmas Carole performed by M&D Playhouse.

THURS, Dec 9

  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    10am-7pm • Jackson Library
    Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Service: WAY STATION SHIFT
    All Day • Way Station, 15 Grove St, No Conway
    Volunteers open day resource center for showers, mail pickup, grocery distribution, and more
  • Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Wildcat Tavern: Rafe Matregrano • 5:30pm-8:30pm

FRI, Dec 10

  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
    Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
    2-5pm • Jackson Library
    • Masks and distance will be strictly required while in the building. If you’re unable to mask, you can still take advantage of our pickup or delivery service – simply let us know what you need.
    • Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
  • C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION
    5pm • Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83028442916
    Option: Call in via touch-tone phone: 929.436.2866 Meeting ID: 83028442916 (#)
    Bring your adult beverage and your curiosity for a conversation about our sacred texts.
  • Community Event: Mountain Top Music Concert: MAJESTIC CAFE: Al Hospers and Mike Sakash
    7pm/8pm • Majestic Theater, Conway
    $10/pp. More info: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php?step=seats
  • Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Wildcat Tavern: Al Shafner • 6-9pm
    • Shannon Door: Marty Quirk • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka: Nasty Habits-Rolling Stones Tribute Band • 8-11pm
    • Shovel Handle: Bobby Sheehan • 6-9pm

SAT, Dec 11

Community Resource: LIBRARY OPEN
10am-2pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.orgCommunity Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN

  • Wildcat Tavern: COld River Radio SHow: Cold River Radio Band with vocalist Cassandra McKinley, of course with Jonathan Sarty,•7pm  – SOLD OUT
  • Shannon Door:  Marty Quirk • 7-10pm
  • Red Parka: Rek’lis• 8-11pm
  • Shovel Handle: Randy Messineo • 6-9pm

SUN, Dec 12

  • INTERFAITH GATHERING
    8am • Old Red Library next to church (indoors) & Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/142985761?pwd=T214WDhHRmxoYXE0dWRCNk53SFppQT09
    Poetry and conversation. Join us. Bring your own hot beverage on cold mornings!
  • PAGEANT PREP
    9:30am • JCC
    Scheduled and drop-in pageant participants welcome: arrive by 9:30am to get a costume and assignment.
  • WORSHIP (Zoom) & IN-PERSON – Advent 3: Joy & CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
    10:30am •  Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/142985761?pwd=T214WDhHRmxoYXE0dWRCNk53SFppQT09
    • Join us for worship with music, scripture, prayer and reflection.
    • Live music by Alan Labrie
    • Advent 3: Joy candle-lighting by Battenfelder family
    • Christmas Pageant written and narrated by youth
    • In-person attendance requires social distancing and masking for all attendees (additional precautions may be changed based on COVID stats and CDC guidelines).
    • Service will also be live-streamed to website and Facebook (if technology supports this function on the day of event). Afterward, recordings of worship service will be posted to FacebookVimeo.com channel & Youtube.com channel. Option: Call on touch-tone phone: 929.436.2866, Meeting ID: 142985761, Password: 603603
  • CAROLING to COMMUNITY
    1-3pm • JCC
    Carolers visit local neighbors. Please RSVP to church  if planning to carol!

Advent Daily Devotional: WEEK of PEACE – Starts DAY 8 – Sun, Dec 5

The Peace of Wild Things — Wendell Barry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.


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WEEK of PEACE: DAY 8
Sun, Dec 5

Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace —
in peace because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them
light has shined.— Isaiah 9:2

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How do you cultivate peace through this practice of reading, reflecting, and lighting candles?

            Perhaps the first truth is that by setting aside time to dive into any spiritual practice, you make a commitment to yourself and your loved ones. You honor yourself and others by setting apart time, space, and attention to be present to the inner, spiritual part of your life. You cultivate this aspect of wellbeing. You give it space and priority.

            When you ignite the first and second candles, you focus on wellbeing in relationship to self and others. This simple act is one step in being present. Let the light of peace warm you.   — Rev Gail

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No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us,
for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind.
When we create peace and harmony and balance
in our minds, we will find it in our lives.
Louise Hay

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
— Kahlil Gibran

JOHN PEPPER Celebration of Life

Jackson Community Church: Saturday, Dec. 4 • 11am 


Video link for those unable to attend the service: https://youtu.be/q6l-mR8K7ZY

Y


For attendance at the Celebration of Life service: MASKING is required.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in John’s name to the Friends of the Jackson Public Library, P.O. Box 276, Jackson, NH, 03846, http://Jacksonlibrary.orgJOHN PEPPER: After a long and active life, John Pepper aged 96 died at home in Jackson NH on November 10, 2021 surrounded by family. John is survived by his wife of 54 years, Alice Pepper and his daughter Sarah Isberg and husband Roger, and son Brian Pendleton and wife Darchelle Worley. He also leaves six grandchildren, Rowan, Bridget, Kirsten and Silas Gill and David and Daniel Pendleton, and a nephew, Rob Pepper and niece, Randy Pepper. He was predeceased in 2017 by his son, Eric Pendleton.
John was born May 8, 1925 in Newton MA to Benjamin Ward Pepper and Esther Harrod Pepper. After public schools in Newton, MA, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy where he acquired a love of learning and debate and developed friendships which would last throughout his lifetime. John was an active alumnus of PEA until his passing. He was a competitive swimmer at Exeter and later in college. He graduated in 1943 at the height of World War II, then joined the US Navy and received a Bachelor of Arts in Naval Science at Tufts University before deploying to Guam to guard supplies (including “acres and acres of beer”) for the invasion of Japan. After the Navy he earned a second degree at Tufts, then following in his father's footsteps began a career in the insurance industry. He worked briefly in New York City before returning to work in Boston, where he shared an apartment on Beacon Street with a group of friends. He bought a home in Marblehead MA in 1955 where he lived for the next three decades.
In 1967 John married Alice Pendleton, whom he met while skiing at Wildcat Mountain, and acquired a family which included Alice's three pre-teenage children, Brian, Sarah and Eric, and one large Collie named Ninette. John advanced through the ranks in the insurance industry, becoming chief operating officer of the Boston office of Frank B Hall, Inc until he retired in 1984.

After retirement John and Alice moved to Alice's family home in Jackson NH, though he and Alice continued to travel to Boston once a month to attend concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, nurturing their shared love of classical music for more than 50 years. They maintained a busy schedule of skiing in the winter, sailing in the summer, gardening and community involvement. They were active members of the White Mountain Milers and the New England Ski Museum, where John was a director for many years. They competed on the Sise Cup masters ski racing circuit every winter.

John and Alice also enjoyed traveling to Europe for hiking, bicycling, and visiting gardens. John was known for his dedication to outdoor physical activity and his devotion to the people with whom he shared his passions.

He made lifelong friends at virtually every stage of his life, greeting them whether on the slopes of Wildcat or the coast of Maine with his trademark yodel "Hupdiddlyodeeyo-teeyodelliyodeliyo”. John was an early and beloved member of the White Mountain Ski Runners a.k.a. the "White Mules" ski club, and with them organized the first charter ski flight to Europe in 1954.

He instilled and encouraged a love for hiking and skiing in his children and grandchildren, together with Alice leading them up the summits of the New Hampshire 4000-footers and down the trails of Wildcat Mountain during their formative years. Recognizing a good deal when he saw one, John bought a lifetime pass to Wildcat when he was in his 30’s and skied on it for 50 years, completing approximately 12,000 top to bottom runs on the mountain during that time.
John was a member of the Eastern Yacht Club since 1957, and for several decades spent weeks every summer sailing down the coast of Maine on the "Keewaydin" with Alice, joined by friends, or children and grandchildren on occasion, visiting islands and gardens, swimming every morning rain or shine and buying dinner from passing lobster boats whenever possible. Inspired to take up running by a family friend, John ran three marathons and five half- marathons in his 50s and 60s then switched to bicycling for another 25 years. When he could no longer cycle he switched to walking and became a familiar sight to residents of the Black Mountain triangle and the Carter Notch Road.

Pragmatic that way, John was willing to exchange one activity for another as he grew older, taking up each one with his characteristic energy and enthusiasm. His favorite way to spend a winters day in his 80’s was to ski 8 nonstop runs at Wildcat, followed by an hour of cross-country skiing in Jackson, and then swimming laps in an outdoor heated pool at Attitash. He and Alice became avid golfers and continued to play into their 90’s. John was always liberal with his time and energy, supporting Alice in her various pursuits and faithfully nurturing children and grandchildren as they moved into adulthood. He was a caring, generous and wise head of his family for more than half a century and we will never forget him.

For attendance at the Celebration of Life service: MASKING is required.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in John’s name to the Friends of the Jackson Public Library, P.O. Box 276, Jackson, NH, 03846, http://Jacksonlibrary.org

JOHN PEPPER: After a long and active life, John Pepper aged 96 died at home in Jackson NH on November 10, 2021 surrounded by family. John is survived by his wife of 54 years, Alice Pepper and his daughter Sarah Isberg and husband Roger, and son Brian Pendleton and wife Darchelle Worley. He also leaves six grandchildren, Rowan, Bridget, Kirsten and Silas Gill and David and Daniel Pendleton, and a nephew, Rob Pepper and niece, Randy Pepper. He was predeceased in 2017 by his son, Eric Pendleton.

John was born May 8, 1925 in Newton MA to Benjamin Ward Pepper and Esther Harrod Pepper. After public schools in Newton, MA, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy where he acquired a love of learning and debate and developed friendships which would last throughout his lifetime. John was an active alumnus of PEA until his passing. He was a competitive swimmer at Exeter and later in college. He graduated in 1943 at the height of World War II, then joined the US Navy and received a Bachelor of Arts in Naval Science at Tufts University before deploying to Guam to guard supplies (including “acres and acres of beer”) for the invasion of Japan. After the Navy he earned a second degree at Tufts, then following in his father's footsteps began a career in the insurance industry. He worked briefly in New York City before returning to work in Boston, where he shared an apartment on Beacon Street with a group of friends. He bought a home in Marblehead MA in 1955 where he lived for the next three decades.

In 1967 John married Alice Pendleton, whom he met while skiing at Wildcat Mountain, and acquired a family which included Alice's three pre-teenage children, Brian, Sarah and Eric, and one large Collie named Ninette. John advanced through the ranks in the insurance industry, becoming chief operating officer of the Boston office of Frank B Hall, Inc until he retired in 1984.

After retirement John and Alice moved to Alice's family home in Jackson NH, though he and Alice continued to travel to Boston once a month to attend concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, nurturing their shared love of classical music for more than 50 years. They maintained a busy schedule of skiing in the winter, sailing in the summer, gardening and community involvement. They were active members of the White Mountain Milers and the New England Ski Museum, where John was a director for many years. They competed on the Sise Cup masters ski racing circuit every winter.

John and Alice also enjoyed traveling to Europe for hiking, bicycling, and visiting gardens. John was known for his dedication to outdoor physical activity and his devotion to the people with whom he shared his passions.

He made lifelong friends at virtually every stage of his life, greeting them whether on the slopes of Wildcat or the coast of Maine with his trademark yodel "Hupdiddlyodeeyo-teeyodelliyodeliyo”. John was an early and beloved member of the White Mountain Ski Runners a.k.a. the "White Mules" ski club, and with them organized the first charter ski flight to Europe in 1954.

He instilled and encouraged a love for hiking and skiing in his children and grandchildren, together with Alice leading them up the summits of the New Hampshire 4000-footers and down the trails of Wildcat Mountain during their formative years. Recognizing a good deal when he saw one, John bought a lifetime pass to Wildcat when he was in his 30’s and skied on it for 50 years, completing approximately 12,000 top to bottom runs on the mountain during that time.

John was a member of the Eastern Yacht Club since 1957, and for several decades spent weeks every summer sailing down the coast of Maine on the "Keewaydin" with Alice, joined by friends, or children and grandchildren on occasion, visiting islands and gardens, swimming every morning rain or shine and buying dinner from passing lobster boats whenever possible. Inspired to take up running by a family friend, John ran three marathons and five half- marathons in his 50s and 60s then switched to bicycling for another 25 years. When he could no longer cycle he switched to walking and became a familiar sight to residents of the Black Mountain triangle and the Carter Notch Road.

Pragmatic that way, John was willing to exchange one activity for another as he grew older, taking up each one with his characteristic energy and enthusiasm. His favorite way to spend a winters day in his 80’s was to ski 8 nonstop runs at Wildcat, followed by an hour of cross-country skiing in Jackson, and then swimming laps in an outdoor heated pool at Attitash. He and Alice became avid golfers and continued to play into their 90’s. John was always liberal with his time and energy, supporting Alice in her various pursuits and faithfully nurturing children and grandchildren as they moved into adulthood. He was a caring, generous and wise head of his family for more than half a century and we will never forget him.

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