Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Christian Science Nurse Position Open
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011Construction Update
Monday, November 7th, 2011The exterior of the new entryway is finished. This two minute slide show documents its building:
Rainbow’s End’s Shoes are Heading to Africa (Guest Posting)
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011Rainbow’s End is a Thrift shop in Walnut Creek that sends a
ll proceeds to Fern Lodge. Its hours are Mon-Sat 10:30 AM — 4:30 PM. More information is on their facebook page. Also read about their sales to Africa below:
“JAMES” BUYS AND THEN SENDS OUR SO-SO SHOES TO AFRICA
What do we do with donated shoes which are not good enough to sell?We put them in paper grocery bags under the table across from the microwave oven. When we have lots of them, Donna Antonioli, our Shoe Queen, calls “James” to come and pick them up. He comes down from Santa Rosa, pays us 50 cents a pair, and ships them off to Africa. Why are shoes so treasured in Africa?? They’re the ticket to an education because in many parts of that continent you cannot go to school unless you wear shoes! Makes us humble and grateful, yes? [Sales to James earn us about $250/year.]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE NURSING TRAINING IN LIMA – PERU.
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011By Carlos Ley
What a joy it is to realize when you go to do a job given by our Father-Mother God that the people awaiting you have been praying as earnestly (sometimes even more) than you in order to have a fruitful, joyful and Christly experience.
That is exactly what happened during our last visit to the capital of Peru–Lima–in South America. More than 40 eager and ready Christian Scientists with one of our hymns in mind gathered together in order to sing:
A grateful heart a garden is, Where there is always room For every lovely, God-like grace To come to perfect bloom…(1)
Voicing and knowing from that moment that our motto for that week of Christian Science Nursing Training in Lima was going to be:
“Gratitude is richness and complaint is poverty”.
Mary Baker Eddy clearly defined the role of the Christian Science Nurse in Article VIII, Section 31 of the Church Manual of The First Church of Christ Scientist, in Boston, Mass where it reads:
A member of The Mother Church who represents himself or herself as a Christian Science nurse shall be one who has a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice, who thoroughly understands the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room, and who can take proper care of the sick.
The cards of such persons may be inserted in The Christian Science Journal under rules established by the publishers.(2)
The foundation mentioned above, together with what our beloved leader Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures regarding what a Christian Science Nurse ought to be and the qualifications he/she should always strive for, were the basis for discussion:
“An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceitful person should not be a nurse. The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, — receptive to Truth and Love”. (3)
The practical aspect and behavior a Christian Science Nurse was exemplified by the story in the Bible of The Good Samaritan (4), allowing the class to see how “love is/was put into action,” as our Master Jesus Christ tells us in that beautiful parable.
Besides learning all the skills a Christian Science Nurse needs to know in order to show “Practical wisdom,” “knowledge of how to take proper care of the sick”, the whole class worked in depth in the understanding of the word “NURSE” which comes from the latin word “Nutricia” that means to “to nourish.” Everybody was invited to prepare their favorite Peruvian meals, while explaining the ingredients used and how they were prepared. There were dishes from different regions of Peru, as well as desserts and beverages. Then the participants explained how they would go about modifying these “regular meals” into nourishment, which in turn could be shared with individuals who temporally are needing soft, liquid, or transparent foods/meals.
Not surprisingly, the whole class turned into a “GARDEN OF GRATITUDE” where everyone came “TO PERFECT BLOOM.” We closed the class saying together the sixth Tenet (5) , promising to strive in order to be “GOOD SAMARITANS” for all mankind.
(1) Christian Science Hymnal – Hymn # 3
(2) Manual of the Mother Church, page 49
(3) Science and Health, Page 395
(4) The Bible, Luke 10: 25–37
(5) Science and Health, Page 497
New Director of Christian Science Nursing: Rozanne Zwick
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
Fern Lodge is pleased to announce that Rozanne Zwick has accepted the position of Director of Christian Science Nursing at Fern Lodge. Rozanne has been listed in The Christian Science Journal since 1990. Her prior experience includes serving as a Christian Science nursing instructor at Arden Wood and as the Director of Christian Science Nursing at Olive Glen. She also has worked at several Christian Science nursing facilities, including Lime Tree House in England, Chesnut Hill, Wide Horizon, High Ridge House, Broadview, Sunland Home, and The Leaves. She has also been a camp nurse at Newfound/Owatonna, and Adventure Unlimited. With such a wide range of experiences, she will bring a unique focus and broad understanding of Christian Science nursing to her work here at Fern Lodge. Rozanne will begin her new duties and responsibilities, nurturing and inspiring patients, family members and staff at Fern Lodge, in September. At the same time, Sharon Strong, the current Director of Christian Science Nursing, will continue on with Fern Lodge in her new role of Director of Christian Science Nursing Education. Together Rozanne and Sharon will be a spiritually inspired team, committed to the highest standards of Christian Science nursing and education.
Position Open: Director of Christian Science Nursing
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011We are happy to tell you that Sharon Strong has accepted the position of Fern Lodge Director of Christian Science Nursing Education. Many of you know and and respect Sharon as friend and as a Christian Science nurse who has a broad range of experience, including teaching Christian Science nursing courses in various locations, such as Fern Lodge, Chestnut Hill and El Arca, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sharon has served as Director of Christian Science Nursing at Fern Lodge for twelve years, and she has helped to guide our dear facility in spiritually inspired and progressive ways. We are deeply grateful that she will be able to devote more time and attention to shepherding our Christian Science nursing education activities.
Of course with Sharon moving to full-time to education activities, Fern Lodge now has a need for a Director of Christian Science Nursing. If you are interested in an application, or in learning more about the position, please contact me by Wednesday, August 3, 2011, at george.strong@fernlodge.org or 510–886-2448, ext. 214. You can also apply for this position through our website.
Thank you for your service in the healing ministry of Christian Science nursing and your dedication to Church.
Gratefully,
George Strong, Administrator
To apply for this position through our website, click here.
Virtual Tour of Fern Lodge Rose Garden
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
This rose garden is meticulously taken care of by our own Ken Gourley, who will be sharing some of his insights into the roses seen here. In this picture (above), the prominent pink rose in full bloom just to the left of the large patch of white Dutch Iris is the “Strawberry Hill” rose. The softer pink rose on the bottom right of the photo (just above the purple bearded Iris) is “Scepter’d Isle”.…
Charlotte. Of all of the yellow roses I’ve brought indoors for the patients to enjoy, I get more people asking me questions about this rose than any other!
David Austin, the brilliant hybridizer of his “English” variety of roses, had a vision a long time ago of bringing back the graceful forms and delicious fragrances of the old heritage roses; yet modernizing them to include both a greater color range as well as better repeat-bloom ability. “Charlotte”, having David Austin’s ground-breaking famous yellow rose, “Graham Thomas” as one of her parents, is the delicately-colored younger beauty that is indeed something to rave about! With its soft floral Tea fragrance and ability to melt hearts as it unfolds its many petals, this rose can cure a rose-hater better than any other I know!
Scepter’ed Isle. Here’s a good example not only of how beautiful the soft pink Scepter’ed Isle rose is; but also of how nice it looks with other garden plants of grace and beauty — in this case, the tall white Dutch Iris behind, and the gorgeous purple Bearded Iris in front! I’m so grateful that when I first got the OK to plant roses inside the deer fenced area, the garden already came with both Dutch and Bearded Iris already planted there, thanks to George who did that many years ago!!
Besides the Iris, there are two other companion plants near these roses: Erigeron (AKA “Santa Barbara Daisy”) to the left; and also the soft lavender-blue spikes of Nepeta (AKA “Catmint”) to the right…
Other classic Rose companions include: Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Lavender, Rosemary, and Clematis (to name just a few) — all of which we have here in the Fern Lodge garden… Hey, everybody could use a companion or two!
William Shakespeare 2000. I didn’t originally plan on planting any red roses at Fern Lodge; but once people found out I was planting the thorny creatures here, requests started coming in for them… which explains why in the 2nd year I tried to cram as many as I could against the South-side deer fence, facing the building.
Last year, even though no “official” vote was ever taken, the favorite red Fern Lodge rose seems to be this one — with a toss-up close second place going to either the long-time red Hybrid Tea rose, “Mr. Lincoln’; or to the petite wine-red “Tradescant” spray rose… In any case, as if on cue, William Shakespeare was the first red rose to bloom this year!
Golden Celebration. I was first introduced to this rose in ’97, when I met my friend and eventual landscaping boss, Chip Lima, who planted this rose in almost every garden that he designed and installed in San Francisco. With a Master’s degree in Landscape Design and Plant Pathology, he actually HATED most roses because so many can require a lot of fussing — except for a sparse few self-sufficient healthy varieties that he approved of, this one being definitely one of his all-time favorites. I fell in love with this rose so much myself that I not only planted one in a huge pot on my own deck; but also planted three at my sister-in-law’s garden in Burlingame. Besides the almost eye-blinking golden yellow color, as well as incredibly lush green healthy foliage, the delicious honey & lemon fragrance I find to be the icing on my rose cake… In other words: I have a long and happy history with this rose — and I hope that Fern Lodge falls in love with it as much as I did, too!!
Mme. Cecile Brunner (Sweetheart rose). This is the famous old Polyantha rose, “Mme. Cecile Brunner” (pronounced, “Ce-CEEL”), which dates back to around 1850. Although it wasn’t planted at F. L. quite that long ago (LOL), it is a true “survivor!” There are actually two plants of this rose, both outside of the TV Living room, completely unprotected from hungry munching deer — as well as completely drought-tolerant now, because nobody ever waters them… The deer “prune” the lower portion; while [thank goodness] we get to see the blooms of the upper portion, beyond their reach.
If anybody at Fern Lodge knows more history about these roses than I just stated above, I’d love to know! I can tell you all about the roses INSIDE the deer fence, because starting in Feb. of ’08, I planted every one of ‘em! But, whoever planted this commonly called, “Sweetheart rose”, I’d like to say a big thank you to them!
Deer’s Eye View: Here’s one of the vantage points the deer get to see of their favorite food… No, they don’t like the purple Echium!
Lady Emma Hamilton. At the other end of the deer fenced garden, mid-level above the far West retaining wall, is an even more brilliantly-hued apricot / tangerine colored rose named, “Lady Emma Hamilton” — which has an equally strong fruity fragrance to match!! In this pic, Lady Hamilton is just beginning to open. The magenta blooms of the hardy “Geranium Icanum”, as well as the silvery foliage of Lamb Ears, create a nice “subtle” color theme, don’t you think?
*UPDATED*
Graham Thomas. Recently voted, “The World’s Favorite Rose” by the 41 National Rose Societies, and also given the prestigious James Mason award in 2000, this brilliant gorgeous shrub rose first came on the scene at the UK’s Chelsea Flower show in the spring of 1983 — and has melted hearts & minds ever since! With a wonderful spicy tea fragrance, and its usual tendency to bloom in large cheerful clusters, next to any purple nor violet/blue flowers, this sunshine yellow rose is an unforgettable sight! This is the first Graham Thomas rose bloom to open up and be photographed for this year — and conveniently planted nearby, smack-dab in the extreme NW corner of the deer fence, is a baby violet-colored Hardenbergia vine, called “Happy Wanderer”…
This rose also happens to be a very historic rose, in that it was one of hybridizer David Austin’s first successful new rose varieties which he introduced to the world as, “English roses”; but which most of the gardening world calls, “David Austin roses”… No matter: call it whatever you like — the important thing to know is that he had a vision of bringing back the old-fashioned Heritage roses’ graceful forms and fragrances, but crossing them with the best of the modern Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses, giving to the public, “the best of both rose worlds” — and if this rose is any example of his vision, what a joy it is to have them in our garden at Fern Lodge!!
Although currently our 3 Graham Thomas rose plants are all quite modest in size (as well as the little Hardenbergia vine that was planted just this past Feb.), eventually, both the rose & the vine will grow quite tall over time. In the meantime, however… I will be happily “nursing” these two garden friends along, until they get well-established in our garden, and big enough (and drought-tolerant enough) to eventually fend for themselves.
Gertrude Jekyll. I first became acquainted with this rose by growing a plant of it in a large pot on my sunny South-facing SF deck, in ’97. I really don’t like its strong bubble-gum pink color; but every time I took a whiff of its powerful perfume (which has actually been used in the perfume industry, as it is of very high quality and well-balanced in its fragrance components), I would not only forgive Gertrude; but gradually fell more and more in love with her.
If you look closely at the top bloom, you’ll notice the rear end of a sleeping bumblebee. Since this pic was taken by me in the early morning, my guess is that he settled into Gertrude’s petals for the night as the previous evening started to get cold — and perhaps even got a little intoxicated with her delicious perfume as much as I occasionally do (LOL)!!
Tea Clipper. When this rose was first planted at Fern Lodge in Feb. of ’08, I had no prior experience with having grown it or even seen it anywhere before — it was one of those roses that I took an educated risk on, having mostly only the David Austin rose catalogue’s description and photo to go by…
Well, the good news is: this rose has definitely become one of the all-time Fern Lodge favorites! Very tall-growing (you can probably guess that by the towering redwood trees in the background — LOL), besides having a stunning apricot-peachy color, it has a delicious fruit & myrrh fragrance to match!! But one of the qualities that I enjoy the most out of this rose is its casual & rather whimsical way of opening its petals… And with its lush, healthy green foliage — as well as being a fairly long-lasting cut flower — this rose has become a joy to have around in every way.… Just give it a little extra vertical space to stretch upward — and come to think of it, a little extra horizontal space to expand outward, too!!
Trellis View. Looking through the green metal trellis where purple Clematis will soon be growing, you can see some yellow roses blooming beyond… This is the view from inside the deer fence of the far NW corner of the Fern Lodge rose garden, a section of the garden dedicated to yellow and apricot-colored roses. Some of the rose varieties found in or near this area include the following: Climbing Royal Sunset; Sally Holmes; Pat Austin; Graham Thomas; Golden Celebration, Teasing Georgia, Charlotte, and Malvern Hills — to name just a few.…
Thanks for taking our virtual rose garden tour. We will add additional blooms later in the season.
Fern Lodge Annual Meeting 2011
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
You may listen to the Annual Meeting below. The speakers are the following times:
4:30 Readings from Tom Port, Board Chair
8:30 Elizabeth Schwartz, Treasurer
11:30 George Strong, Administrator
19:30 Sharon Strong, Director of Christian Science Nursing
39:00 Main Speaker: Susan Breuer, C.S.
Construction News
Monday, April 4th, 2011
THIS POSTING WILL BE UPDATED AS THE PROJECT CONTINUES.
The drawing on the above shows the architect’s rendition of the new Fern Lodge entrance. Through the extended periods of heavy rain, we have kept this drawing close at hand to remind us of the goal we are working toward. The other two photos below show the present state of the entrance, with work postponed due to rain, and the new concrete pad with drainage that was required before we could proceed with the original remodeling plan.
Progress to date
Work on the new Fern Lodge entryway and reception area is progressing, though more slowly than expected. A major delay, and significant additional expense, resulted when we learned that we were required to provide a drainage system for the area where our garbage and recycling dumpsters are kept. That system soon will be in place, and we are ready to work on the original project, the new reception area and Fern Lodge entrance.
The delay may well have been a blessing in disguise when the timing is considered. If we had begun work on the entrance as scheduled, it is likely that part of the roof would have been removed during the recent extended periods of heavy rain. This was a time of earnest prayer, hard work, and trust in divine protection. We are grateful for God’s constant care and impeccable timing.
Additional cost of the project — $25,000
Pictured at left is the concrete slab and footing for the enclosure we were required to build for our trash and recycling bins. Walls and doors are still to be finished, as well as paving to repair the driveway that was removed to install the drainage system. We ask for your financial assistance with this project. The cost of the drainage system came to about $25,000, which is in addition to the $200,000 cost of the entrance and reception area.
A Photo Journal of the Construction
Feel free to flip through the following pictures to see the daily progress of the construction project.
Two Christian Science Nurses — newly listed in The Christian Science Journal
Monday, April 4th, 2011We are grateful to share with you the wonderful news that two of the Fern Lodge Christian Science nurses recently were approved to advertise their services in The Christian Science Journal. This was especially joyous for us because both of these loving and inspired individuals came to Fern Lodge from Peru in order to complete our Christian Science Nursing Education Program. If you or anyone you know has the tender yet spiritually strong qualities needed in Christian Science nursing and would like to learn more about our education program, please contact Sharon Strong, Director of Christian Science Nursing, at info@fernlodge.org or 510–886-2448.
Margarita Ley shared the following ideas with us: “Our leader Mary Baker Eddy says in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that, “An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceitful person should not be a nurse. The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, —receptive to Truth and Love” (395:17–20). Pondering her words, —seeing that being receptive to Truth means listening carefully to the Christ, and that being attentive to Love means always obeying our Father-Mother God— helped me greatly to become listed in The Christian Science Journal as a Christian Science nurse. I always count on the unconditional help of all my beloved family members and friends at Fern Lodge. They give me the support I need in order for me to love God above all things, and they help me to help my neighbor by loving him or her as myself, as our Master, Jesus Christ, taught us when he said that these two commandments were the ones needed to reach eternal life.”
Alvaro La Rosa wrote while he was visiting family in Peru. He said, “I am glad to share with you a little bit about my progress as a Christian Science nurse since my name was listed in The Christian Science Journal. This was a very important step for me. It reinforced my feeling that it is necessary as a Christian Science nurse for me to be responsible in everything I do. I turn to God to be sure I make the right decisions and show the kindness and healing love that I’m able to express as I assist patients. I recognize more than ever the importance of being spiritually prepared before I visit a patient. And I am thankful to have the opportunity to demonstrate the divine power of God.
“Advertising in the Journal opened the way for me to serve as a visiting Christian Science nurse. In this position it is very important to realize that I am the responsible individual on a case when I am there, while in a facility there always is somebody to give me a hand. It is necessary to remember that it is my constant connection with God that will enable me to make sound decisions. In addition, my daily work is not scheduled, and my plans might change at any time, so I need to be alert all the time. I am amazed how much I get from God when I open my heart to let divine Love govern there.”
