Pastor’s Pen (Page 2)
Pastor’s Column – Jan 2024
They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Matthew 2:8-11 At Christmastime, the church I grew up in always decorated their sanctuary with German Stars. Perhaps you…
Pastor’s Column – Dec 2023
This beautiful poem offers our spirit a way to move into the season of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting. It is living and praying on the edge, just before we are healed, just before we overcome a major life hurdle, just before justice becomes a reality in the world. It is the moment where we are just hanging on and we question whether we are strong enough. We may even question whether God is strong enough. “For humans,…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2023
When the pandemic first began and social distancing was widely practiced, Jessica and I would go on many walks. As creatures of habit, we usually stuck to the same route that went through an old cemetery. On those walks we were surprised to observe that there was nearly always someone in the cemetery. Some sat silently next to graves while others arranged flowers, cleaned off headstones, or carefully placed luminaries out of respect. From an observers standpoint it was done…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2023
As I write from our kitchen table, a white spotted doe is grazing not but 10 feet beyond our glass door. Her fur is ruffled and nose is black. She immediately noticed me, but clearly I am no threat to her. Afterall this is Lancaster. Jessica and I were once walking through aneighborhood when we witnessed three deer staring at someone’s backyard shed as if they were waiting on someone who was late for an important appointment. They were. Sure…
Pastor’s Column – Aug 2023
O Lord, how manifold are your works! There is the sea, great and wide; creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships and Leviathan that you formed to play it.” psalm 104 If you get a chance today or this week, I encourage you to read psalm 104 in its entirety. It is best read in the sanctuary of nature. Take a seat near an open window or go out on the patio.…
Pastor’s Column – July 2023
So let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up. Romans 14:19 Just imagine if everyone took these words seriously? Imagine if this was the bedrock of all our relationships? Imagine if this was the way our society created public policy or law? Imagine if religion took this seriously? I wish it did, but looking at the world, even Christianity in the United States, it is clear that we often don’t strive for…
Pastor’s Column – June 2023
God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And so light appeared. God saw how good the light was. Genesis 1:3 I hope you are reading this on a day when the sun is pouring through the windows. I hope you can reach out your hand or close your eyes and simply feel the energy of the sun transferring energy into your body and mind. If you aren’t in such a place, I invite you to really be present the next time…
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2023
“Then know, there is no hide-and-seek with the divine that doesn’t end in you being found.” I don’t know about you but I can’t read that line enough. Even though I am a reverend, there are days when God’s grace and love seem so unbelievable to me. When I fail to live out the best version of myself… when I feel like I am not doing enough… when I feel like I don’t deserve God’s love, I am reminded that…
Pastor’s Column – Feb 2023
“Seek the Lord while God may be found, call upon God while God is near.”God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6,8-9 NRSV Jessica and I will be married 9 years this coming June, however we have been together for 13. After 13 years I feel…
Pastor’s Column – July 2021
They are like trees planted by streams ofwater, which yield their fruit in its season. Psalm 1:3a I recently heard someone explain that the “Church is a community of people where God nurtures, teaches, and challenges us in the ways of God.” Through our worship, in our prayers, by way of fellowship, we feel the nurturing presence of God with us. Through Sunday School and the studying of scripture, we dive deeper into the mystery of God’s immense love for…