Is Christmas Really the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

What makes Christmas Eve beautiful and wonder-filled? Perhaps it’s large, soft snow flakes gently brushing faces and whitening eyebrows while twinkling tree lights interrupt the darkness and church carillons chime Silent Night. Maybe it’s Andy Williams singing Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” where “ those holiday greetings and gay happy meetingsContinue reading “Is Christmas Really the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?”

Thankful and Content?

Watching this humming bird at its feeder while I porch-sat with an early morning cup of coffee was both entertaining and enlightening. Undoubtedly this tiny but magnificent creature was acting instinctively as it drove away other hungry “hummers.” It showed no signs of grace or generosity while ferociously guarding a feeder filled with enough foodContinue reading “Thankful and Content?”

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Although the song “Aint’t No Mountain High Enough” is a secular song made famous by Diana Ross, it has a gospel feel to it. The idea that there is nothing either high or deep enough to outreach God and His love is a basic biblical concept. The Apostle Paul attempted to express the magnitude ofContinue reading “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

It’s All About the Rocks…

In an illusion of safety, this skiff sat on these large rocks unattended, unsecured, unanchored. Oblivious to threats beyond the distant southern mountains, it sat unprotected, vulnerable to gale force winds, rising tides, and thunderous, crashing surf which unexpectedly but invariably will sweep in and batter the skiff against the rocks. Therein lies a parableContinue reading “It’s All About the Rocks…”

Just Wondering

Sitting here beside the river, Listening to rippling waters run,Wondering, Thinking of matters underneath the sun How great the universe, how blue the skyHow beautiful and brokenthe world to which you came to die Sitting here beside the river, Listening to the rippling water run. Pondering. Thinking about why you had to come Love beyondContinue reading “Just Wondering”

The Talking Moose….

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you…” (Job 12:7-10) Nature speaks. It sparks moments of wonder about a planet given to usContinue reading “The Talking Moose….”

A Different Kind of Poverty

Whether by neglect or for lack of financial resources, this structure is in need of attention. Its condition is not hopeless but needs someone to restore it. Likewise, when our emotional or spiritual needs are unmet, a state of poverty exists, and restoration is needed. Jesus addressed spiritual poverty and its solution in his SermonContinue reading “A Different Kind of Poverty”

The Untangling

There are times when we find ourselves all tangled up “in the weeds” of emotionally or spiritually unhealthy “things.” We may struggle with unsatisfying lifestyles or disappointment and emptiness because relationships, achievements, and pleasures fail to sustain our emotional and spiritual needs. It is even possible to be achieving our potential but left wondering whetherContinue reading “The Untangling”

The Right Time

Timing is everything! Whether boiling an egg or bailing hay, it may make the difference between success or failure! My grandfather was a “dirt” farmer who grew up on a small Maine farm which he eventually owned and where my father and older brother were born in the same bed 29 years apart. There heContinue reading “The Right Time”

Of Central Importance

There was a time when “Houses of God” occupied a central place and role in New England villages. For example, the Congregational Church in Machias is a lovely, historic building situated prominently on “Center Street.” Today many, beautiful, old church structures still stand, but attendance testifies to their dwindling influence. Some are now defunct andContinue reading “Of Central Importance”