Pine Island Pastor Musings

This Halloween approaching All Saints Day tomorrow, I find myself pondering those who have gone before us, in particular  the generation named by Tom Brokaw as " the Greatest Generation," those who were born in the years 1905 through 1925.  In my pastoral ministry career, which began in 1980 in seminary and formerly with my ordination in 1984, I have ministered with and to this age group and have officiated at the funerals for a lot of them.  Before that as a high school trumpet player from 1968 through 1972, I played taps at my community's Memorial Day Ceremonies.  My heart aches at the thought of what they must be thinking as they watch from life's balcony the socio-political climate of our country and world.   They grew up  amidst the horrors of WW1 and the rise of fascism in Europe in its aftermath of economic depression in Europe in the 1920's then here at home in the 1930's.  They came of age overhearing their parents concerns of news in Germa...

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).   From this proverb we receive a simple observation about life.   “From the heart flows the spring of life.” Therein I believe lies vision for the church today.   The church is a community where hearts grow in faith, in hope, in love, in compassion, in conviction, in courage to work for justice. For Proverbs and Jesus, life—both the good and the evil springs from the treasures and abundance of the heart.                         Explore with me what the Bible says about the heart. The word “heart” is used 963 times in the Bible. When Joseph’s 11 brothers went to Egypt during a famine in search for food, they unexpectantly faced their brother Joseph whom they had sold into slavery. When he sent them home with their bags full of grain and their...

Paxton Presbyterian Church, built in 1732 in Harrisburg, PA "Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house"  (1 Peter 2:5).   I grew up in limestone country of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, w here the old farm houses were built out of limestone, a s were the barns, the fences, and the churches.   All built out of stone, which settlers found in the fields as they cleared the land.   Did you ever consider yourself to be like a stone?  We’re talking about rock, hewn to the right size by a mason.  To be useful in a stone building, the stone must be a common size s o that it fits with other stones to form a wall.  Unlike today’s construction materials of wallboard, insulation, and vinyl siding y ou don’t put your fist through a stone wall. Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house .  As a boy growing up helping on a farm in limestone country,  I learned that t...