Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

For the past few weeks now, I have been awaken by the sound of birds outside our bedroom window, especially a cardinal or two. It seems that they feel that 4:30 in the morning is the perfect time to start their calling. Soon after, all the other birds begin to join in. Before you know it, it’s a cacophony of birds calling, chirping, whistling, singing, and even crowing—all seemingly for the purpose of waking me up (which I do fight against!).  Out of curiosity to know what kinds of birds are in the trees around me, the other day as I was walking Sadie, I turned on the bird ID app that I have on my phone. (Yes, I have a bird ID app on my phone!) I set it on “Sound ID” and began to record the bird calls and songs around me. It quickly listed ten species of birds. There was the cardinal of course. But there was as well a Carolina wren, house sparrow, a woodpecker, mocking bird, and more. That’s a lot of birds in the trees, all trying to wake me up!  Did you know the Bible often refers to

This past week Kim and I spent some time weeding the mulch beds around our home. As many of you probably know, the problem with pulling weeds is that, unless you can get to the root, just getting rid of the plant on the surface does not really solve your weed problem. Unless you get to the “root of the matter,” the weeds will come back. It seems to me, however, that weeds were designed so as to make it almost impossible to completely remove them by their roots. They will quickly break somewhere near the surface. Thus, unless you dig down deep (and sometimes really deep) into the ground,  you’ll never really get rid of the weeds. (Of course, another option is to use a chemical of some sort that goes down through the soil to kill the plant at its roots.)  If we’re honest, when we are facing the difficulties, conflicts, and challenges of life, we very often want a quick fix—like pulling a weed from the top. In reality, however, there’s often a lot more happening below the surface of our l

As you probably know a total eclipse of the sun is coming to North America next week (April 8, 2024).  For some parts of Mexico and the United States, the sun will be completely blocked by the moon entering into its path. In other regions the sun will be partially blocked. Here in NJ, we will experience an 80-90% blockage of the sun’s light.  It’s an awesome event that is extremely rare (the next one to cross through mainland US will be in 2045). That’s what makes it so special. After all, if an eclipse took place every year, it would be no big deal. But because it happens so infrequently it draws our attention.  We might also say that, an eclipse like this is not what we would consider to be “natural” or “normal.” Yes, it is nature doing its thing, but in our general experience, it’s not what we expect from the sun and moon. After all, we expect that during the day the sun will shine (and the moon will stay out of its way) and at night the moon will shine—at least according to its pha

I love the way Christians all over the world from so many different church traditions greet each other on Easter Sunday. Rather than saying a simple, “Happy Easter,” one will say to another, “Christ is risen!” The other will then respond, “He’s risen indeed!” It’s a greeting that gets to the heart of what this holiday (holy day) is really all about. In a very natural way, it takes the emphasis off the flowers, warming weather, bunnies, and chocolate (all of which I love!). By greeting one another with, “Christ is risen!” the focus is put on what this day is really all about.  I do believe Easter Sunday is the most important day in the Christian calendar. After all, Jesus’ birth, his life and teachings, and his death on the cross all ultimately find their meaning in the resurrection. For, if Jesus had been born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, taught with the authority he did, died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, but did not rise from the dead, all of it would have been for naught.

As I mentioned in this blog a few weeks ago, I’ve recently been doing a bit of family research and putting together a book of our family history. Well, this week I came across a couple of postcard pictures that were sent to my Greek grandmother, Aspacia, from relatives who had not come to the States. The first was from her mother and sister who remained in Greece. The second was from a brother whom I didn’t know existed. Apparently, he had gone to France, at least for a time (that was where the picture was taken and the postmark was from).  On the back of each of them was a greeting and a short self-written poem (rhyming in the original Greek). The one from her sister said: “Even though far from you I am; even though far from you I live; always I remember you; And always I long for you.” The one from her brother said, “Beloved sister, receive this photo of me, and wherever you go and wherever you stand, may you not forget your brother”  As I looked at the photos and read their little p

We all have our favorite foods and favorite meals. Mine are mostly Greek and Middle Eastern. I do really like as well pasta and seafood. I’ve got my favorite pizza place and bagel shop. And, every so often I have a craving for certain Korean or Indian dishes. I guess you could say I’m a bit eclectic when it comes to food.   I know some people like to eat basically the same thing day after day. That’s definitely not me. Even my favorite foods I don’t want to eat every day. I just can’t imagine eating souvlaki or pasta or pizza or even strawberry-rhubarb pie on a daily basis. I like a bit of variety in my diet.  Thus, when Kim and I do go out for dinner (which is not that often these days), we like to mix it up a bit, eating at a variety of restaurants. So, in thinking about it, I’m not quite sure I have a favorite food or meal.  Jesus, however, did seem to have a favorite meal. But it wasn’t food that one can eat. It was a far different kind of meal. In John 4, Jesus has been ministerin

Growing up in the NYC metro area, and with a dad who was Greek, we knew what it was like to have really good bread in our home. In fact, bread was the centerpiece of just about every family meal. And not just any old bread.  For dinner it would be a loaf of Italian bread of some sort that was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and filled with flavor. Or it might have been a hearty hearth-baked bread. Sometimes we might even have had a good Challah bread from the Jewish bakery. And for sandwiches, it was never “Wonder Bread” or some sort of soft mushy white bread. Rather, most often it was a really good Kaiser roll, challah roll, or whole grain bread. In fact, rather than just pick up bread in the supermarket, my dad would often go out of his way to a deli or bakery to make sure we had the right bread. I’m kind of the same way. If I’m going to eat bread, I want it to be really good bread.   So, when I read Jesus’ words in John 6, “I am the bread of life.”  (vs. 35), I have a cert

Aren’t you thankful for light? I know I am. Especially this time of year as here in the U.S. Northeast the mornings are getting brighter and the days longer. It’s easier to get out of bed in the morning. More pleasant to walk the dog. And it’s so much better at the end of the day, giving opportunity to do more outdoor activities or at least not feel like it’s time to go bed right after dinner.  I can’t imagine living in one of those places where they have up to 24 hours of darkness during their winter months. (Nor would I enjoy the 24 hours of daylight they receive during their summers!). I can’t even think about not seeing the sun rise. I can’t imagine having the sun go up and down in the horizon so quickly that the middle of the day is like the middle of the night. After all, light energizes us. Light gives life. Without light there can be no life.  Today the church I pastor, Shrewsbury First Assembly, begins a Bible reading plan through the Gospel of John that will take us into East

I have an app on my phone that, when pointed at the sky can give to me the names and locations of the stars, planets, and constellations. Of course, during the day I can’t see any of them. For example, it shows me that this morning Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Venus are all together just above the eastern horizon. And, it shows the stars that are currently in the sky above me. However, because it is daytime none of them are visible to my eye. On the other hand, at nightfall the stars and planets are able to shine in such a way that they become visible to the eye.  You know how it is, assuming a clear sky, the darker the sky the brighter the stars shine—and in greater abundance. Living in suburbia close to a major city as I do just naturally limits the number of stars I can see at night. But when I go to the mountains as my family does each summer, the sky becomes star-filled to an extent I just can’t imagine back home. Even the Milky Way becomes visible. And the abundance of shooting st

None of us likes to wait, myself included. In fact, I caught myself doing it the other day: The microwave had 3 seconds left and because I couldn’t wait any longer, I hit cancel and took my food out. I then said to myself, “What’s wrong with you? You couldn’t wait another 3 seconds?” I guess the answer was, no I couldn’t. I had gotten tired of waiting, albeit for probably two minutes and 30 seconds!  It’s crazy, but I couldn’t wait another 3 seconds! In a day in which so many things come to us so instantaneously (think of that Amazon package arriving the next day!), our patience for waiting has ebbed to an all-time low. You can sense how edgy people behind you and in front of you are getting on the supermarket line, as they wait to make it to the register. If you don’t move immediately on the green, the car behind you will not just tap their horn, but lay on it. And should the waiter take a bit longer than expected, we can’t help but get a bit annoyed.  (I guess I’m really talking abou

Over the past month I have twice bought a dragon fruit (in Spanish called, “pitaya”). Each time I expected to taste a fruit that has a slightly sweet yet mild flavor. I read that it tastes like a cross between a kiwi and a pear. But each time, I ended up with a piece of fruit that was tasteless. In fact, they didn’t taste good at all. Obviously, I was disappointed. Neither one was what I expected it to be.  I’m not sure what the problem was with the dragon fruit I bought. Were the ones I bought bad? Do they normally have little taste? Is it a problem with how they are harvested and then shipped to the U.S.? When I’ve been in Nicaragua I’ve had pitaya (dragon fruit) gelato and smoothies made with it. And each time it was delicious. But such has not been my experience with the dragon fruit I’ve bought here. Here, I’ve only gotten tasteless dragon fruit. The end result is, I will most likely not be buying any dragon fruit anytime soon,  Unfortunately, there are a lot of things in life tha

The past couple of weeks I’ve been doing a bit more research on my family history, reviewing pictures and documents I have on hand as well as through searches on Ancestry.com.  And I’ve learned some things about my family that I didn’t know. For example, I learned the exact town from which my Greek grandparents came; I can even find it on a map (and hope to visit it some day). I’ve learned the names of the ships some of my relatives came over on and some of the places where they lived between their homeland and their arrival in America. (I didn’t realize that not all of them came directly to America.)  I’ve found names of relatives I did not know existed. And I’ve read about some of the circumstances that drove them from their homelands—mostly war and poverty.   My father’s parents came from Greece, separately—they were married in NYC in 1919. My mother’s side was Jewish coming from Europe. Her maternal side came from what today is western Ukraine, but was then Austria/Poland/Galicia.

As a tennis fan, I’ve been following closely the Australian Open which is coming to a close this weekend. The difficulty is, Australia is 16 hours ahead of our time here on the US East Coast. Thus, I’m constantly trying to calculate the times of the matches and/or what time it will be here when they are playing over there. After all, when their day is coming to a close, ours is just beginning. A match that begins in the early evening over there, ends up in the middle of the night over here. The end result is, I get to watch very few live matches.  And I’m constantly asking, “What time is it?”  Any of us who have traveled between time zones know we are constantly trying to figure out how our time in the place where we are relates to the time back home.  After all, you don’t want to try to call your wife or office when it is 3:00 a.m. their time. It reminds me of the old song by the group Chicago “Does anyone really know what time it is?” Of course, Einstein had his theory about time: th

During the winter, I love having a bird feeder set up and filled with bird seed to attract all the different kinds of birds that are around during our winter months—finches, sparrows, chickadees, juncos, woodpeckers, cardinals, etc. Thus I have a bird feeder in my backyard where I can see it while I’m drinking my coffee or having my breakfast in the morning. The only problem is, as one person told me when I first got my bird feeder, “Once you start feeding the birds, you’re under moral obligation to keep on feeding them.” That’s something that has kind of stuck with me. Thus, I’m constantly out making sure the bird feeder is well stocked.  To help with that, I recently replaced my bird feeder with one that is quite a bit larger. Rather than hold two scoops of bird seed (which is actually about 1 ½ cups per scoop), this newer and larger one holds over four scoops of bird seed. That means, less trips out to the bird feeder for stocking purposes. It also means, the birds get to eat much m

I don’t  know if you saw it or not, but the week before Christmas, the Jersey Shore experienced what some have considered to be historic waves. With wave heights reaching 20-22 feet (and some said there were even a few that reached 25 feet), surfers came from as far as Cape Cod and Southern California to take advantage of waves that were for the Jersey Shore, rare if not historic. One surfer described having to bail out on a wave that became too vertical and dropping two stories into the water below. I’m amazed he survived!   As I watched the videos of the surfers and the waves, I was awestruck by the size of the waves, their power, and the fact that this was taking place right here in New Jersey. After all, as one surfer from New Jersey said, “This should be something that happens in Hawaii or Portugal…but it was happening in our backyard.”  Another person described the waves as “angry—very, very powerful.” (cbsnews.com, Dec. 21, 2023) For sure, they did seem quite angry and quite pow

On New Year’s Eve, as the year was turning from 2023 to 2024, we had the television on so that we could watch the ball drop in Times Square. As it did, everyone there was cheering for the New Year. And one of the commentators (or someone with them) exclaimed, “This is going to be the best year ever!” My response was, how do they know that? How do they know what’s in store in 2024?  (To which my son responded, telling me not to be so grouchy and cynical!)  Without trying to be grouchy or cynical, however, the truth is, none of us knows what the next year will hold. We would all like to think that 2024 will be a year of great things, blessings, smooth sailing, etc. We would all love to have a year wherein all of our hopes and dreams come true. And for some that just may be the case. I hope it is for you. Yet for others, 2024 might not turn out to be all that they hoped and wished for—or even prayed for. For some, 2024 could turn out to be the year in which they lose their battle with ill