Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

While attending Fordham University for my junior and senior years of college, I lived with my Greek grandmother, aunt, and uncle in the Bronx. Every morning, as I left the apartment building to head for the bus stop, my grandmother (my “yaiyai”) would lean her head out of the sixth floor window that overlooked the street and yell one word reminders to me in her mixed English and Greek: “hat,” “umbrella,” “banana,” etc.  Then the very last thing she would yell down to me (in Greek) was, “Watch and pray!”  That’s right, the very last words I heard from her each and every morning were Jesus’ words to his disciples, “Watch and pray!” As we consider all that is happening in our world today because of the spread of this COVID-19 virus, many of us are trying to figure out what to do and how to respond. As we find ourselves cut off from the normal routines of our lives and almost forced to stay in our homes; as we read the news of overflowing hospitals, mounting deaths, as well a...

This morning I went to our local bagel shop. Less than a week ago, they were allowing two people at the counter at a time. Now, one can only order via phone, pay by credit card (over the phone and with a $10 minimum), and have your order brought out to your car.  I ended up standing outside the door of the store, calling in my order, fumbling for my credit card, having to order more than I wanted to order, and having to give my numbers twice since I read one of the numbers wrong the first time through. By the time my order was brought out to my car, I felt rattled. But I think we’re all used to be rattled these days! Life has really changed in the last couple of weeks—and most especially the last few days!  Who would have thought that a virus that we once read about on the other side of the world, would cause the shutdown of our schools, force thousands to work from home, and cause us to have church services on-line?  Restaurants are empty with only take-out being of...

Yesterday afternoon I stepped into a local supermarket to simply pick up a few things—just part of my normal routine. When I entered, I found no baskets or carts available and shelves that were nearly bear.  I couldn’t believe it. I looked around. People were buying up groceries as if it was their last opportunity to ever again shop for groceries.  On the other side of the spectrum, when I had arrived at the gym, just a couple hours earlier, the parking lot was empty, and half the normal crowd was there. Apparently, everyone who was normally working out was shopping—or, so it seemed! The empty shelves of a Walmart! Most of us have never seen anything like this before, but it almost seems like our world is coming to a screeching halt amid efforts to contain or “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus.   After all, except for a temporary cancellation, when have we ever seen all professional sporting events cancelled at once? Colleges, universities, and local schools ...

A couple of years ago, Kim and I hiked through Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete. At about 11 miles long, it is said to be the longest gorge in Europe.   Much of it is very hot, dry, and very, very rocky. You can only imagine how important our water bottles were to us that day.   Thankfully, along the route there were spickets that ran with fresh spring water with which one could fill and refill their water bottle. After all, we were going through a lot of water in the 6-7 hours that it took to hike through that gorge (the hardest hike we have ever done!). Yes...we needed lots of water on this hike I have found that, one of the most important pieces of equipment when hiking is a full water bottle. The same is true for going to the gym. Without a bottle filled with water, there is no way in the world I’m going to make it through a spin class or some other type of workout.   And, such is the case when I travel—whether in the car or by plane—I al...