Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

A week ago I returned from a five day trip to Leon, Nicaragua. It had been almost four years since I’d been there so it was great to reconnect with people I’ve loved and worked with for many years. Although I’ve been there every season of the year, this was my first time there in the month December. What struck me immediately was that Christmas was everywhere! Santa’s, Christmas trees, light displays, etc. were in every store, street, and park. Some of it had a bit of a Latin American flare to it, but one could tell that much of it had been imported from the US. Nonetheless, it was Christmas wherever you looked!   Well, that was in the city. One afternoon, however, I went out of the city to the poor community of Troilo where I would visit a young man I’ve known for about 12 years, Dary. In his community, there was close to nothing that was Christmas. No Christmas trees, lights, or Santa’s. When I arrived at his home, Dary who is now almost 18, almost totally blind, and has little use o

Last night began Chanukah. It is the Jewish holiday that commemorates how it was in 164 BC, at the liberation and rededication of the Temple, one night’s worth of oil kept the Temple menorah lighted for eight days—i.e., until new oil for the Temple could be made. Thus for eight days, Jews around the world light their Chanukah menorahs. Each night they light one more candle until all eight candles are lit on the final night. Last night Kim and I lit our menorah.   For those who don’t know, there is, one candle on the menorah that is lit every night. That is the shammash or helper candle. That candle is lit by a match or other kind of lighter and is then used to light the rest. The shammash candle stands higher than all of the others or a bit separated; it is always distinct from the rest of the candles. Again, it is lit every night, burning with whatever other candles have been lit.  For me as a follower of Jesus who is also Jewish (on my mother’s side!), I can’t help but see a wonderfu

This past week I was given what I would hardly consider an early Christmas present. My doctor put me in an orthopedic boot for a stress fracture on my ankle. I’m not sure how it occurred, but for the past six weeks or so I’ve had pain in the ankle to the point of limping much of the time. An MRI showed a stress fracture that is actually on the verge of a full break. Thus, the boot.   Along with the boot comes a whole lot of instructions and limitations. Of course, I haven’t been able to run. Nor, can I cycle. And now I need to stay off the foot as much as possible. If I do have to walk, it’s a slow clunky walk; it feels like it takes me forever to get anywhere. (If you know me, that in and of itself is quite frustrating!) Of course, this is the last thing I want during the Christmas season when there is so much to do: services to lead, shopping to get done, and places to be. In fact, when I woke up this morning I began thinking about all the limitations this boot has now placed on my l

As I’m sure you are well aware, this week is Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday through which our hearts are called to be filled with gratitude for all the good things we have experienced this past year. But what if your year has been anything but good? What if you’ve found yourself in the midst of a year filled with all kinds of difficulties and disappointments? Sometimes it’s hard to say thanks. In fact, at times we just might end up saying it with a bit of sarcasm in our voice.  You’ve probably said it at some time or another; I know I have. When that person cut you off on the road…or bumped you out of the way as they rushed through the crowd…or complained about your cooking, with a bit of sarcasm in your voice you said it: “Thanks a lot!” Sometimes we say it with a bit of humor in our voice. At other times it’s an expression of mild anger. But when we say it, we don’t mean it; we’re not really saying “thank you.” In fact, we probably mean just the opposite.  Unfortunately, that’s the way

This past September, our church kicked off our theme for this ministry year, “Beyond!” To introduce the theme, I used a clip from the movie “Toy Story” from which comes the line, through the mouth of Buzz Lightyear, “To infinity and beyond!”  Just about everyone loves that movie and remembers that line. It was a great way to get everyone thinking about the word, beyond.   Our theme has been based on the Apostle Paul’s words found in Ephesians 3:20 (from the New American Standard Version) which says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think, according to his power that works within us.”  It’s a powerful and power-packed verse that reminds us of the fact that we serve a God who is so much greater than we are and who has the capability of doing things much greater than we could ever imagine. I’ve encouraged our congregation to memorize it, use it in their prayer life, and think of how it fits into their personal lives.  If you are like me, your ex

This past Monday, after a hiatus of a few months, I went back to the weekly spin class I used to attend. Now, in case you don’t know what spin is, let me explain. You are on a stationary bike that mimics the feels of a real bike, especially because you can stand when you make the tension high enough (as if you are going uphill) and pedal extremely fast to give the feel of going downhill or racing. The class is very fast paced as you pedal to the music (some of which I like and some of which I don’) and follow the instructor’s directions the best that you can. The class I take is an hour long and includes a lot of “hills” as well as some speed work. By the end of the hour, I am dripping with sweat and exhausted. In fact, this past week I burned about 630 calories in the one hour.   The one downside of riding on a spin bike—or any kind of stationary bike, for that matter—is that in spite of all your effort, you always end up where you began. For example, although the mile counter may say

Yesterday afternoon I went down to one of our nearby beaches to do a run on the boardwalk. It had been a beautiful day, with the temperatures in the low to mid-60’s and just a slight wind. What I didn’t realize was that by the time I got down to the boardwalk for my run, the wind had picked up considerably, especially along the ocean. In fact, it was now a cold wind coming right off the water—a southeast wind to be exact, which is always the most difficult to deal with.   Since I had driven to the north end of the boardwalk, I began by running south right into the wind. And for almost two miles, I was fighting for just about every step. As I did, all I could think to myself was that things would be different once I turned around to run back north. And sure enough they were. Once I hit the other end of the boardwalk and turned around (after touching the post at the end of the fence, which all of us OCD runners do!), I was no longer running into the wind. Instead, the wind was now at my

I’m sure that we are all pretty upset by what has taken place this past week in Israel. Each time I hear the news it’s more terrible and shocking to think of the kind of violence that was inflicted upon families who were just going about their daily routines, young people enjoying a concert—even babies being purposefully slaughtered! It’s unthinkable! And it’s now a terrible situation that impacts the lives of so many on both sides of the border.    One would think that by this time in the history of the world, these kinds of things would cease to exist. With all the calls for peace and the lessons that we thought were learned after two world wars, we would think our world has learned its lessons. But obviously, such is not the case. We have continued to see the outbreak of wars throughout the decades, with one website stating, “There are 32 ongoing conflicts in the world right now, ranging from drug wars, terrorist insurgencies, ethnic conflicts, and civil wars.” (Wisevoter.com) The G

Have you noticed how long it takes for the sun to rise this time of year—at least here in the US northeast?  Whereas, during the spring and summer I can be out for a run or bike ride by 6:30 am or earlier, with the sun having risen long before then, now at 6:30 am it is still dark. Thus, you won’t find me doing early morning runs or bike rides this time of year. I don’t really like going out on the roads in the dark. And, to be honest, it is a little harder to get out of bed and out of the house when it’s so dark.  Thankfully, unlike some other parts of the world that have but a few hours of sun during their winters, here the sun does eventually rise and give to us at least 10 hours of daylight. I can only imagine how difficult it is to live in a place that has just a couple hours of sunlight. In fact, in some places (e.g. Iceland), the sun doesn’t rise for months on end! In every place, however, eventually the sun does rise again. (And in some places it doesn’t set at all throughout t

This past week, Kim and I attended a pastor’s conference at the Hershey Lodge and Conference Center. Of course, everything at the hotel was Hershey chocolate themed. When you checked in, you received a chocolate bar for each person. There were Hershey images all over the hotel—e.g. Hershey bars, Reese’s cups, etc. The wallpaper in the bathroom was decorated with Hershey kisses. The little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion were all cocoa-infused. And, as you walked through the hallway you couldn’t help but pick up the smell of cocoa that I believe was infused through the airducts.  In fact, just about wherever you went you picked up the fragrance of chocolate.  Now, don’t get me wrong. I love chocolate (especially dark, which they did not give you!). But I wasn’t quite sure I wanted my body and hair to smell like chocolate. And, after a couple of days I was done with the feeling that, at any moment, someone was going to show up and hand me a cup of hot chocolate. Believe it or

Like many of you who live in suburbia, we have a number of unwanted visitors who come into our yard and do in it whatever they like. No, I’m not talking about neighbors or the kids who live around the block. I’m referring to the deer who come around multiple times per day, eat whatever they like, and leave behind “evidence” of their visit! They have even created their own path that goes from our front yard, across our side yard, to the neighborhood behind us.  Like most people, I think deer are beautiful creatures. I really have nothing personal against them. But when they come in a herd that includes two to three doe, two bucks with full antlers, and a few fawn, that becomes way too many visiting at one time. And, when I pull into our driveway and find a few of them in front of my car or on the lawn, staring me down as if to say, how dare I show up at my own home…well, at that point they’ve crossed a line!  At that point they have really become unwanted visitors!  Thus I, like many of

Last Friday I had what I would call, “a failed run!” That is, partly through my long run for the week, I bailed out—something I had never done before. Let me explain.  I left my home at about 6:30 am in order to beat the heat that was supposed to set in later that day. Although it wasn’t yet all that warm, the humidity was extremely high. (Later, I learned it was close to 80%.) I had mapped out a 12 mile run and began it feeling pretty well. I had with me a small bottle of electrolyte drink and an energy gel. And things were going great for about the first 4-5 miles. By about mile 5, however, my shirt was soaking wet. I felt like I was carrying a 3-4 pound weight on my back. At mile six I realized that my legs were feeling heavier and heavier and my pace was getting slower and slower. At that point, I didn’t think I was going to make it all the way back home. So, I did something I had never done before: I called my wife, Kim, who was yet at home, and told her I only had about one mile

Last week I once again attended the US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY with my brother Chris. It was a great day filled with lots and lots of tennis as we went from one match to another; we watched about nine hours’ worth that day! And being that it was the third day of the tournament (Wednesday), all of the singles matches we watched were second round matches. That means by that point in the tournament, half of the players who began the tournament on Monday had already been eliminated.  In case you don’t know how a tournament like this works, a “major” (as this level of tournament is called) begins with 128 singles players—i.e., 128 men and 128 women. As each round is played, half of the players are eliminated. Thus, in six rounds of play the 128 who began on day one have been whittled down to the two who will play in the finals for the championship trophy (and lots of cash!). By the seventh round—i.e., the finals—126 players have been eliminated.  I think we

The old song by the Beatles projected ahead to the day when the young song writers (John Lennon and Paul McCartney) would turn 64 years old. They were looking ahead to life with their loved one, taking care of a house, weeding the garden, going on vacations, and saving for the future. But they knew that one day their hair would be thinning, grandchildren would be in the picture, and before they knew it, they would be 64. So, the question is asked, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” as they express their hope that the one whom they love will stick with them through all the changes the years promised to bring. Yet, it seems, that to the young Lennon and McCartney 64 seemed a very long way off.  Well, today I’m 64 and I can tell you it came a lot more quickly than I anticipated.  After all, it feels like it wasn’t that long ago that I graduated college, got my first job, went to seminary and began my life as a pastor. It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that

This week I  needed to buy a new pair of running shoes. For one, according to the running app I use, my current ones (which were purchased almost exactly one year ago today) have 369 miles on them—and  they are supposed to last a maximum of 400 miles. Secondly, I can actually see where my current shoes have been worn out. Finally, I need to break in a new pair before it gets too close to my next half-marathon race, which is coming up near the end of September. Thus, the new pair of running shoes.   Like most runners would be, I’m very excited about running tomorrow morning in my new pair of running shoes. I know it might sound a bit childish, but there’s something about putting on a new pair for the first time, looking down at your feet to admire the color and the look, and then taking off for a maiden flight (run!). I’d say, it’s much the same feeling one gets when they drive off the lot with a new car. (Well, maybe not for you!) Everything feels so fresh and so new. With a new pair o

Today is my grandson Jesse’s third birthday. Although Kim and I won’t be with him today, thankfully we got to celebrate with him this past Monday with cupcakes, decorations, and a gift. And in fact, we got to spend the past three weeks with Jesse, his little brother Jack, and his parents as they were on vacation with us in the Adirondack Mountains and spent some time here at our house. Later today we will most likely FaceTime with him.   Except for a couple of times per year, Kim and I don’t get to spend all that much time with Jesse and his family. Thus, the changes that take place as he grows are often quite striking to us. And now at three years old, those changes are taking place very rapidly. Both his fine and gross motor skills are increasing every day. His vocabulary is expanding at an exponential rate. He is now reasoning (as well as a three year old can reason). He negotiates, makes promises, is gaining a sense of time, and beginning to learn that there are consequences attach

This past week I participated in my first triathlon, the New Jersey State Triathlon. With about 1,000 participants, the race included a 500 meter lake swim, 11.5 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. It was a very exciting day for which I had put in just over 8 weeks of training.  In fact, it was one of the most exciting things I have ever done, but also the most physically exhausting thing I’ve ever done (and the heat and humidity of the day didn’t help!).  Through the course of the race there were many times when I began to question whether or not I’d be able to finish. At those times, however, I would remind myself that this race was in the end, all about endurance. Could I endure riding 11.5 miles after having just swam 500 meters in, what for me was, a very difficult environment? Could I complete the 5K run after swimming and cycling? Or, would I give up and give in to the feelings pain, tiredness, and weakness that had begun to take over my body?  During my times of training, especially

Every so often, when Kim and I have a bit of free time, we will play the game Scrabble. Those who know the game, know that each player is hoping to form words from the letters on their rack and those already placed on the board. Get the right letters in hand and the words can be many. Get the wrong letters in hand and there’s a chance you might get stuck or end up forming words that bring no more than a few points.  Of course, the larger your vocabulary the better chance you will have of looking at the letters in your rack and the available letters on the board and come up with words that can be formed. That’s why people who read a lot often do well at the game. The more words they have in their head the more they have to draw from when playing the game.  Depending upon whom I am playing with, I can feel as if my head is filled with lots of words or I can feel as if my head is void of any real vocabulary at all.  It makes me wonder, what am I putting into my head? After all, whatever I

My grandson Jack, who is now 14 months old, has decided that he wants to spend most of his traveling-time on his feet. In other words, he has begun to walk! It’s not that previously he couldn’t walk at all. It’s just that he felt much more secure on his hands and knees—and he could get around much faster by crawling than walking. Most recently, however, he has begun to make the transition from his knees to his feet.  Jack has begun to walk.  It seems to me that Jack, like most babies, is very pragmatic. Why walk when it feels much safer to be closer to the ground? Why walk when one can move much faster on their knees than on their feet? Why walk when there is yet so much instability in an upright position compared to being down on one’s hands and knees? But as the instability has begun to fade and the pace has picked up, the transition is being made from crawling to walking.   Of course, we are all very much like Jack and most other babies. We like our safety and security. We want to b

This coming weekend, we as a nation will be celebrating our Independence Day (a.k.a. “The Fourth of July”). There will be fireworks, family gatherings, barbeques, and lots of flags flying. And there is much for us as nation to celebrate. The Declaration of Independence was one of the greatest statements of freedom ever made up until that time. And since gaining our independence from the British (an independence that cost the lives of hundreds of soldiers on both sides), we as a nation have experienced the greatest freedoms ever known to mankind up until that time—and in many ways since.  We’ve known a freedom that only a few throughout history have experienced—a freedom that many have only dreamed of.  I think we need to ask, however, have we used our freedom as we ought to have used it? Might there be have been times when we as a nation have used our freedom in ways that have not best served the needs of our nation or the world at large? How about us as individuals? Have there not bee