Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

This past Monday, for the first time in a long time, Kim and I went to “The City” (i.e., New York City). Our plan was to take the Water Taxi from Liberty State Park across the Hudson River to lower Manhattan. I thought taking the Water Taxi would be a fun, quick, and convenient way to get from New Jersey to New York. So that morning we drove to the place where we would catch the small ferry only to find out it wasn’t running because of the President’s Day holiday. So, there we were in New Jersey, at the river’s edge, with our destination within reach, yet feeling like it was so far away. My mind quickly went in a thousand directions. We had to find a different way to get across the river; we needed to make a fast change of plans.    Thankfully, I have a wife who can be a quick problem solver. Soon we were back in our car driving into Jersey City, headed for the PATH train. In about 15 minutes time, we had parked our car and were headed for the train. Within 30 minutes we had r...

Recently, I’ve been doing some running on the treadmill at the gym. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but at times it beats running in the cold or in the rain. And it’s convenient—an easy way to get a run in at the end of the day. Yet, running on a treadmill can be a bit frustrating. After all, although as you run you see the miles increase, you know you’ve not gone anywhere. The display tells you that you’ve gone two, three, four miles (or whatever it is), but when you are done you’re in the exactly the same place where you started. Running on a treadmill means you are literally getting nowhere fast!  Have you ever felt that way about your life? You know what I mean. You’re putting in a ton of effort, you’re giving it your best shot, you really are trying hard, but with little results. For all of your hard work, you’re not getting much of a return. It seems like you are getting nowhere fast!  This is exactly what the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes was feeling when he wrot...

Many of you may know that Kim and I have had a dog named Sadie. What you may not know is that, Sadie does not do very well going to the vet. She gets nervous as soon as we walk through the first set of doors. And, she won’t let any of the staff touch her. She doesn’t get aggressive, but pulls away, squirms, and refuses any kind of exam or treatment.  Yesterday, in order to get her examined and for her to receive her shots that are long overdue, I took her to the vet and had to have them sedate her. I felt terrible doing so, but there was no other recourse. As I handed her over to the technician and began to leave, a terrible feeling came over me. Sadie had no idea what was happening. And worst of all, she had no idea that I was going to return for her. All she knew was that I was leaving her in the one place she hates the most. Whether she understood her own feelings or not (and I’m not quite sure what dogs think or feel), I can only think that she felt abandoned—by me, the person ...

If you follow social media to any degree, you can’t help but notice how many people post and repost various motivational sayings. I find this to be especially true in the running group I belong to on Facebook. There people are constantly posting sayings like, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you” and “It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” Today I read this one: “The more you run and the less you respond to negative people, the more peaceful your life will become.” I’m not even sure how to process that one!  Here are a few other quotes I read recently: “Opportunities don’t just happen, you create them.”; “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”; “Don’t focus on the pain, focus on the progress.”  And then there’s the standard, “You can be anything you want to be!” People seem to love all the positivity and encouragement that comes from these sayings, especially when facing some sort of challenge. After all, sayings such as ...