Pastor Don's Ponderings

  It never ceases to amaze me, whether in the supermarket, sporting events, on the street, during worship or even at funeral services, people seem driven to take pictures of themselves at every given opportunity. 'Selfies', as they are known, permeate the airwaves and digital footprint of media, including television stations, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so many more. It is as though a picture of a sunset alone is never going to be enough, it can only be made better if our faces frame the picture! Oy! On the one hand, a selfie is a step higher on the palatability scale than a picture of a plate of food yet, on the other hand, most folk do not have the required equipment for a 'good' selfie, a 'selfie-stick', which extends the cell phone farther from those being photographed, thus making the 'un-sticked' selfies almost exclusively close-ups. No one wants to be that close to me, not even my wife and kids.  Is it subliminal narcissism which drives us ...

Do you remember how deep and foreboding the woods could be at night? Or maybe even a single tree, just when the light from the crescent moon illuminated the branches from the odd angle? Do you recall the sound of the coyotes howling into the darkness far down the field? Or the sound of raccoons fighting for dominance in the creek bed? Can you feel the tingle run up your spine when it felt like a hot breath breathing down your neck from behind as you walked, then ran towards the house with only the light in the faraway windows to guide you home? Or the goose pimples which covered your body as the wind, before the night rain, swept you towards safety? The words, "Do not be afraid", are said to be in the Bible 365 times. Yet, there are times when the last thing I am hearing in my parental/pastoral ears is, "Do not be afraid". Maybe it is not so much now, now that the woods and I have become companions, the various night sounds of animals give me comfort and wi...