To prepare for the road ahead, I’ve been looking back on the road behind.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading through many of my journals.  Recently, I read the following words in a journal from India: I walked around the streets of every city I visited. I walked, refusing every ... Continue

At the dawn of this New Year, there is a place so rooted in tradition that a new year is greeted with no more fanfare than any other day. It is a place home to a tradition that has remained largely unchanged for well over a thousand years. It is ... Continue

Riddle 1 – What is it called when 185 people from 12 countries sing the same piece of music without even meeting? Answer – A choir! The Back Story – Eric Whitacre is a contemporary composer and conductor.  In May of 2009 he received a digital video of a young girl singing ... Continue

Under the trio of white pines between Niccolls Church and the Old Forge Library we read this poem by Wendell Berry. Whatever is foreseen in joy must be lived out from day to day. Vision held open in the dark by our ten thousand days of work. Harvest will fill the barn; for ... Continue

2010-2011 Annual Report of the Pastor Then Samuel took a stone and set it up …and named it Ebenezer for he said, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12) On the first Sunday of the year, I invited the children forward in worship.  For a moment, we studied a ... Continue

As I look back through the years of ministry and life, I enjoy reflecting upon the ways that relationships unfold and develop.  On the desk in front of me sits The Bellringer from September 2004 and an article headline that proclaims “The Campechanos Are Coming!”  Seven years ago in September, ... Continue

Over the past many years we have joyfully welcomed individuals and families into the congregation of Niccolls Church.  The reality is also that with heavy hearts, we have blessed others as they move to new communities in cities and states near and far.  In conversation with one family recently, we ... Continue

When I look at my hand, I marvel.  How is it that God ever gave such a gift as this hand?  Before my birth, I didn’t order this palm with an opposable thumb and four fingers.  I didn’t stretch these tendons from the bones all the way back to the ... Continue

The world of communication continues to change faster than any other time in my life.  Furthermore, though my perspective is limited, it seems that communications are changing faster than anytime in history.  More and more information is accessible at our fingertips and may be shared in an instant.  Yet discerning ... Continue

Holy Week.  I walk carefully through this time.  I pray my way through these days filled with awe.  I tremble when I think of Jesus’ great demonstration of love for us… for me. I also turn to music.  I most often turn to Brahm’s German Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Handel’s ... Continue