By Pastor Stuart Weist First Baptist Church of Preston In America today, hope seems to be in short supply; everywhere you turn there are stories of political upheaval, governmental mistrust, and disease. Talking to neighbors you hear of those that are suffering from terminal illnesses, failing marriages, or someone suffering from depression. Compound this with our current … [Read more...]
I was on a hero’s journey
Was it Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick? I was on my version of a hero’s journey, making a trip to town to do some light grocery shopping. A hero’s journey involves a hero (in this case, me) who goes on a great adventure, encounters roadblocks, is victorious in a battle against formidable forces and comes home transformed because Cap’n Crunch breakfast … [Read more...]
The TV ran all over us and left laugh tracks
Watching Ben Cartwright made me feel for Lorne. The TV looked down haughtily at me from its lofty perch as I sat in a waiting room, lingering in an uncomfortable chair. Service was running behind. Staff issues. It was a new TV presenting an old TV show. Do TV shows ever become antiques? “We get 793 channels and there’s not one thing worth watching,” grumbled a man working … [Read more...]
To pumpkin spice, or not to pumpkin spice, THAT is the question
Don’t shoot me – I just have a question. There are two camps.Two sides. A vast chasm between. The fall lovers and the fall haters. Which are you? For the lovers, this article is for you. For the haters – I still have a question for you. No matter your camp, we will all be faced with an important decision: To pumpkin spice or not to pumpkin spice – that is the question. … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past When the blackbirds flew, we did, too
When she was nine or 10 years old, her parents thought she was old enough to handle the rifle that she and her siblings would use to scare the blackbirds out of the family cornfields in the Root River valley near Hokah. The late Josephine “Josie” (Lorenz) Gavin reminisced about her childhood in the 1940s. The children took turns with farm chores – one of which in the late … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – The Saints of God
By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist In the tradition in which I serve, each first Sunday of November is designated as All Saints Sunday. This day was very important to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement. In a journal entry from November 1, 1767, Wesley calls it “a festival I truly love.” In 1788, he writes, “I always find this a comfortable … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past There was pride in freezing your clothes
You did not phone a serviceman or purchase a new replacement part “if you had a kid big enough to hold a screwdriver,” - not during the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to Anita Joyce (Hartman) Palmquist. She was a farm kid in Pleasant Valley near Hokah, who unenthusiastically did hold a screwdriver while her father Carl Frederick Hartman turned the crank of a large … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – Are you ready for wrangling?
By Pastor Bridget Sheely Racine/Sumner Center UMC, Stewartville UMC Children’s Ministry Coordinator Apart from my ministry, my family is also involved in the farming industry. We are grain farmers and dabble with a few cattle, some goats, chickens along with a German Shepherd, Black Lab and the supreme ruler of the farm which is a miniature Dachshund named Louis Ebenezer … [Read more...]
They made haste slowly
Even the compass pointed to Halloween. Like Don Quixote, I fight imaginary villains. I needed to do a few electronic signatures. This resulted in a series of blunders and frustrations. I used my forefinger to scribble what was supposed to be my signature on the screen of an electronic device. It wasn’t good. I know it needn’t have been perfect, but I wanted it to be readable. … [Read more...]
A goodly Heritage
The old house story I drove to town today to get groceries. My four-year-old grandson accompanied me. We chose to take a picturesque route. The farmers’ fields sporting the typical colors of the harvest season attracted our attention. The blue sky illumined the way before us. I have taken this road to town for many years. During that time much has changed and much has … [Read more...]