My father left his family farm at 17 to join the Navy. When he was just six years old, his father had taken him to Akron airport to see Charles Lindbergh. Ever since he was hoisted up above the crowd that day, my dad had been trying to get farther away from the ground. Joining the Navy gave...
I have been snorkeling exactly one time. My wife and I somehow escaped an ice storm that gripped the entire East coast and made our way to the Florida Keyes. The tour boat took us even further south, to a clear expanse where the horizon stretched for miles. Navigating the underwater...
We give thanks for the beautiful bounty of life in nature – the birds that wake us in the morning or those furry friends who greet us when we come home from work. But not many of us rejoice at cleaning those car windows after the songbirds have flown away. And it is challenging at best to find a...
The Appalachian Trail runs for 2200 miles, from Georgia to Maine. Only a small sliver of the AT cuts through our Annual Conference, just about 45 miles of trail winding through Harpers Ferry across the Potomac then heading along South Mountain. This distance may sound small to those living in...
An exploration of John 10 By Rev. John W. Nupp This article originally appeared in Fragment 4: Action of the 2017 Annual Conference Devotional, MOSAICS. One of the many blessings of serving the people of Ward’s Chapel was worshipping with them in their historic sanctuary...
What is the first thing you open every morning? The medicine cabinet? The refrigerator door? Your Bible? How about your eyes?
Where does your water come from? It depends on who you ask, I suppose. Ask a Kindergartner and they might point to a water fountain. Older kids might tell you about the water cycle, about streams and rivers, clouds and rain. Still older students can explain about aquifers and water treatment...
I am sure you have met my mother by now. She has been working her way up and down the coast, meeting everyone from north to south for years and has never met a stranger. She has been working her way West, just like a sunrise. You met her before you ever got out of your car, when you pulled into...
Why do we gather for Ash Wednesday? Out of obligation? A sense of religious tradition? Trying to make some sense out of the nonsense in this world? Let me suggest to you that we gather because we are dying and yet we have been entrusted with new life.
Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo? Maybe you are way ahead of me and have already submitted to the trend, which has risen in popularity since the 1970s. Do you favor a symbol or a word, something complex or cerebral, visual or visceral? Notwithstanding the considerations of health...
