Pastoral Ponderings—Neighbors

Posted on September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 by twinfallsumc

Pastoral Ponderings—Neighbors

Not all neighbors look nor act as kind and wonderful as the furry face of this neighbor, Mindy (her people DO fit that wonderful bill—but not rumor has it that not ALL neighbors do…). Wouldn’t it be easy to follow Jesus’ call to love our neighbors if they were all like Mindy?

I’ve noticed that quite often we in the preaching world find ourselves preaching to ourselves—seeing what God has for us in the scriptures, and then all of a sudden, it’s really for US. It’s not uncommon to hear preachers saying “Now I’m really preaching to myself this time…” Makes me wonder if Jesus sometimes found Himself preaching to Himself—like perhaps with this passage? Might Jesus have ever had some challenging neighbors He needed reminding of the need to love?

Now you might say that “Jesus was perfect”—true enough. But that doesn’t mean Jesus’ NEIGHBORS were perfect! And as we know, Jesus dealt with temptation too—which implies Jesus was subject to falling to temptation just like us (else what’s so special about Jesus’ being “perfect” in not sinning, if He never had the capacity to sin in the first place?).

But even when we shift from thinking of a “neighbor” as an enemy, Jesus had that covered too. Might Jesus have been gazing into the eyes of one of the Pharisees in the crowd plotting against Him, when those memorable words slipped from His mouth—“ love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”?

I’ve got wonderful neighbors living around me now, though that’s not always been the case, and some of the other “neighbors” Jesus’ is pointing me to, don’t always fit this description either. Come to think of it, Mindy hasn’t always been that friendly to me, but now that I’m feeding her this week, and loving on her a bit, that’s certainly changed! Might she be giving us a clue to how to turn enemies into friends on a broader scale as well?

Scratching the chin just might help… Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings– Woofstock

Posted on August 27, 2025August 27, 2025 by twinfallsumc

Pastoral Ponderings—Woofstock—27 AUG 25

“What the heck is Woofstock?” I wondered when I saw the t-shirt while at the vet to get our barn cat fixed. Looked like fun, whatever it is! So I looked it up when I got home—It’s a big pet festival and blessing that’s a fund-raiser for some pet charity, with parades, costumes, “dog diving” and more. I don’t know if it’s a traveling show or not—but one happened in Warren a couple weeks ago, but fear not—it’s coming to Cleveland on Sep. 7!

What is it about our pets that brings out such love and joy? When I was a kid, we were “pet owners,” but now we’re “pet parents,” or grandparents! Even to the point of some people (my mom and wife included!) who think it’s almost cruel to keep animals outside—I had to arrange for a secret hand-off in order to get past Karol’s reluctance, in order to order to get a barn cat to keep the Evil Beasties at bay from our barn!

For dogs, it seems to be their embodiment of acceptance, grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love. Cats aren’t quite there yet—but a cat’s purr can cover a lot of sin, especially when they join you with your purr when you need it most (I so wish I could purr!).

Unfortunately we who are stuck in human flesh can’t purr, and don’t seem to have it in us to be as loving as our dogs. But when we think on and are reminded by their love for us, be reminded how important that undemanding love truly is. And though we can’t purr, sharing cookies is almost as good. And don’t even think about doing that loving licking that dogs do—from them, it’s a blessing—but NOT from you! But we CAN be sensitive enough to others to pay attention to when they need some care and loving the most—maybe not as perceptively as dogs do, but we can be more intentional about paying attention to others and try.

I know it’s a dog’s life sometimes—but when you think about it, that’s not all bad! So even if we have a hard time loving others like God loves—we can at least get close when we follow the example of a good loving dog (or cat), so let the furry friends lead the way!

Whether with four legs or two– keep being a blessing! — Pastor Jim

(and author of “Mr. Snickers Bigglesworth And Other Purrty Pet Poetry”…)