Rural Thoughts
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July 9th, 2025 – On Food Insecurity in Rural Places
This post was originally published on my Facebook on July 9th, 2025 Now, a word on cuts in food assistance. One thing we need to be reminded of when we talk about food insecurity in rural spaces is that rural does not equal agrarian. The assumption that all rural people can or know how to Continue reading
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July 8th, 2025 – Healthcare and Hope
This was originally posted on my Facebook on July 8th, 2025 Alright, now that we’ve acknowledged the realities of passing of the Trump administration’s Big Beautiful Bill, let’s talk about our role in what comes next with the realities at play. While the “Big Beautiful Bill” doesn’t outright target rural communities, we know that rural Continue reading
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Holy Week Thoughts
I’m pretty sure I post something during Holy Week each year. When I think about this week, I am often just tired. I think we do too much. The pomp and circumstance keep building and the payout is the same. Regardless, this Holy Week Holy Week, I’m reflecting on things that are happening in my Continue reading
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Gun Violence and Rural Life (A brief exploration)
The gun rights/ownership debate continues to be an interesting one for me. I grew up rural, learned how to use guns, how to respect them, and what they were used for, and how to store them. If you grew up rural, guns were mostly for hunting, recreation (target, skeet, making noise), and protecting the animals Continue reading
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Bless this Land
Bless this land to which we’re boundBy gravity of joyful soundFeed the hearth and feed the herdHope must stand on every word -Emily Scott Robinson “Men and Moons” This song lyric spoke to me as it closed out the concert I attended last Friday. Emily Scott Robinson wrote the song “Men and Moons” as an Continue reading
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Rural recognizes Rural
(This post originally appeared on my Facebook – facebook.com/j.lemastersmith on February 16, 2023) A friend and I went to a concert last night. It was a smaller venue, but it was a sold out crowd. The opener was from Oklahoma, and the main performer, Charles Wesley Godwin was from West Virginia. The feeling I got Continue reading
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Rural is not the Same as Agricultural
One thing that continues to be an issue in the church responding to rural issues and creating resources for rural communities is the conflating of rural and agricultural. Yes, quite a few people in rural communities are involved in agriculture directly or indirectly. Essentially, unless we are only hunter/gatherers, we are all indirectly involved with Continue reading
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Thinking about Heaven
Today (November 8th) is my birthday. And today, an article from Christian Century found me. It is an article about Heaven, and the need for heaven to be real. I’ll link it here. And Quote the last two paragraphs: “Sometimes I wonder if the church’s witness is failing because we don’t know how to translate Continue reading
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98 – Keith Urban: Golden Road
I have to admit, I’m not a big Keith Urban fan. I’ll listen to his songs on the radio, but I don’t search out his music when given the chance. I enjoy him for what he is, pop country, somewhat innovative, and a non-US country singer. But, since he was on the list, I wanted Continue reading
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Day 11 – 720 Words
Alright, back in the groove. Writing today was less challenging. One reason was that included a ton of country music lyrics. In academic writing I see so many people shaming people who quote directly from other writers. I understand the need to prove that you can interpret a work and not just directly quote it, Continue reading
Jonathan LeMaster-Smith 