Rural Thoughts
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Day 6 – 615 Words
This morning I drove into Charlotte to volunteer with my Charlotte FC supporters group at Second Harvest Food Bank. I was late. It was mostly my fault, but I will blame the wreck in Lincoln County for at least five minutes of my lateness. Our job was sorting food donations. I have never seen so Continue reading
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Day 5 – 571 Words
Today’s writing came in three parts. It involved research. And didn’t prioritize it like I have for the past few days. But I got it done. This is a reminder to re-prioritize. I got distracted by the endless emails, the news, the Twitter bird, and the needs that could have waited. Still, I got it Continue reading
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Day 3 – 713 Words
This morning I received messages from someone who needed several things from me because of something someone else needed from them. It was an issue that was no fault of my own, and I let the person know I was working on a couple other things first. I prioritized my writing and creative work. I Continue reading
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Sanctified Gossip
The story of the woman at the well from John Chapter 4 is a story I used to find annoying. I think, because it was an overdone story about Jesus being Jesus. It gets overused as a salvation story for a way of life that is no longer feels like an issue. Women, in general, Continue reading
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It bears repeating…
One thing rural communities rely on is repetition. Repetition creates consistency, memory, and tradition. This repetition matters, whether it is football of Fridays in the fall, the festival on the first weekend of May, or knowing who to call when someone in the community dies to get the prayer and meal train going. I’ve learned Continue reading
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A Can of Soup
My wife’s Valentine’s Day gift to me was a trip to our local art museum. They just opened an exhibit titled “The Works of Warhol.” For years, Andy Warhol has been my favorite artist. If I am ever in a city and they have an art museum, I always check to see if they have Continue reading
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Holy Week Fragments: 30 Seconds at a Time
Here’s a link to today’s lectionary text – John 13:1-17, 31-35 The commentaries for today’s scripture remind us of a couple things. 1) There is a meal in John, but it is not the Lord’s Supper in the traditional sense but it connects to it. 2) The foot washing is something crucial to community to Continue reading
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Holy Week Fragments: Wednesday
Here is a link to the lectionary reading for today, John 13:21-32 Today’s scripture bothered me. I didn’t want to focus too much on Satan, betrayal and over explaining this. However, since, I’m not alone in my study of scripture, I turn again to commentators. Francis Moloney suggests that the thing we should look toward Continue reading
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Holy Week Fragments: Monday
Today’s Scripture is John 12:1-11. Click here for the link. Mary pours a jar of perfume onto Jesus’ feet and washes his feet with her hair. Judas Iscariot (and likely other disciples) respond that they could have sold the perfume and given it to the poor. Jesus rebukes them and tell them the poor with Continue reading
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Holy Week Fragments: Palm Sunday
As the Scholar in Residence at First UMC, Newton, I challenged the congregation to read the gospel lectionary text for each day of Holy Week and to sit with it. Of course, I am doing this too. I wanted to provide my first thoughts on Holy Week from a rural theologian and Christian educator. Here Continue reading
Jonathan LeMaster-Smith 