June 5, 2026
Opinion
Blessed Assurance – Taking sides
O ur world is divided. This is neither new nor startling news. Truth-be-told, our world has always been divided.
A late ‘thank you’ to a Louisa comedy legend
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” fractured my brain as a young adolescent.
Thoughts from the Crossroads – Rebranding
If you get to hang around this planet long enough, you’ll notice that most things get rebranded sooner or later. For example, my grandmother wore a girdle.
Hugh Hammond Bennett
Why does land wear out? Hugh Hammond Bennett found out in Louisa County. The misunderstood problem of agricultural land use in early America led farmers who tilled the soil to just move on to better land because there were limits with repetitive tillage and deteriorating soil quality. Things changed in 1905. Hugh Bennett and another soil scientist compared adjoining land parcels with identical soils and differing production capability. One parcel was forested; the other cultivated. The forested parcel has never been cultivated; the other parcel had been tilled and planted year after year. Surely, Bennett thought, the soils were identical in the beginning. What changed? The difference was erosion throughout the cultivated parcel with accompanying loss of topsoil. Bennett studied soils in the United States and in other countries to reach his conclusion that soil erosion was a serious and unappreciated problem for the planet and all who live on it.
Reflection
Every Sunday I provide for my congregants a time of reflection. This is a term that I use instead of the standard preacher lingo “sermon”. I actually borrowed the term from one of my Lay Leaders who said that she didn’t feel comfortable giving a sermon, as she wasn’t a trained pastor. Therefore, she thought that the word “reflection” was more in keeping with what she was doing with regard to the scripture readings for that week. I thought about it for a moment or two and had to agree with her that I was reflecting on what God had spoken to me through the scriptures each week as well.
What tipped you off, Perry?
We have a modest TV satellite plan and no subscription or streaming services, so we get a very basic package of programming. Sometimes I get envious when friends talk about outstanding series they follow, but frankly, we are just not going to spend the money. No, we continue to watch the basics, some ESPN, and reruns.
Musings on the month of May
“Once in a blue moon,”as an expression, speaks to a rare event. It rolls off the tongue much more easily than ‘once in a total solar eclipse’. Two full moons in a month is not as spectacular as the moon blocking the sun but May will start and end with a Full Moon and both of them are a bit unusual.
Leaven
Acouple of times a year the men of one of my churches gather in the church kitchen (yes, we have special permission from the kitchen overseers). We get together to make cinnamon rolls to sell at the annual Bazaar and every other year for the Yard Sale. These rolls are popular with folks because they have a unique recipe - they are made from a yeast dough. Because of the special properties of yeast, the rolls come out light and chewy (unless we add too much flour).