First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso

With the heat and humidity that we've been experiencing here in Indiana in August, I'm reminded of what we used to call the "Dog Days" of summer. According to the Farmers Almanac, some people think of it as those hot humid days of summer "not fit for a dog" or days that make dogs go mad. But actually it turns out that the term Dog Days was coined by the ancient Romans and the phrase is actually a reference to the fact that, during this time, the Sun occupies the same region o

On a recent morning I woke up earlier than usual and took my cup of coffee out onto the back deck. It was quiet other than the morning bird calls. As the sun rose, the colors of the sky brightened and became a rich mix of blue scattered with white, gray pink and purple. A gray-blue heron flapped its great wings and settled next to the pond to watch for its breakfast. The greens and blues and multicolored flowers felt like a gift spread out for anyone who noticed. Philosophe

A note: As you may know, I've been posting a four-week series on overcoming fear, on the church Facebook page. Below is the text for the third reflection. Since it was due on the same day as this blog entry, I decided to share this slightly shortened version with you here. When I was a kid, I was scared of grasshoppers. I hated their creepy mouths and their scratchy legs. If it's August in southern Indiana, they're everywhere. My sisters and I played in the fields behind our

Trigger Warning... some nostalgia ahead. In 1967, Sonny & Cher had a tune entitled "The Beat Goes On" with these opening lyrics... "And the beat goes on, the beat goes on, drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain, La de da de de, la de da de da." I am not exactly sure how it happened but that song title popped into my head today as I was again reading the NWI Times and COVID-19 Update that appears each and every day in the paper. It is a daily ritual for me to look at that

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly resp