HILLSVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN

It’s a very good place to start, the beginning (or so sang Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music )! We’ve gotten a new calendar (if we’re the type to keep a paper one around), one that bears the numbers 2026, and we’re off to the races! A new year! For many of us, a fresh start! We might begin a new exercise routine or a novel dieting regime. Maybe we take on a remodeling project in our home or condo or resolve to shed ourselves of some of the clutter that lurks at the back of

There are all kinds of ruptures in life, aren’t there? To name a few, there are disruptions and interruptions, and even a few eruptions. Most of these “rups” are bumps in the road we’d prefer to avoid. Many of us long for an uninterrupted stretch of time to read or write or reflect or sleep or take care of personal business, especially this time of year… but often that kind of time is hard to come by. Most of us yearn for a life free from disruption, but that’s just not possi

Fallout. It happens. After a bitter argument between siblings, spouses, friends, coworkers, it’s there. Following a rash decision that leads to financial ruin, it’s there. On the heels of betrayed trust or discovered infidelity, it’s there. Like the ashes in the fireplace once the wood has burned, it’s what is left behind. Fallout happens without fail. The outcomes of our words and actions need not be harmful, however. What remains after we say or do something can be impactfu

A participant’s face visibly winced. The seminar was one of those change-your-life-for-the-better through “coaching” and other forms of manipulation deals. He had just been informed that he was living in ways that indicated a five-year-old version of himself was in the driver’s seat. Ouch. No one wants to think that an inexperienced, immature child is in control of the steering wheel of one’s life. Nevertheless, that all we humans are driven cannot be disputed. Rick Warren ha