{"id":96846,"date":"2023-07-16T17:59:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T21:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=96846"},"modified":"2023-07-16T17:59:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T21:59:36","slug":"a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">One of the joys that many of us remember from childhood is being outside in nature; riding a bike down the street, running home quickly in the rain, going hiking in a state park, playing by a creek, or simply playing outside with friends until it was dark.&nbsp;As adults, many of us still enjoy the beauty of creation; we listen for the birdsongs, we feel the cool of a summer breeze, we notice nature in our backyards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This coming Sunday, July 16, many churches will share a common lectionary reading from Matthew 16, Jesus\u2019 parable of the Sower.&nbsp;Here Jesus uses common insights about how seeds grow or not and relates them to the Christian life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Nature: Our First Way of Knowing God&nbsp;<\/i>is a new study resource&nbsp;&nbsp;developed by Wesley Seminary: &#8220;Long before there were synagogues, churches or even the Bible, God made God\u2019s self known through the creation. The Scriptures are packed full of examples of people coming to understand God through the fig tree, the sparrow, violent storms, and of course Living Waters.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Today, many of us have \u201cmoved inside\u201d and spend far less time in nature.&nbsp;Yet, deep within us, we still have an understanding that we depend on God\u2019s gift of creation to help us live and thrive.&nbsp;We also have a deep uneasiness that we are hurting this planet we call home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This seven-week study is an opportunity to reconnect with nature and with our Creator, and to reflect on how we can better live in harmony with the God\u2019s earth.&nbsp;A small group will be starting the week of July 16; look for details at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.owegofpuc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.owegofpuc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I saw a recent cartoon with a child holding a seashell with the parent saying, \u201cIf you hold it to your ear, you can hear the earth crying out for mercy.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Sadly the news reminds us that creation is truly in trouble. On June 7, the Owego Air Quality Index was reported by federal and state agencies \u201cAirNow\u201d website \/ app to be 444 (201-300 is rated \u201cVery Unhealthy\u201d and 301-500 is \u201cHazardous\u201d) from the Canadian wildfires. We are not alone.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe world is hotter than it\u2019s been in thousands of years, and it\u2019s as if all the alarm bells on Earth were ringing.\u201d&nbsp;(W<i>ashington Post,&nbsp;<\/i>July 12.)&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Just listen to the news or listen to relatives who live in other places; pay attention to the warning signs in the severe flooding in Vermont,&nbsp;the scorching heat in the South, in the rising ocean temperatures that are killing sea life, and throughout our world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Nature is trying to teach us; we all need to learn more quickly and act quickly to counter climate change as individuals, churches, communities, a state, the nation and the world so coming generations can enjoy God\u2019s wonderful world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Bruce Gillette is the Parish Associate Pastor (new title) at the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, and Moderator of the Presbyterians for Earth Care <a href=\"https:\/\/presbyearthcare.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/presbyearthcare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the joys that many of us remember from childhood is being outside in nature; riding a bike down the street, running home quickly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":95664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the joys that many of us remember from childhood is being outside in nature; riding a bike down the street, running home quickly...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-16T21:59:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/\",\"name\":\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-16T21:59:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Pictured are Bruce and Carolyn Gillette.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"One of the joys that many of us remember from childhood is being outside in nature; riding a bike down the street, running home quickly...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2023-07-16T21:59:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/","name":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-16T21:59:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Faith_Column.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Pictured are Bruce and Carolyn Gillette."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/07\/16\/a-pastors-thoughts-learning-from-nature\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Learning from Nature"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96847,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96846\/revisions\/96847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}