Look Around

By Matt Horan

When we started our trip out West between our Seminole Heights United Methodist and Heritage United Methodist appointments, we drove on our first day to St. Louis, Missouri.  After all, that’s where so many of the famous explorations began, and so many gold rush or land rush hopefuls started their journeys.  It felt like a fitting beginning for the Horans’ trip West.

The most dominant feature you notice when you approach St. Louis is the famous Gateway Arch.  The stainless steel arch was completed in 1965 as a celebration of the pioneering spirit that gave courage to those who ventured West into the hopeful, yet unknown and untamed terrain.  When I stood under it and looked west across the mighty Mississippi River, the sky out there looks big.  I can only imagine what it must have been like to embark on the journey that would have awaited the hopeful travelers who stood on that spot 160 years ago, and who came to represent the courageous march of American progress now celebrated by the towering arch.

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Something So Alive

By Matt Horan

On almost all of our hikes during out trip out west last month, I found myself lagging far behind my family because of the trees. I found them a fascinating reminder that life is a powerful thing that does not go away quietly.

I can’t tell you how many trees in Yellowstone National Park—known as a place of constantly shifting grounds and landscapes—had to somehow adjust to some geological or meteorological phenomenon, yet were still alive. Some were literally upside down, some were jutting out of the sides of cliffs horizontally, and some had been burned badly in a forest fire—but they were still alive.

At other times, I’d be walking along and see a tree doing something so strange that I simply could not figure out how it got that way. Have a look to the left—this is one of those trees.

The Horans at Seminole Heights

By Matt Horan

Yesterday was a hard day for the Horans.  After five years of calling Seminole Heights United Methodist our home, the time had come to share with our congregation that God’s call was taking us someplace new.

In July of 2013, Jenna was going into the 7th grade, and Ashley 4th.  We weren’t sure what to expect in the coming years for our church or our family, but we know now that it has been a beautiful and joyful five years in Seminole Heights.

“Science Mike” on the Motivations and Effects of Social Media

Click on this note from Twitter in order to read the whole thread.  Reading this will be 45 seconds very well spent!

Research is increasingly clear that social media has more negative consequences for most people's mental health that positive ones. Here's a few things that I've found helpful in my approach to social media: (thread)

— Science Mike (@mikemchargue) March 6, 2018