Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – May 2019, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

Does your hamper spark joy? Yes, the hamper that holds your dirty jeans. Although this question may seem odd, it's one that Marie Kondo of the "KonMari Method" would ask. Named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People, Kondo is a professional organizer and bestselling author of several books. Kondo's series of books on "tidying up" and "sparking joy" have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Her Netflix series has sparked a decluttering craze leading to an influx of donations to charities including Goodwill and Salvation Army.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – April 2019, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

Breaking News!! World leader relinquishes absolute power back to the people. Can you imagine that headline on a newspaper today?

As unlikely as it seems in today's political environment, that is exactly what George Washington did at the start of the newly formed United States of America.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – March 2019, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

Growing up we believe anything is possible. We dream of piloting spaceships or protecting our fellow citizens from crime. Now, with modern surgery, we can even become space elves.

A recent episode of Botched featured a man who wanted to look like a space age version of Legolas from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – February 2019, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

Does it ever seem like most everyone is living a perfect life except you?

In our social media age, we are bombarded with images and videos of people experiencing their best times. We scroll endlessly through pages and pages of people on elaborate vacations, going on glamorous dates and generally doing the things we wish we were doing.

Sometimes, these images encourage us; we genuinely celebrate the success of those we hold most dear and are delighted to see they are doing well.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – January 2019, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"New year, new me!"

The time of the year has come where many seek to reinvent themselves. The gyms are full, the resolutions are made and people are hoping to finally realize lasting results! Every year we tell ourselves, "This is the year I will be a new me!"

Even though 95 percent of resolutions go unfulfilled, it is at least a step in the right direction. While seeing ourselves with fresh eyes is important, it can be even more important to see old issues through new eyes. One old, worn out issue is the pro-life/pro-choice controversy. The March for Life in Washington D.C. is on Friday, January 18th. At that march, tens of thousands will meet at the Capital to stand up for the lives of the unborn and speak on their behalf.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – June 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"All get what they want; they do not always like it." Aslan, the lion in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, spoke this in reference to Jadis, an evil queen who gained immortality by eating a magical fruit. Many times, we humans get what we want but, in the end, we don’t always like it. We long for that house, or that car, but as soon as we have it, poof! The novelty wears off and buyer’s remorse sets in!

This is especially evident in the area of entertainment. We seek amusement by spending hours a day – by some estimates as many as seven hours a day – in front of the blue glow of our televisions, computers, and smartphones.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – May 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors who ever lived, was a surprisingly poor student in school.  At the age of seven, Edison had only spent a few months in a cramped one-room schoolhouse when his teachers felt that educating him in a school setting was of little use.

Edison’s mother decided to homeschool the young inventor, who attributed much of his success to her sacrifice and training.  In fact, he later said, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint."

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – April 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"We will NOT be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

On August 28, 1963, standing before an audience of 250,000 with millions more watching on television, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uttered these words during his immortalized "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – March 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

In 1942, the Nazis forced hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews into a 16-block area that became known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Sealed off from the rest of the city and unable to purchase adequate food and medicine, nearly 5,000 Polish Jews died each month in that ghetto.

Watching thousands of children starve or die of illnesses like typhoid, Irena Sendler, a young Polish Social Worker, began to smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, and relocate them to households, orphanages, and convents elsewhere in Poland. She smuggled children in gunnysacks, body bags, in the bottoms of crates of goods, potato sacks, and even coffins. Once, Sendler even hid a small baby in the bottom of a mechanic’s toolbox.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – February 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"Many a man’s tongue broke his nose."

Oh, the truth in these words from the 16th century English poet Seamus MacManus!

The human tongue is perhaps the single most significant muscle in the entire body. With it, wars have been averted and waged, relationships lost and won, physical violence avoided and, in the MacManus’ observation, incited.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – January 2017, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

For nearly an hour, they barely uttered a word.

A married couple was out for a lovely dinner. Although they sat across from one another, they never spoke or had eye contact. Instead, both were smiling down at their phones as they scrolled through their social media feeds.

The scene is not entirely uncommon. We have all seen people, or perhaps we are the people, who walk, eat, and even drive with the blue glow of our smartphones incessantly reflected on our faces.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – December 2016, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"I am looking for a great warrior!"

Addressing an odd-looking, sickly green and wrinkled creature, Luke Skywalker announced his quest to find the mighty leader of the Jedi.

Never in that galaxy far, far away did Skywalker imagine that the very same puppet-like creature was the mighty Yoda of the Jedi. Luke’s notion of what greatness looked like simply did not match up with this little green Yoda!

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – November 2016, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." H.U. Westermayer

As we gather with family later this month to celebrate Thanksgiving, we may not at first remember that four entire Pilgrim families did not survive that first grueling winter of 1620. As we heap our plates with food, and enjoy Tryptophan-induced slumber, we may not immediately realize that 13 out of 18 Pilgrim mothers died of starvation, choosing to give their meager rations to their starving children.

Living Stones Series: First Published in All Around Old Bridge Publication – October 2016, Pastor Lloyd Pulley

The Township of Old Bridge, along the banks of the Raritan, was once a prized summer destination.

It’s true!

The first residents of Old Bridge, the Lenni Lenape Native Americans, came to Old Bridge from the north each summer to fish and hunt. Over the centuries, countless others, including the British and the Dutch, have been drawn to this area for agricultural, commercial, and recreational pursuits.