Pastor Don's Ponderings

Driving along on a nearby country road the other day, I saw these two bald eagles in a tree back from the road. In the distance you can see their nest. Stopping to look, then to snap this picture, it occurred to me that we human beings make life far too difficult. Even the raptors among us understand that, once in a while, you have to stop your soaring, hunting and working, and just sit and enjoy the day. Enjoy the day. What a novel idea! Enjoy the day. Raised on a dairy farm where, as Dad would often say it, "There is never a lack of things to do", I was taught from early on to feel guilty if I just stopped to enjoy the day. My work ethic has driven me in farming, as a student, in ministry and, even now, in retirement: There is never a lack of things to do. What is it that, at least for some of us, our inherent value is directly linked to our capacity to 'do'? The idea of taking time to sit on a branch not far from home and enjoy the day is antithetical to becoming t...

Storms swept through the area a little while ago and, as I went out to check the rain gauge, a wry smile crossed my face as I wondered how this would be reported by the area farmers. Looking at the gauge I mused: The realist would report that we had eight tenths of an inch of rain; The optimist would report that we had eight tenths of an inch, yet the way the ditches were running we probably had a bit more than that, but the gauge just couldn't get an accurate measurement; and, The pessimist would report that we received less than an inch of rain, even though God knew we needed more in anticipation of Spring planting. It is all a matter of perspective, mixed with a sense of relationship to the dynamic world in which we live, and liberally side-dressed with enough 'one-ups-man-ship' so as to appear sufficiently knowledgeable without giving away an unspoken bias. How much rain a farmer either receives or needs at any one moment on the farm is generally directly related t...