Unexpected Surprise

The other day I had the great joy and fearsome responsibility of applying anhydrous ammonia (a nitrogen fertilizer) to standing corn, a process which requires a great deal of attention to detail and orientation in the field, so I spent very little time looking around at the scenery: the acres I had to cover, the machinery I was operating, and the task at hand was quite enough to keep me occupied. Yet, as the day neared evening and the creatures of the woods began to poke their heads out of their hiding places, there appeared, near the end of a field I was working in, a deer, a big, tawny, deep-bodied deer, eating in the tall grass near the woods.

At about 200 yards, the deer appeared to be a big doe, "Probably has a fawn hiding nearby while she checks out the commotion", I thought as I neared at about a 30 degree angle from where the deer stood. Then, when I was about 50 yards out, the 'doe' raised its head from feeding and there in front of me stood a handsome 10 point buck, calmly chewing and watching me as I neared with tractor, applicator and nurse tank at a speed of around 7 to 8 miles an hour. He never moved from where he stood. He just kept chewing on what he was eating and watched me as I neared the headland, shifted down, lifted the applicator, made the turn, dropped the applicator, and shifted back up for the long drive up the field again. I was within about 50 feet of him and he never moved, his majestic, growing, 10 point, velvet covered rack, taunting me the entire time I passed by with a wonderful side-view of his deep-bodied frame and, conservatively guessing, somewhere around 200 pound field-dressed proportions. I was salivating and he could care less. He knew he was safe and he knew I wasn't stopping with that rig to watch him.

The next time down the field he had moved about 25 feet or so to a small watering hole in a ditch and was taking a drink. This time, as I shifted down, lifted up, and began my turn, I throttled down and stopped to 'count points' and watch him. He lifted up his head, looked at me, drank a bit more, then slowly began to walk to the other side of the ditch, pausing to take a bite or two of grass as he moved. It was an absolutely breathtaking and thrilling sight, and there I was, with not a bit of Mossy Oak camouflage on me, wondering where he would be on opening day when I would be ready to hunt for him. Chances are, he won't be anywhere near that ditch or that bit of woods but, then, he might. Hmmmmmmm.

As I throttled the tractor back up and eased into the next pass of applying anhydrous, I thanked God for that beautiful sight, that unexpected surprise and delight at the end of a long and tedious day, a day which was leaving every muscle in my body aching with tension and my eyes bleary from counting rows and focusing on staying straight with my rig. There, in the midst of all the strain and toil of daily cares; there, in the heart of 'getting everything done quickly and efficiently'; there, in the press to reach the goal and claim the prize: There stood God's natural commentary on all that humanity deems important - a gorgeous buck eating grass at the edge of a woods and taking a drink from a waterway. "Do I not provide for all of the beasts of the field?" I heard God ask, "So, too, will I provide for you."

I am not sure where the tears came from, but I was glad no one else was there in the tractor with me. So many times we allow ourselves to be owned, even consumed, by our need to get everything done in a particular way, on a particular schedule, and in a particular manner that no-one else can duplicate, that we miss the wonder and joy of the world around us. We are so easily lured into believing the world cannot get along without our efforts that we make the lives of those around us a living hell in building the kingdom in our own image. In this one, humble, quiet gesture, God reminded me that I am a part of God's universal vision, not the culmination of it. We are called to contribute our gifts and talents to the care and proclamation of God's Good News to all the world, not be the ultimate definition of it. That job is already taken and Jesus is quite capable of being Savior for all, thank you very much.

Pushing the extra hours to get everything done in a rain-delayed Spring planting season may make exceptionally good sense to nearly every farmer you talk to and, I am reasonably certain, God's care and rewards for those folks and their efforts is expressed in unwavering steadfast love all the days of their lives, but I do have to wonder if the end justifies the means when, in the push to get everything done, little time is taken in the heart of the farmer, God's peculiar steward of the earth, to savor the call, the vocation, to which God has called them, regardless of the weather or the conditions. It is something to ponder as the tawny colored buck of immense frame and beauty walks across the neighboring bean field disappearing from sight as he goes, again, into the woods. It is something to ponder as I push the throttle forward and focus my eyes once more on the acres which still need to be covered. Maybe that is why the tears began to fall.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don