We Are Done!

"We are done! Woo-hoo!" my brother, Larry, said as he took his last step down from the combine.

Those are sacred words on the lips of any farmer this time of the year but, when they are spoken by one whom you so deeply love and admire, they take on a whole new meaning. Larry is a United States Army Veteran, having served in Viet Nam in some of the deepest darkest times of that conflict, both in the land where he served . . . and in the psyche of the American nation for whom he fought. Larry, like so many of that generation, was drafted, served with honor and bravery, and came back to a mostly ungrateful nation, often derided for his participation in that 'foreign atrocity'. Today, on Veteran's Day 2013, as he stepped off the combine having completed this year's harvest, I was blessed to be there in the yard of the farm to welcome him home all over again, thank him for his service, and remind him of how proud I am of who he is continuing to become in God's grace and strength.

Yes, the mood has changed in the United States concerning the Veterans of the Viet Nam era and for that I am grateful. I am grateful, too, that the Veterans of that era are being welcomed home again, year after year, with a whole new appreciation and I am grateful that the wounds of that distant conflict are being so actively addressed on both a local and national level. It should have been so long, long ago.

Yet, mostly, this day I am grateful for my brother, Larry. To say I am proud of him is comparable to saying I like beautiful sunrises . . . no words can adequately sum up my feelings. At one time we were partners in farming before God called me into ministry, at one time I was the much younger brother and he the older, smarter and more mechanically inclined 'wise one', at one time . . . well, you get it. The one thing which has continued to grow over the years, even as it has with my other two brothers, Carl and Bruce, is that we are, in the truest sense of the word, friends. Friends are those who are numbered on one hand, all others are acquaintances. Larry embodies 'friend' as well as or better than anyone else I know, at least for me, for he intuits where others are on the journey and responds before being called. He lets you know your life matters. He smiles and laughs and the struggles melt away. He embraces you - and in that hug you know you are loved. Friend.
This day one of my closest friends, a Veteran of whom I am especially proud, a brother by blood, has finished the harvest and in his face I see joy. Joy, not only for the completion of harvest, but because as he drove the combine into the yard and saw that I happened to be there, he smiled broadly knowing he would be able to share his latest return home with someone who would welcome him with open arms. Joy, because of God's great and unending abundance and care. Joy, for being family - and the completion of harvest in any year is a family celebration. Joy, simply because it is, we are, a gift of God to each other.
Thank You, God, for the gift of brothers. In Larry, Carl and Bruce, I am deeply blessed, Thank You, too, for the completion of harvest on the Wagner Farm and that, by chance, I was there to welcome Larry home all over again. And thank You, too, for all the Veterans who have stood their watch that we might sleep safely at night . . . may they all know the wonder of Your Presence and feel the truest of Joy in knowing family and friends love them - and are proud of them beyond such words. This was a blessed day, "Woo-hoo! We are done!"