Rain on a Mown Field
Author: The Rev. Dr. David Bridges, Priest
July 14, 2021
I was driving through NE Oklahoma the other day looking
out at what seemed like thousands of acres of grass. It was about 2-3 feet tall
and waving in the breeze. Then I saw a field that had been mown and baled.
There looked like hundreds of large, round bales
scattered across a thousand acres of golden stubble. What had been green grass
was now golden hay, and it will feed livestock through the winter. This was the
middle of July and, with enough rain, there would be time to produce another
mowing or two.
Without enough rain, the grass cannot grow to produce
sufficient hay for the winter, and that will mean a difficult time for the
farmer. There are times in all of our lives when we feel like the mown grass;
cut-down and dry. We wish for rain to quench the thirst of our hearts when the
scorching heat of trouble beats-down on us.
In these times we feel unable to grow spiritually, and may
even believe there is no hope for our future. The unexpected loss of a loved
one. Turmoil in our own lives. A sudden, unfavorable diagnosis. These are but a
sampling of the times we feel cut-down and dried-out.
Yet, those bales of hay represent possibilities for the
future. Although the grass has been cut, dried and baled, it contains nutrition
for future life. Although we may feel cut, dried and baled, we contain the
possibilities of the future.
We are constantly being invited to re-create ourselves in
response to events and changes in our lives. I was in undergraduate school in
the late 1970’s when the university started to transition from paper ledgers to
computer-based bookkeeping.
I recall a room with rows of desks, occupied by
bookkeepers. The last time I saw them they were clearing out their desks with
tears in their eyes. Their occupations had been eliminated as they were being
replace by computers.
There was an initiative by the university to provide new
career training for these displaced workers. Many of them did learn new skills
and begin new careers. Others decided to take early retirement.
Remember, when one door closes, another opens, and often
multiple doors open. The end of one season of life is not the end of the story,
it is an invitation to write a new chapter. Likewise, the end of this fleshly
life is not the end of life.
God is all about new beginnings. Like rain on a mowed
field, God showers us with grace to grow and prosper. When we feel like the
mown grass, cut, dried and baled, we can be assured of God’s plan to re-create
us for the next chapter.
“… we have known and believe the love that God has for
us. God is love, and those who reside in love reside in God, and God resides in
them.” (1 John 4:16)
Blessings and Peace to you
All,
Fr.
David+
BACK