An off-topic but relevant post by Jonathan

Early in the morning, before the sun can touch the dew, two farmers walk the narrow roads out to their fields. They have always been farmers, like their fathers and mothers before them. But they are not alike. One loves her field, loves her work, loves Gods gifts that come through her little plot. To her, the farm is alive, and she herself is part of it. The other sows begrudgingly and waits impatiently and harvests without gratitude. To her the plot is an object, a means, and she does not spend time there if she has a choice. The affectionate farmer will observe the field, see what grows, smell the soil, watch the seasons. She is attentive and will adapt her ways as the field asks her to. The dismissive farmer, on the other hand, will be blind to her field: she will plow when the soil is too wet, water on schedule regardless of rain, and not know the difference between good bugs and bad bugs. The affectionate farmer is a dynamic farmer, a farmer who will make mistakes and learn from them, a farmer who will be satisfied with good work. The begrudging farmer looks for opportunities to take shortcuts, does what she has always done, and suffers the work she must do.

“All work is empty save when there is love; And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.” 1 In this parable it is the attentive, dynamic farmer that works with love, who's work is a labor of love. We are called by God that is Love to enter into God's work like the affectionate farmer.

We are like the dynamic farmer when we join those who came before, who heard God speak “behold, I will do something new”: behold, I've created out of nothing; behold, I go before you, travel light; behold, I have made you a people; behold, I AM, even without a Temple; behold, my mercy extends even to your captors; behold, I come to you helpless; behold, death will not have the last say; behold, you are free from appeasing Me (and each other). Behold, New Heavens and a New Earth.

This is our story: the story of a dynamic God coming to us, speaking to us, saving us, in ways expected and unexpected. We belong in this story where God does something new. Even our individual lives reflect our Makers dynamic nature. I am not who I was twenty, five, or even one year ago. Neither are our friendships or families or marriages. Neither are our congregations or our towns. The ancients named the dynamic nature of the world when they said “you cannot step into the same river twice”2.

So it is with love (and because of Love) that we seek to become like the affectionate farmer who understands that the field is alive. We, like the farmer, belong to a tradition that has an open posture. She is attuned to things that she knows, like the coming of the seasons and the names of the seeds. But she is also on the lookout for things she has not seen before. Because she loves her field and is part of it, she will seek out ways to be a better farmer. In our modern age, we call this “life-long learning”, but don't be fooled by the sterile-sounding name: it is nothing short of love for our fields.

However, most of us are not farmers and our “love being attentive” can look many different ways. Maybe its more time in silent places that sharpens our senses, maybe its the stimulation of books and schooling. A hobby that is far out of our comfort zone might shed light on our work. Or a mentor might guide show us a direction in which we can grow. Trying to find common ground with someone that we “can't relate to” might sharpen our eyes to see how the Spirit is at work.

Whatever the path, whatever the field, we will act faithfully as we grow attentive to the new things that God is doing in our midst. May the God who causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust give us eyes to see and courage to join in to the coming forth of the New Heavens and New Earth.

1 From The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
2 Heraclitus of Ephesus

Respectfully, Johnathan Schlabach