…”One of our ‘jobs’ was riding in the wagons as we picked corn. The weather was always chilly, and the air would be full of the smells of crushed cornstalks, milkweed and tractor exhaust. (To this day, the smell of diesel smoke takes me back to those days!)”…
I don’t often use this format to talk about personal issues… I’m going to today.
I don’t often use this format to address political issues (Though Some may dispute that…)… I’m going to today…
I don’t often mix politics and religion… but I’m going to today…
I have not posted on here for some weeks now. It has been about a year-and-a-half since health issues kept me from attending services and participating in events, etc. at the little UMC church I was a member of at the time. And given the internal struggles occurring in that denomination over something that Should be a simple matter of reading and accepting the Truths written in the ‘Breathed Word of God’, I found myself resisting being a part of all of that even after my physical condition improved enough that I might have returned. Indeed, I have often felt that I’ve reached more people who actually Listen through posting my thoughts on here… in Spite of F@c3b00k! and others doing all that they can to block my getting Out to them?!
Still, life goes on…
As I write this the counting is still continuing 5 days after what we call our ‘Mid-term Elections’… And I can only say that, given the current condition of our country and our world, I am very disappointed in the ‘results’ to this point… and in the delays! Just as an example, to look at a county-by-county map of the election results in my state of Illinois, I would guess-ta-mate at least 95% of the geographical state voted one way, but due to the overwhelming populations in the major cities and their general dependence on government, the ‘state’ went to them! Our system is breaking down!
Due to government interference our supply chain has been suffering for two years now and, by most reports, is about to fail. Personally, we have tried to prepare as best we can… but even at that the best we could hope for is a few months after it does… IF we can manage to hang-on to what we have!
And in MY mind, the root of All of this is ‘man’s’ failure to Worship and Obey the Lord!?! To paraphrase what an instructor of mine once taught, ‘To Follow God’s Word is to Obey the natural Order of the Universe!’ So, of course, the reverse would be that to Disobey, or simply ignore, the Will and Word of God leads to dis-order… and chaos! ‘Which is where we find ourselves today!
However…
I DO believe in the Power of God!
I DO believe in the Power of Prayer!
I DO believe in the Power of Love!
…and so, because of all of that…
I DO believe that we have the Power change this world back to what God had intended it to be!?!
So… to that end, let me read, verbatim, the article I wrote for the November 2002 issue of the monthly newsletter I put together for some years back then. Before I do, though, let me remind you that this was one year after the attacks and destruction of the ‘Twin Towers’ in New York and the Pentagon, along with the downing of a 4th aircraft and the resulting deaths from that…
Knee high by the Fourth of July! That’s how they used to determine if that year’s corn crop was doing all right or not. These days, a person could get lost in most cornfields by the Fourth of July…it’s that tall! Harvest seems to come much sooner these days than it used to, as well. Between new seed technologies and modern farming practices and machinery, some crops are coming out of the field in August, and in a good year, almost all fields are bare, and many are worked up, by the end of September. This certainly wasn’t the case when I was a youngster growing up in Hartford!
As best I recall, September was when we would start checking out equipment. Our New Idea one-row corn-picker and homemade barge wagons were for the corn, while the new Case combine (well, it was new when we bought it!) would be changed from wheat settings to bean. Usually, most, if not all, of the corn was done by Halloween. (I remember because people would always call around that time to see if we had any cornstalks they could get for party decorations. Sometimes we did, sometimes they had all already been run through the corn-picker.) And the beans were always just a little later than the corn. I can remember working, some years, in the snow to get out the last of the crops, and I recall our neighbor at Edwardsville waiting for the ground to freeze hard enough to support his combine in January, but normally, everything would be done by Thanksgiving, thus giving us true cause to celebrate the holiday (and the excuse for this story!).
My brother and I were, by far, the oldest grandkids on that side of the family. And as such, we were the only ones to ever really ‘participate’ in a full harvest season before Grandpa retired from full-time farming. One of our ‘jobs’ was riding in the wagons as we picked corn. The weather was always chilly, and the air would be full of the smells of crushed cornstalks, milkweed and tractor exhaust. (To this day, the smell of diesel smoke takes me back to those days!) In between trying to hang on as we bounced across washouts and ditches and dodging the ears as they were thrown out of the picker into the wagon, we would pull shucks off of some of the ears that the machine had missed. Being brothers, we would then start shelling them and throw the kernels at one another.
Riding on the combine was a different story. There were no little jobs to do, just ride and stay out of the way. Our combine was THE last Case built with the operator’s platform on the right-hand side. The next year’s models were all on the left, like everyone else’s by then, and ours was the last serial number of that year! There were no cabs then, and safety shields were mostly still in the future. The small operator’s area was taken up by the seat, steering wheel, shift levers, speed control, throttle, clutch and hydraulic controls, etc. etc. etc…everything, then, was controlled manually. So the only place for my brother and I to ride was in the grain tank, which was right next to the operator! This was only a tiny fraction of the size of today’s machines, but a small child might have been covered up if not careful. On top of that, the unloading auger lay at the very bottom of the sloped walls, and could easily ‘gobble up’ anything that got into it. We were both old enough that neither presented a problem (we could easily hold ourselves up to the edge of the tank, and could get out ourselves if needed) but the practice was to set each of us out of the tank and off of the machine before the grain was augured off. One time, however, Grandma had driven up just as Grandpa was pulling up to the truck to unload. He lined up, turned on the unloading auger and jumped off to see what she needed. Mike and I were still in the tank! We looked at each other…and grinned ear-to-ear! We knew we should have gone ahead and climbed out on our own…we knew the danger…but neither of us was worried about it. We knew we could hold ourselves up out of the way, and decided to have ‘fun’ with it!
As the last of the grain worked out of the tank and the rotating spiral of the auger became visible, we both started screaming ‘help – help’ and pounding our feet on the sides of the tank like we were slipping. We were both laughing so hard it was difficult to shout ‘help’, but Grandpa didn’t see that! Hearing us scream and realizing what he had done, he ran up the ladder, shutdown the entire machine and lifted us out of the tank. Mike and I were laughing hysterically by now, but he wasn’t. When he realized that we were all right he sent us home with Grandma. Despite our protests, we never did get to ride on the combine again!
Isn’t it funny how different people can react differently to the same fears? My brother and I knew the dangers of the situation we were in, but saw it as an exciting challenge…Grandpa, on the other hand, knew of the very same dangers and feared for our lives! People living in the Washington D.C. area have been in fear of their lives over the past few weeks, while those of us farther away have probably feared for the security and future of our country. The chief priests and rulers of Jerusalem feared the power and might of Rome more than they feared the power and might of God, and saw Jesus as the catalyst to bringing all of their worse fears to life…yet we Christians see Him as the source of our salvation! And over the course of the last year or so, we have all learned to deal with new fears that most never considered before, as well as some old ones that have resurfaced.
On a Wednesday night early in October over one-hundred-and-fifty Christians opted to face some of those fears head-on as Wesley Chapel hosted the Jacksonville Area Counsel of Churches’ panel forum on Islam. Due to the overflow crowd, I didn’t get to hear each of the panelists’’ opening remarks, but I heard enough of them, and of the open question-and-answer period that followed, to gain a small insight into their religion. And, while I do not accept their beliefs, I can understand that those who use it to justify their acts of violence are deluding themselves… for one thing that it does share with Christianity is a philosophy of peace.
In a number of places, Jesus said, “Let those who have ears hear!” Hopefully, all who were there with open ears that night came away with this understanding…while it’s true that most of today’s terrorists claim to be Muslim, not all Muslims are terrorists! Therefore, it is wrong to fear all Muslims out-of-hand!
In 1 John 4:16-19 we read:
“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.
“Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that His love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of His loving us first.” (NLT)
As we sit down with our families to enjoy this year’s Thanksgiving feast, let us each be aware of all of the things that we do NOT have to fear. Most of us have no fear of hunger…God has provided. Most of us have no fear of being alone…God has provided. And most of us should have no fear of death…because God has provided His only Son as our Savior! Amen.
ADDENDUM: It is amazing how much has changed in the 20 years since that was written! As I near my 7th decade of life on this plain I find myself sometimes rethinking many of the ‘beliefs’, ‘ideals’, and even ‘foundational standards’ that I might have held through the years. These might be as profound as realizing that ‘Ford’ automobiles & trucks Might not be the Only ones to own (😊) or as simple as changing what my favorite TV show, book, or movie might be. I Have noted, however, that, as I look back at my life, there are a Number of things that I felt very proud of or strongly believed in that time that have taken-on far less importance or meaning in my ‘world’ today. I have also noted that this added age has also caused me to change or, at last modify, many of the thoughts I once held as sacrosanct!
To that end, I find that I MUST add, here, Jesus’ words from John 10, verse 9, (from the NIV) “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” And in John 14, verse 6, again from the NIV we read, “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
As I have stated on Many occasions, we are to LOVE EVERYONE! But… The Strongest love that I can show any person is to try to lead them to the love, understanding, and acceptance of Christ!!
And IF we ALL will commit to doing That very thing… If we All will Love our fellow travelers through this life and Teach them, and Obey ourselves, the Truths contained in God’s Word… then God will see us through Whatever evils Satan might throw at us… Whether they be from our neighbors… our leaders… our government… or even the actual End-of-the-World… The Follower’s of Christ will survive!?!
Amen
scluebbert 