Bethlehem Revisited
- Bethlehem Revisited, Life on the Farm, The Gift of Community, The Gift of People, The Gift of Vision, The Presence of God
Bethlehem Revisited
Ah, life feels more typical these days! Last Sunday, a menagerie of people from young to elderly filled our living /dining area. All of them with vital roles in the planning and execution of Bethlehem Revisited. Shut down for a year; once again, we are planning our annual Christmas event. Bethlehem Revisited is central to much that goes on here at the farm. Our grandchildren have grown up living through all of the stages: planning meetings, workdays, the days of the event, which usually begin early in the day with preparation for that day and into the late hours of closing down for each day, and the final clean-up afterward.…
- Bethlehem Revisited, gifts,giving,thankful,, Life on the Farm, Prayer Walk, The Gift of Community, Uncategorized
“Wokeness” on Kitten Creek
The weather in Kansas can be fickle. Countless times this year, we have watched the threatening clouds bear down on Kitten Creek and then watch in amazement as the storm circles left or to the right and totally misses us. Sooner or later, though, we get the storms. So we prepare. Presently, we are watching the threatening thunderstorms forming in our larger, cultural surroundings. We are not naive. Inevitable cultural pressure is coming (and presently seeping) into the area that surrounds our community. We are preparing. One of the storms forming around us is a “woke” culture, filled with judgment for anyone who is not “woke.” What does a “woke…
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A Dog, A Donkey, and A Soul
As Dakota and I crossed the brome field and headed toward the farm, I glanced over my shoulder. The picture of an upset donkey caused me to hesitate. Don Quixote (Donk) was stomping, throwing his head over the top of the fence, and getting ready for a loud, obnoxious bray. Dakota, the black lab, and Donk have forged an unusual friendship during her short stay with her “grandparents.” It is no secret that I am a soft-touch when it comes to animals. Doubling back, I grabbed Donk’s lead rope and opened the gate. Satisfied that he had been understood, he offered me his chin, and I fastened the rope to his halter.…
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A Glimpse Behind the Scenes
Saturday, December 5, 2015 It has been busy here at the farm all day, as it has for the past four days. The younger tech guys arrived first, showing up by 10:00 this morning, a little later than usual. Dan, as father and director had let them sleep in since they had been busy till after midnight the night before: bedding down all the animals, cleaning clutter from the trails, putting out fires, and returning all the thermoses and food bins to the kitchen. So a little extra sleep in the morning will give them the energy they need to work through the day and evening on our last day.…
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Anticipation Abounds!
Christmas comes early on the farm! Everyone here is knee-deep and prayer-deep in preparing for the thirty-first year of what has become Bethlehem Revisited. Anticipation fills our hearts as we grandparents along with our children and grandchildren are joined by our large community to worship and work together in bringing this narrative to life once again. Costumes hang in the barn separated into categories: Angels, market-place, shepherds, guides, children, Marys, Josephs. We have covered the paths with wood chips ready for hundreds of people to trudge up and down the hills. The tickets that sat in Judd’s office have been distributed to various outlets. Stock pens for all the animals…
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Third Phase: “Swihart Annual Christmas Pageant”
A terrible commotion was coming from behind the cabin. Our guide, Dr. Paddock, the Old Testament prof at Manhattan Christian College, had led our group down the small knoll, the journey lit only by the guide’s lantern. We had approached a small cabin, the staged home of Mary and Joseph. Through the window, we could discern a couple sitting at the table, apparently enjoying their evening meal. Immediately the source of the commotion became clear, as out of the darkness a white horse appeared, running full speed toward the onlookers. Wide-eyed the group gasped in unison. Before charging the onlookers head-on, the wild steed took a sharp left and disappeared…
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The Barn Doors Open (continued from last post)
The audience quieted as the knock came on the large, rolling barn door. Joseph was standing in the darkness. The innkeeper appeared in the large doorway, and Joseph, motioning to a pregnant Mary sitting on a donkey close behind him, began to explain their plight: “Please, sir, can you give us a room for the night? My wife is about to deliver, and we have nowhere to stay.” “Can’t you see,” shouted the surly innkeeper as he turned and waved with a sweeping arm across the audience, “we are full tonight.” Ah, we were finally on track. What was to be an experience of remembrance and worship was beginning to take…
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Oh Holy Night?
Where is peace? Where is it hiding, when our world is overwhelmingly disjointed and we feel the need to hold it together? I was feeling the need to hold things together one December in the early 90’s. Using the land for our Bethlehem story had been a vision of my heart for years. It seemed that God had given us land with the story written into its very geography. I was directing the “performance” of our not-named-yet nativity once again. My gifts do not necessarily lie in directing, but I determined to do my best. Judd, the behind-the scenes’ director was loyally helping me. The majority of our cast that…
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The First Nativity
We led the animals down the road, Judd holding the lead ropes to the horse and pony, and I with my bucket of grain for the sheep. The beam from the flashlight Judd held in his free hand lit the way through the darkness. At the bottom of the hill, we turned in to the pole shed area which had become the designated spot for our first nativity program. The pole shed area boasted of nice round bales that were stored in the shed. Those bales and the old shed would be the perfect area for our endeavor. With a concrete slab near the fence and feeding troughs along…
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The Germ of an Idea
By the second December on our Kansas farm, we had acquired two horses and a few sheep. Many evenings in the dark, I would walk to the barn, fill the grain buckets, toss some hay, break the ice in the water tanks, and then stand and enjoy the scene that played out before me. After the first general excitement of feeding time, the animals would settle down to contentedly nibbling at their hay. In the quiet, I leaned against the gate to the barnyard and gazed at the scene before me. My mind went back to those unique celebrations we had experienced in California. Polished programs drew thousands. We would…