Re-Collecting in the Pasture

Today I needed to walk the old familiar trail in the pasture again.The thoughts and feelings swirling in my mind and heart were and are disconcerting. Thirty-eight years ago, this pasture was new to me. My body was younger. I was filled with anticipation of what could be, Things in the world were . . . just different. Yes, we were on a down-swing in our culture, but there was hope of changing it.

Yesterday we were young, God was with us, we could carry out the vision under God’s direction. We were a community with one heart.

Today, we are not so young. Our  community living here is of one heart. Our old community is a little splintered. Some have gone left, some have stayed right.

Why do divisions occur? That is my conundrum today. When we are guided by the same Spirit, should we not be of one mind?

Perhaps the enemy is not us, but the Enemy who uses our weaknesses, our blind spots, our idols and will exploits them to weaken the Body of Christ. We can defend what we FEEL  is right. We can stake our lives on what we have figured out. (The wisdom of man is foolishness with God, we are told.) Thus, we can lose sight of the most important, become divided,  and lose the battle.

As I  left the pasture and headed back home I noticed the Troyer’s chickens were beginning to bed down for the night. The sun had gone over the hill on their side  the road. Lining up side-by-side on a post in the barn, they were announcing that it was time to roost. My chickens were far  from the hill, and the sun was still shining where they were. They were continuing to wander around looking for more food. Eventually, the sun will go behind the hill for them, also, and they will go into their pen for the night.

It’s just a matter of time.