Yesterday , by the end of the day, blue skies prevailed and hope emerged.
But the morning was something else.
The day before I noticed a field that was growing a soybean crop, and yet there were stalks leftover from a previous harvested crop still there. I wondered why the farmer had left the old remains when planting seeds for a new crop. That thought returned in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias.
Yesterday morning many awoke to the sounds of alerts that a tornado was likely and now was the time to take cover. Winds and rain from Hurricane Isaias – which was now a tropical storm – had created a new danger – tornados. Truthfully, I slept through most of that. But it happened none the less. Winds like freight trains and driving rains kept us in our place. And when it was over, we saw the damage. Uprooted trees, damaged and destroyed homes, fallen power lines, and damaged crops. In a neighbor’s garden, some of h is red bell peppers were blown completely off the plant while others remained.
As I went to check on a member of the church whose home was intact amidst the uprooted, fallen trees and piles of fallen boughs. I walked over to the edge of the yard where it met the neighboring cornfield. In the field were three things that caught my attention: an uprooted tree that was about 25 foot in height completely dislodged from its home and laying horizontal in the field, the once promising crop of corn flattened to the earth with a few ears actually ejected solo into the yard, and a lone standing cornstalk standing as sentinel in the middle of it all. All three having come through the same storm; all three responding differently to the pressure and pull of the driving wind and rains.
The Apostle Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 4, beginning verse 8: we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.
And I get it. I feel the pressure of the partisan politics, but yet it doesn’t have to crush my spirit. I am perplexed by both “sides” in my denomination that say they love Jesus but their words and actions show anything but love to those across the aisle, and yet it doesn’t have to leave me in despair. At times, I do feel persecuted for who I am and what I believe, and yet I know I am not abandoned by my Lord and Savior and therefore humankind will not destroy me. Hebrews 8: 18-19 remind me, I will hold fast to the hope that is the steadfast anchor of my soul. Roots make the difference when the storms come – and they will come.
The roots of that tree were bigger and deeper, but you know what they say about the bigger they are and how hard they fall. Sometimes they even fly into a field they did not expect. And those flattened corn stalks that fell were not uprooted. Granted they will not grow again but if any benefit can be gained from the damaged plants, the wise farmer will know how to do it. And the sentential stalk – it will probably also be cut down, but it stood witness in the moment – and that was its purpose. All three bear witnesses to truths we can apply to our faith. For it comes back to how we are rooted.
Remember that soybean crop growing among the dead stalks? That field was unscathed. Yes, those who are farming experts will tell you that it is a no-till technique that sows seed but does not disturb the soil by turning it over. Growing something without first totally stripping away what was? How could that ever work? The thing is, these old stalks from a previous harvest serve as the saints who have gone before, helping keep the weeds to a minimum and giving support to the young growing crops. The time will come when the crop will grow taller than the remnant of what was, but both growing together help growth happen. Jesus knew all about the benefits of leaving the desirable and the seemingly undesirable together to assist in growing deeper roots.
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable about the wheat and the weeds. He explains how the enemy planted weeds in the wheat fields and that the farmer’s servants wanted to pull them up. In verse 28, Jesus said that the farmer said ‘no, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest.” Jesus’ concern was that when we pull at what we see as weeds, we might actually be harming the roots of the wheat because the two look similar and their final identity is no known until the final harvest. At that point, the master farmer will handle the separation process.
Appearances may look good, but our roots will bear the final witness. The words we hear may persuade or incite but our roots will bear the final witness. In this political, social, economic and even spiritual climate we need to know where we are rooted. Yes, we can sleep through it. Or we may even hunker down for our own safety. Or we may brave the pressure of the winds. We, like the Apostle Paul, know that the storms of pressuring winds and damaging rains are going to come in all areas of our life. Yet, if Christ makes his home in our heart, as we trust him, our roots will grown down into God’s love and keep us strong (Eph. 3:17) no matter the storms we face. If we know where and how we are rooted.
For tomorrow, by the end of the day, the skies will clear and hope will emerge.