Recently, I brought my mother back to her home in Southeast
Ohio. It’s a bit of a drive to her home
and along the way we passed through miles and miles of rural America. I was
fortunate to have two beautiful fall days to travel the miles to Southeast Ohio
and back to my home in Chicago. The sky was a pale blue, not a cloud in the
sky. The temperatures were fluctuating between 65 and 70 degrees, perfect
traveling weather. There was no precipitation and the wind was blowing just
enough to remind us that autumn had arrived in all its grandeur and beauty. As
we traveled, we could not help, but notice the many fields already harvested by
America’s farmers. When we didn’t see harvested fields, we saw ripened corn and
beans waiting for the teeth of the combines to harvest America’s food.My travels raised some themes for me in times of transition and change.
As the last rows of beans are harvested and the last ear of
corn plucked from its stalk, there is a quiet satisfaction and a sense of pride
in what has just been done. The farmer’s heart is filled with gratitude for the
hard work, the good year, and an abiding faith that knows that the harvest was
only possible because of the God’s abundant blessings. This is a season of gratitude, a time when we can see the hand of God moving us always forward into a new future where our hunger and thirst is satisfied.
As my eyes survey the fields of mid-America at this time of
year, I cannot help but notice that some fields are still waiting to be
harvested. The corn and the beans have dried up and they stand lifeless in the
fields, moving only when the wind blows across the field, rustling the dried
and worn out leaves on its stalk, breaking the silence and reminding us of
unfinished work. When I think of following in the ways of Christ, I can observe the hard work of faithful disciples who have worked diligently and with passion to bring God's heavenly realm to earth,
and my heart rejoices. Yet there are still issues that continue to trouble my
spirits and remind me that there is still corn standing in the fields and there
are still beans to be harvested. In times of transition, God calls us to remain open to the Holy Spirit and to see with new eyes and hear with new ears, the work
that still needs to be done. There are still rows of corn and beans that need to be
harvested. Yes, we still have
work to do, but it will get done and it will be done in God’s time.
As the stalks of corn stand proudly in their fields awaiting
the final harvest, I am reminded that even when the stalks become brittle and
fragile and the leaves brown, wilted and dying, there is still a kernel filled
with life. Should that kernel fall into the ground, forgotten by the harvester
and separated from its original source of life, God will gently cover it and keep
it safe for a new beginning at another time. One day this kernel will find new
life again, and so will we.
As stewards of the Christian story of life, death,
and resurrection, we are vessels of hope and possibility. The Church is not a
building, strong and mighty, it is a people fragile and broken. Like the dried
corn stalks blowing in the autumn breeze, we bear within ourselves a kernel of
life and no matter where we find ourselves, God will use us. God will breathe
new life into the stories of faith that have inspired us and given us strength
to find new expressions of faith. This is God’s time. In this season between
the warmth of summer and the cold of winter, may we be the kernel of life that
re-imagines the possibilities and may we move into our future with boldness,
confidence, and resurrection hope. This is the gift we bring in times of change
and possibility. 
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