Isn’t it a loving God who put inside each of us the yearning to belong—to feel the presence of others—to complete someone else and have them complete us?
Perhaps Covid-19 is the earth’s way of crying out to us. It calls us from our flights, our road rage on the highways, our ball games (I sorely miss the NCAA March Madness!). Surely it has messed with our plans and our entire way of life. But the virus also presents us with a challenge to decide.
I have decided to scratch that itch to reach out to others by starting a “Blogging through the Pandemic” series of postings on our Heatherhope Farm web site.
Right now I plan to post some photos with little tastes of farm life, just to share the Big Reality out there. The life of soil and grass and trees and sheep and dogs and rabbits and hawks and red-winged blackbirds and robins goes on and on. This is because God is good and God is still in charge.
Because I am a pastor, I will also step up the posting of my occasional blog reflections on Sunday readings in the Revised Common Lectionary that many of the mainline Christian denominations use. I am especially hungry to do this because this time of the virus is now overlapping the season of Lent, and this Year A in the Lectionary highlights a series of profound dialogs in the Gospel of John—all of which teach us that the Life that Jesus Christ held out to us all in his ministry (mostly in Jerusalem and Judea) 2,000 years ago, is the same Life he holds out to us today. No matter what crisis we are in—whether it is a viral pandemic or our own personal disaster—we must make critical decisions every day about whose we are and how we are to live. And, if we bind ourselves to Christ in trust, we have a Life that death cannot touch.
So, to start us off, here is a photo I took this morning after putting out hay in the pasture for our sheep to eat. And Bilbo, the guard dog, is faithfully at the ready to ward off any coyotes. It’s a simple scene, but I hope it reminds you that God is trustworthy; and so Life goes on.
YOU CAN FIND OUR OTHER PANDEMIC BLOG POSTS BY CLICKING HERE:
http://heatherhopefarm.com/category/pandemic-blog/
Oh Uncle John this is wonderful! Thank you for the heavenly perspective again from your lovely farm. How special to see Bilbo faithfully guarding the sheep and remember that Jesus is faithfully guarding us, His sheep in the middle of the craziness of this temporary life. If nothing else, this virus is causing people to think about what matters and realize that this life is short. We pray that this time gives us more opportunity to shine for Jesus’ love and hope into a world that sooo desperately needs it. May we stand up for our faith, like Nicodemus did in the end and give people reason for the hope we have for the future. Nothing in this world could ever take the reality of Heaven to come for all of us who trust in Jesus’ saving redemption and forgiveness!!! We look forward to celebrating Easter soon with you and fondly remember when we got to do that in person on your lovely farm! Thank you so much for these blogs and for bringing us closer to Jesus and the truth of His Word through your insights!!!
Anita and Family: Thank you for the comments, rich with witness. And thank you for all the ways you witness to the love of God in Christ. I pray and trust that you are being kind to each other and to your neighbors in need in this testing time.
Peace,
Uncle John