A Rich Harvest

“The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest.” Matthew 9:37b, 38

To me, this is one of the most counter-intuitive sayings of Jesus. In fact, my ear almost always hears Him saying, “The harvest is rich, the workers are few. Pray the Lord of harvest to send out workers…and make sure you are one of them!” But that is not what He says at all.

No Deposit, No Return

“And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine bursts the skins, the wine is spilt and the skins are ruined. No, new wine must go into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22

It makes sense I suppose, but I have become more nostalgic as I grow older. I cannot imagine a three-year-old reminiscing over the “good old days” when he was two. But, we do collect a body of loves and memories that grows greater with time. In junior high we may long for those days in grade school where we didn’t have to change classes. But, by the time we are well into adulthood we have a garage full of people and experiences tied to our heart.

The East Knows Nothing

The East Knows Nothing

(“Then He said to them again, ‘Peace to you! Just as the Father sent Me forth so I send you.’” John 20:21)

The east wind knows nothing of the west
until it arrives with sands from the gorge
and dust from the sleeping grain in the fields.
Yet it scatters its cargo along the way,
shore slough and yard,
against the custom
of westerlies off the coast.

Bent into the breeze that eases overcast lockdown, the river
waves butterfly downstream livelier than the silent fog.
Swept along its face, long for two days after ten of rain,
the east wind knows nothing of the west.

Here we stand, not bereft, yet uneasy about the change of weather;
what foreign flowers will bloom once the rains return, the gloom
we know famous, the pounding against the panes of
storms on the west wind’s claws?

But the day of east brings a day of sun
too early; winter will not depart so easily.

The east wind knows nothing of the west
but early greets our eyes, (to tease?), to bless
a morning blue and bright, a night black and shine;

the reminder of longer days and dry that,
for now,
refund our winter waiting.

I Cannot Refrain

“So they summoned them and gave orders not at all to refer to or to teach in reliance of the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied to them, ‘…we cannot refrain from telling what we have seen and heard.’” Acts 4:18-20

Peter and John, as well as the other disciples, were not educated in the elite manner of the ruling religious leaders. That does not mean they were scholarly dropouts, they just lacked the necessary requirements to teach religion. Or so it seemed to the ones who did have the education; the Sanhedrin.