A View Point

And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. ~ Galatians 6:9

In the middle of a rough winter and a rough economy, I have the tendency to retreat. Not the kind of retreat that energizes but a holed-up, fed-up kind of retreat. Maybe I am just SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) or need to OD on Vitamin D. I have never been to a tanning bed, but I might give it a try. From my perspective, winter is that in-between time for hands-on ministry. It is also a time I can feel weary. Go figure.

A few years back, I went on an actual retreat to Mepkin Abbey near Moncks Corner, SC (ironic but correct spelling). The monastery brothers were accepting of this Baptist despite my gaffes. On the first night of my stay, I tried to chat up the person sitting next to me at dinner only to realize, to my horror, that I was the ONLY person talking during the typically silent meal. It was an education for me in an other-worldly sort of way.

Each monastery has its own income producing enterprise and to see the same monks wearing their robes in cloister and their caterpillar caps and flannel shirts on their farm, was both funny and disarming. One older brother generously gave me a tour of the operation. I asked him how long he had been there. He thought for a long moment and exclaimed, “Next year will be fifty years.” He might have been playing me a little but FIFTY YEARS??!! He then took me to their chicken feed shed (they sold eggs to Piggly Wiggly back then) and described in vivid detail how he went about mixing feed for the chickens.

He smiled, eyes sparkling. “How long have you had this job, I asked?”

“Not very long,” he replied, “about 15 years.”

I had to comment to him about his ability to find some sense of pleasure for so long in something so seemingly mundane. He simply said, “You  can do anything as long as you have a Vocation.” The capitalization is mine because I have realized he was not talking about chicken farming. He was also taking the long view on things. Kairos time. God time. Not my take on time. It is hard to do as we live with our haunting urgencies. Church staff, agency director, business person, mother of two. Things need to be done yesterday. But in the middle of a rough winter, in a rough economy, it helps me to remember…

by Cliff Christian