Spring time at Sabbath Rest Farm...

Springtime at
Sabbath Rest Farm

Mountain spring time...living with change and contradiction... can tax the body and soul. Unexpected snow showers, warm sun, cold rain all in one day can leave you in a wardrobe quandary as well. Dressing in layers that can be easily shucked is a necessity. Everyday is an adventure.
Gardens are plowed but mountain wisdom is not to plant anything but cool weather crops...greens, peas, lettuce... until after Easter. We have had blizzards in April. I have been planting tree whips, though. Gary brought me some from the sale at the Farmer’s Market put on by our Soil and Water Conservation folks. I have planted redbuds, persimmons, river birch, butternuts and potted a wax myrtle. I will be dead and gone by the time the butternut trees are full grown but they will remember my name. Planting for the future I will not see is one way to thank God for my present time in these beautiful mountains.
Junie B, Dixie and the donkeys are enjoying the newly flattened riding ring even if it is only red clay mud at this point. Several times a day I see them running the circle playing catch me if you can. Junie B is particularly fond of rolling in the red clay and her black coat is now multicolored. Her long mane is clotted with red clay, a horse version of dreadlocks.
Light comes earlier in the morning now and just as I have gotten used to this, here comes the time change again. The balance between light and dark is shifting. More light kick starts us all out of late winter lethargy. Stained glass daffodils backlit by the morning sun accented by the royal purple hyacinths is visual caffeine for my soul.
This morning I fed everybody early. We are going to have heavy rains today (for the second time this week) and I wanted to get a head start. The gate is open so the cows can take refuge in the barn if they need to and I left the horse stalls open with the radio on. They will be closed in by the rain, too, and they like to listen to music. Today they will be listening to jazz and mountain music.
Aidan, one of our grandsons, came home from his church pre-school having learned about Lent. At first he said he was going to give up soda but decided that would be too hard. Candy, which he LOVES, was also too dear to his heart to give up. He offered to give up wearing underwear or socks, his nightly bath, applesauce or diapers(which he does not wear) but his mother is holding firm that these are not appropriate offerings for Lent. I am fascinated that he has caught Lent in his imagination as an important part of his faith. He is beginning to understand the concept of sacrifice.
Pastor Pat and I met to talk about our Ash Wednesday service. We both love the old songs of our childhood, the blood hymns, the ones that seem to drive some folks crazy. They are our soul comfort food in many ways. Whatever one believes about Jesus’s death and resurrection, these old hymns and the season of Lent are an in your face reminder of our calling as Christians to offer our lives up, a living sacrifice for the One who died telling us God’s story.
Squeamish as we moderns are about blood, it is the perfect symbol for life. Without blood, healthy blood, we die. We can share our blood literally with others who need it. And we can share the blood of our souls with others in worship, prayers, good works, love that is in our blood stream because we have been loved by God into being. Thanks be to God for this forty day time out, Lent, so that I may get ready to be more holy, more loving, more like my brother Jesus.