Like a Rooster: Herald of the Holy Light

 

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

—Colossians 4:3-4 (emphasis mine)

In June I researched my birth surname, St. Clair, and came across historical information about the Sinclair/St. Clair clan, thought to have its origins in Normandy, France (clansinclairusa.org). I discovered a rooster on the family crest, which gave me pause. Why a rooster? A boisterous barnyard critter, not typically a bird of high esteem. Why not the majestic eagle or even a wise ole owl?

Rejection Rescue: Hope for the rejected and abandoned

God is in his holy Temple.

He is a father to orphans,

and he defends the widows.

God gives the lonely a home.

He leads prisoners out with joy,

but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.

—Psalm 68:5-6

If a dam (mother cow) does not bond with her calf immediately after birth, there’s a good chance she will reject it. In the case of twins, it is not uncommon for the dam to reject one twin while bonding with the other. If this occurs, the owner usually rescues the rejected twin, removing it from the herd and placing it in the safety of a barn where the twin is then bottle fed until mature enough to be returned to the pasture.

This is what happened with a twin born earlier this year on the farm where I live.

When my daughter, Rebekah, and her two sons, my grandsons, came to visit, I told them about the rejected calf, now bottle fed by my sister-in-law Katie. Hoping to get a glimpse of the process, we walked to the barn at the time we thought the calf would be fed. Unfortunately, Katie had finished and was cleaning up, but she called the twin over to the fence so we could see her, “Come here, Terry.”

No Small Potatoes: How it matters where you live

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer (1)…Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you (4)… I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant (5)… if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon (7).”—John 15:1 – 8 (MSG)

As my cousin, Debbie, and I were out for our afternoon walk on the farm, a car approached. We stepped to the side of the gravel road; the car stopped beside us. “What’s growing there?” the driver called to us through his open window, gesturing toward the field.

“Potatoes,” we responded in unison.

Staffed for Ministry: Have you been transformed to lead?

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

—Exodus 4:2-3a

I have a staff. But I usually call it a walking stick. My friend fashioned it for me from an old tobacco stick.

Many Southern Maryland farmers used to grow tobacco, but twenty years ago they voluntarily accepted funds from Maryland’s Tobacco Buyout program, agreeing to give up tobacco production in lieu of an alternative. Since then, many have turned to produce, flowers, and agro-tourism. I applaud them for giving up the lucrative income of a harmful addictive substance and taking a risk to try something new. And I enjoy the results of their creative efforts—mazes of corn and sunflowers, pick-your-own patches, and petting zoos. I am also impressed with their resourcefulness in using leftover tobacco sticks. Once used for hanging tobacco plants in barns for curing, these sticks have been turned into stars, crosses, and walking sticks.