The Tractor & A Hole in the Ground

Scripture

“Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.” The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.” …. “Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. …. Does the servant get special thanks for doing what’s expected of him? It’s the same with you. When you’ve done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, ‘The work is done. What we were told to do, we did.’” (Luke 17:3-5,7,9,10 MSG)

The Tractor & A Hole in the Ground

The world held its breath while details of the source of a missile landing in Poland were sorted. After a sort of international calm was restored, I couldn’t shake the image of  a tractor upturned in a crater on a Polish farm. Two men rode out to the field to work, and a missile landed on them ending their lives.

I heard that one of the men was married to a teacher in a nearby school who had gone to her job to teach kids and suddenly became a grieving widow. As I shoveled the snow on my driveway last week my neighbour stopped to help me, and we chatted about the difference. We were out doing a bit of work together and weren’t worried about a shell landing on us.

Too often I go about my life assuming that I have plenty of time to do what I need to get done. A friend dies suddenly, a spouse gets cancer too young, other interventions change the trajectory of our lives. It is never too soon to forgive someone, seek reconciliation, or offer expressions of gratitude or admiration and affirmation to friends and loved ones.

All of life is a gift from a loving God, but we aren’t entitled to congratulations for loving and forgiving- it’s just what the Creator would expect of us as our normal behaviour out of character shaped by love and forgiveness.

A Prayer for Today

O God, we live with great freedom and security in our land but know it can end all too soon. When I do good, I often expect a cosmic pat on the back, when I ought to be glad of the opportunity to serve. Help me keep a watch out for opportunities to love and forgive before the opportunity is gone …. For Jesus’ sake