To the Farmer from the Farmer's Wife...

Farmer’s Do This

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

Earth trodden soil layered in animal waste finds footing for the farmer. Knee high boots are rubber stamped with the proof of …as there is no time like the present to work the current of cattle coming through the gate.

Windy the day is, overcast and drizzly as the scent of the natural drifts across yard. The breeze sends chills as I watch from second-floor window cracked wide. Sights and sounds dance upward as the clamor below hits notes that beat out the rhythm, the heartbeat of farm life.

In low tones, the farmer speaks.”Go on…go on…” and into the chute the cattle lunge one by one.

The farmer isn’t a high-roller. He merely rolls with a solid foundation doing basics well. His steps are planned. Methodical and intentional they are. That is how he succeeds at what he does, and that is how he helps others succeed.

On his day off, the farmer takes no time off. The lawn must be mowed, a customer needs product, the cattle need feed, a fence needs mending, and a meeting where wise men pray to lay a solid foundation gather. And so, the farmer gathers. He gathers himself up and he goes, or works, or prays.

There’s a ruckus outside the window. The cattle being worked are not happy to be contained in the container. They are suspicious. They do not understand, and they resist. It would be easier if they would cooperate. Their master wants good things for them, but they do not trust. The farmer sees the big picture, the cattle do not.

The master knows their needs, and there is a system that works. He is the gatekeeper. In a blink of an eye they are in and out of the chute if they cooperate. If they do not, it’s a long and much more painful process.

As the final group of eight is rounded up, the farmer climbs up, over, in and through the pen to make sure the cattle are secure. Literally, his life is on the line. That is what it looks like from where I watch as he tends his cattle with due diligence.

Like a shepherd caring for his flock, he watches over. He takes his rod into the herd to guide them safely through the process. He coaxes once more. “Come on…come on.”

It is noted that some listen, and some do not. And, so it goes. Those who listen are quickly released and able to run in the freedom of green pastures that await.

The farmer is weary. The farmer’s wife can see. It is sacred to watch off duty.

“Your rod and Your staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). As does the rod of the farmer…it guides…it protects…it is a loving rod directing that which he is called to direct.  Amen.