Sunday, January 24, 2010

Church is like a Farm

From Eugene Peterson in "Eat this Book" (A book I'll review soon)

"I can't remember a farmer who was ever in a hurry. Farmers characteristically work hard, but there is too much work to do to be in a hurry. On a farm everything is connected both in place and in time. Nothing is done that isn't connected to something else; if you are in a hurry, break the rhythms of the land and the seasons and the weather, things fall apart - you get in the way of something set in motion last week or month. A farm is not neat - there is too much going on that is out of your control. Farms help us learn patience and attentiveness:'I am trying to teach my mind/ to bear the long, slow growth/ of the fields, and to sing/ of its passing while it waits.'"

The last part is part of a poem "From the Crest" by Wendell Berry.

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