stripped. All the pastures that were under water are swarming with small worms with voracious appetites. Te hay will be next. Te crop duster comes in and


sprays the hay meadow, easy to spot from the air, as it is the only patch of land that is green. And then come the birds by the


thousands. Egrets, dowitchers and herons feast on the worms. Aſter a week, there are no army worms to be found. Te hay meadow grass is still green and still growing.


O over.


n October 15, the tractors come once again to cut the hay. Te


weather cooperates. No rain. Aſter a few days come the balers. October 19, the bales are loaded


onto trailers. More than 100 bales are taken to the high berm where the railroad track once lay. Te last cut of the hay season is


T


hese bales will fulfill their pur- pose this winter when the pasture


grasses alone can no longer sustain cows with nursing calves. All the watching and waiting and


worrying and working has brought us to this place.


QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION


W.B.J. Power, an Old Testament professor at the Perkins School of Teology (Dallas, TX), would always ask: Where do you see yourself in this story? (Te hay meadow? Te rancher? Te cows? Te flood water? Te stored bales of hay?)


How does this story reflect your own current experience in ministry, in family, in community?


What questions does this parable evoke for you in your waiting, watching, working, worrying? Is there hope as we slash our way through muck and mire, drought and flood? Without familiar landmarks, has your perspective changed? Where is your “higher ground”? Can you name your pain, grief? Your wound?


Living is like licking honey off a thorn.


LEAH KING, retired deacon in The United Methodist Church, great grandmother, vegetable gardener, piano teacher, and spiritual director, picked up her camera after her retirement in 2012 and began to see old, familiar things with new eyes and deeper understanding.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________ January-February-March 2021 • WorshipArts • UMFellowship.org


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