Hours on the road, changing landscapes and new sights, time in conversation...all of it can create new thoughts, fresh perspectives, and sometimes deep introspection.
As we drove across the Midwest states I pointed out circle crops to the kids. This farming technique always fascinated me when seeing it from a plane. I showed them the center-pivot sprinklers that allow irrigation with greater efficiency. Being on the ground next to them the barren corners of these plots were more apparent than they are from the air. Josh and I then had a discussion about the ancient Biblical commands regarding the corners of the fields. They were to be left for the poor and the foreigners to glean for themselves so that they could have provision. I felt saddened looking at these unused corners of land and realizing how many in our society today are going hungry. Physical hunger, yes. But deeper hunger as well - for family, for connection, for community, for hope, for love, for Truth.
American efficiency has removed the corners of the fields.
Josh and I talked over our own corners, figurative more than literal, and assessed how we were best utilizing them. Is there room in our budget for generosity? Do we have margin in our schedule to help out unexpectedly? Are we sacrificing mercy for efficiency?
God never asked us to be efficient.
The past two years have included very difficult times for me as I sorted out a mental junk drawer where things had become jumbled. The political landscape in America and the rabid passion on both sides tugged at the parts of my faith that had become intertwined with my political perspectives. Add to that the closeness of friends and family who thought very different from me politically. How would I process that? How would I discuss political matters? Did any of this really matter?
I came to a place where, after much work, I have for the most part separated my faith from my politics. My faith and world view still influence how I vote - but I no longer confuse my political views with my religion. It has allowed me to hear other people's perspectives without feeling offended that they differ from my own. They are not insulting my God. They are simply expressing a different opinion. It's also allowed me to see that someone who loves the same Jesus as I do, has the same desire to love others, to bring peace into chaos, who holds all of the same foundational truths as I do may in fact vote differently than I do because they see a different means of accomplishing our same goals. And that's ok.
God never asked us to be efficient. That is the American doctrine, not His.
Circle crops may be efficient, but are they the best? Funny enough, I found an article that explains the origins of circle crops. In a very American way it was a technological triumph over nature. And also in an American way, it has been built on and continued with an ignorance of the limitations of the land.
Just because something is efficient doesn't mean it is for the best - either in the present or maybe in the future.
Something to think about.
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