OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #335 Little Cloud on the Prairie
Hi folks!
Our excitement is that Jan’s birthday is today, and we have a new fridge. We’ll celebrate Jan’s birthday by going out to eat and then to a rodeo. When in the West, do as the Westerners do! And about the fridge – our old fridge was 19 years old, and on its last legs since we could not get a replacement seal for the door, and it was rusting heavily at the bottom. It is kind of neat to know that we have been together long enough to wear out a fridge. Jan has, and continues to be, a great blessing in my life. May we wear out many fridges together!
Blessings for you and your household.
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Grain and oil seed production is a basic way of life in western Canada. This is something we have learned since moving to Manitoba last year. Everywhere we travel we see vast fields swaying in the breeze. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, canola, soy, flax, and sunflower are just some of the varieties.
It is incredible to see the different crops flower in early summer. Flax blooms into an ocean of blue, while canola and soy glow yellow. Later on, green fades to gold, and then there is the harvest. It is a major production to bring the crop into the bins, as we discovered when we were invited to see a friend’s farm. A small family farm is 1500 or 2000 acres. Many are larger. It is a huge logistical effort to time the harvest of different crops at different times.
The machinery is impressive. Combines are used to separate the grain from the stalk as well as to remove the outer shell. The seeds are collected for transport back to the farm, while the remainder is spread onto the ground behind the harvester.
It is a very dusty process, and depending on the crop, the cloud rising into the air often resembles smoke. Canola, in particular, produces a dark, sooty dust which could be confused with a tire fire from a distance. Because the prairies are so flat, it is possible to see evidence of these operations from many kilometers away. We might not see the combines, but we know they are there because we can see the clouds of dust.
This reminded me of the Holy Spirit. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8*)
Jesus spoke these words to a man named Nicodemus. Like the wind, we might not see the Spirit, but just as we know there is wind because trees sway and wheat rolls like ocean waves, we can see evidence of the presence of the Spirit. “But the fruit [aka “evidence”] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23*)
As we live each day, our words, attitudes, and actions create a kind of cloud around us which indicates something of our nature and character. As believers, it should be apparent to others that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. That just as we see a cloud of dust rising on the prairie and we know a combine is active, people ought to be able to see that God is living and active in our lives.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Married to Jan, Troy is a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces, and has more than 20 years of pastoral experience. This letter published Oct 24, 2015. *New International Version. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com
