Fifty Acres and a Fool: West of Eden (Not Quite Paradise)

How did I get here? That’s what I wondered nine years ago, wading through waist-high weeds and the moist summer Indiana air that swarmed with mosquitoes. I knew what I was doing there: I was meeting with our builder and talking about the house we were building. But how I got there was completely beside me.

I looked through the tall grasses and weeds and spotted my bobble-headed wife. Her head bounced up through the weeds, down into the tall grass. She stepped back onto the sort-of farm lane above the creek, a huge smile stretched across her face. “Isn’t this gorgeous?” she asked. “Aren’t you just so excited? This is paradise.” Excited and paradise were words that had not occurred to me. Hot. Sweaty. Itchy. Debt-laden. Those words occurred to me, but not excited and paradise.

Nancy’s a farm girl, and this land was part of her family’s farm. I grew up a city boy. I like the city. I work in the city. Now, here I was, miles away from my downtown office and over fifteen hundred feet away from the closest road with no blacktop in sight. How did I get here?

I wonder if Adam wondered the same thing upon finding himself waking in Eden. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” Yes, the Bible says, “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food,” which must have made for a lovely sight, but I still keep wondering if Adam asked himself, How did I get HERE?

Since that day – and all the chain-sawing, stump-pulling, poison ivy-treating, tree seedling-planting, prairie-seeding, bush honeysuckle battling, et al --what I’ve discovered is that this is not entirely the right question. It’s not the right question because “How did I get here” implies that my being where I am is all about me. It’s not. It is about me, but not all about me. It’s also about:

· Nancy

· our families

· wildlife crawling across the land

· the home we open up to others in hospitality

· and all the other connections I have

I knew this truth intellectually, but it’s only as I begin being “the man not born to farming,” that I’ve struggled to come to grips with it. I’m not the center of even my universe. As Nancy reminds me, it’s only one–six billionth about me.

My tending the land reminds me of the communal nature of my life. Moving to this piece of land and building a house on it allowed Nancy could to be close to her father and some of her literal roots. It also gave me a literal space in which to follow my leading to form a worship-sharing group. It also forced me to slow my life by spending hours in a tractor seat or walking in the woods rooting out invasive plants and learning to watch good things grow.

This farming stuff invites me to live in harmony with a sentiment by Gordon Matthews:

We must learn to put our trust in God and the leadings of the Spirit. I am only slowly learning to dwell in the place where leadings come from. That is a place of love and joy and peace, even in the midst of pain. The more I dwell in that place, the easier it is to smile, because I am no longer afraid.

If we dwell in the presence of God, we shall be led by the spirit. We do well to remember that being led by the spirit depends not so much upon God, who is always there to lead us, as upon our willingness to be led. We need to be willing to be led into the dark as well as through green pastures and by still waters. We do not need to be afraid of the dark, because God is there. Let us walk with a smile into the dark.

Now, walking with a smile into the dark—the unexpected place of the farm for me—is not something that comes easily to me. Even after nine years of getting ready to move here and seven years of actually turning the land into a wildlife preserve. I’m the sorta guy who still looks over my shoulder to see who’s following me up the stairs when I shut off the basement light.

Yet, walking (or driving a tractor) into the metaphoric dark with a smile reminds me that life is not all about us. Life is about me and God and. . .

-- Brent

Fifty Acres and a Fool: The Man NOT Born to Farming

Wendell Berry, the erudite farmer, novelist, poet, and essayist of rural Kentucky, has written one of my favorite poems.  It's titled "The Man Born to Farming" --

The Grower of Trees, the gardener, the man born to farming,

whose hands reach into the ground and sprout

to him the soil is a divine drug. He enters into death

yearly, and comes back rejoicing. He has seen the light lie down

in the dung heap, and rise again in the corn.

His thought passes along the row ends like a mole.

What miraculous seed has he swallowed

That the unending sentence of his love flows out of his mouth

Like a vine clinging in the sunlight, and like water

Descending in the dark?

I admire that poem (and Berry) mightily.  But alas, even though I live on fifty acres of farmland that my wife Nancy and I (along with the help of various family, foresters, and occasional volunteers over the past eight years) have been turning from pastureland and production agriculture into forest and prairie, I am not "The Man Born to Farming."

Quite the opposite, it seems.  Until 8 years ago, I had never lived on a farm.  I grew up in the city and love it.  I still work in the city.  And love it.

But, for reasons that mostly God only knows, I have found myself entrusted with the care of this particular parcel of land.  And so many of my hours are spent on a John Deere or fixing some implement or battling invasive species -- in other words, acting like a farmer. 

I, and others, have been slow to recognize that role.  Even Nancy, recently, when I said that I was not a man born to farming, said, "You're not a farmer.  You don't raise anything that feeds anyone."  

Count on a farm girl to humble a city boy.

But I disagree.  I do grow something that feeds someone.  The 10,000 plus trees we've planted feed the atmosphere with good oxygen, the berries and nut trees feed all kinds of wild life, the prairie grasses and wildflowers feed the bees and butterflies and other of God's creatures.

And, and the end of day when what I call farming comes to an end and nothing has broken (including my glasses or nose), the work of my uncalloused hands feeds me, too.

This latter point has come as a major surprise.

Because, as I said, I am NOT the man born to farming.  And yet, a-farming I am.  

It sets me to musing.  Sometimes to grumbling.  Sometimes to prayer.  Sometimes to question.  

Today it has set me to resting.  The past few weeks have been filled with planting prairie, splitting wood, spraying thistle and brush honeysuckle, repairing equipment (why does it always break right in the middle of a job?!), mowing, and ...   But not today.  If I have learned anything from my life of faith, if not from farming, it is that even the first Farmer took a break occasionally.  "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." (Genesis 2:1-3)

So I'm taking a sabbath.  A light drizzle, and the fact that it is First-day (as we Quakes call Sunday) reminded me of my need for rest and God's setting that example.  So now, in the early afternoon after Meeting for Worship, I find myself sitting with my feet up, a John Deere blanket around my old legs, and watching a red-headed woodpecker make trips to the bird feeder attached to the picture window across the room from my chair.  Even Mr. Woodpecker is taking a day off.  Instead of knocking his head against a tree, he's eating out today.  Taking it easy.

Sweet rest.  Time to cease from my "not farming" and relax.  Pour another ginger ale, maybe read a book, maybe nap.

Ah, there is that pump on the sprayer that needs fixing.  It'll wait until tomorrow. Thanks be to God.

-- Brent

Quaker SPICE: Not Oats!

“We’re more than oats,” Say West NewtonQuakers.  "We're SPICE-y!!"

The man on the Quaker Oats box is what many people think of when they hear the word Quaker.  But there’s more to Quakers than oats.  There’s Quaker SPICE – Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, and Equality.  Quakers from West Newton Friends Church will be sharing about Quaker SPICE at the May 2^nd edition of “Quaker Quest.”  The theme that night is “Quakers and Everyday Living: Simplicity.”

“Quaker Quest” is a series of free sessions that gives people a chance to learn about Quakers today.  “Quakers and Everyday Living” will be held at West Newton Friends Church at 6800 S. Mooresville Road in Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. on April 25^th and May 2^nd.  Dan Burger and Florence Emma Peery, two Quakers from West Newton Friends Church, will be sharing short personal presentations on Quaker life based on their own experience.

Quaker Quest sessions are open to the public and are held on the next three Wednesday evenings.  The programs include small group discussions, time for questions and answers, and an opportunity to experience a bit of Quaker worship.   Refreshments and childcare will be provided as well.  Advance reservations aren't necessary and the sessions are free.

The schedule for Quaker Quest is

May 2	Quakers and Everyday Living
May 9	Quakers and Jesus
May 16	Quakers and Worship

 The Friends, as Quakers are formally known, will also be available after the sessions for further visiting, answering questions, and hearing from folks who attend. 

People interested in attending, or learning more about Quakers, should contact West Newton Friends Church at 317-856-5967 or brentbil@brentbill.com

West Newton Friends Church

6800 S. Mooresville Rd Indianapolis, IN 46221

http://sites.google.com/site/westnewtonfriends/

317-856-5967

We Ain't the Amish -- Quaker Quest

“We’re Not the Amish” Say the Quakers

Many people have stereotypes about Quakers – that they dress like the man on the Quaker Oats box. That they ride in horse-drawn buggies. That they don’t use electricity. That, in other words, they are just like the Amish. While Quakers have great respect for the Amish, they want to dispel any ideas that Quakers are Amish! West Newton Friends Church will be addressing that issue at the April 25th & May 2nd editions of “Quaker Quest.” The theme those nights is “Quakers and Everyday Living.”

“Quaker Quest” is a series of free sessions that gives people a chance to learn about Quakers today. “Quakers and Everyday Living” will be held at West Newton Friends Church at 6800 S. Mooresville Road in Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. on April 25th and May 2nd. Two Quakers from West Newton Friends Church will be sharing short personal presentations on Quaker life based on their own experience.

The Quaker Quest sessions are open to the public and are held on Wednesday evenings. The programs include small group discussions, time for questions and answers, and an opportunity to experience a bit of Quaker worship. Refreshments and childcare will be provided as well. Advance reservations aren't necessary and the sessions are free.

All visitors will receive a complimentary autographed copy of Mind the Light: Learning to See with Spiritual Eyes by Quaker author and West Newton Friends Church member J. Brent Bill.

The schedule for Quaker Quest is
April 25 Quakers and Everyday Living
May 2 Quakers and Everyday Living
May 9 Quakers and Jesus
May 16 Quakers and Worship


The Friends, as Quakers are formally known, will also be available after the sessions for further visiting, answering questions, and hearing from folks who attend.

People interested in attending, or learning more about Quakers, should contact West Newton Friends Church at 317-856-5967 or brentbil@brentbill.com

West Newton Friends Church
6800 S. Mooresville Rd Indianapolis, IN 46221
http://sites.google.com/site/westnewtonfriends/
317-856-5967

Who is Jesus? A West Newton Quaker Quest Video

Who is Jesus? Come find out what some Friends think at West Newton Friends' Quaker Quest series.



Quaker Quest is a series of free sessions presented by West Newton Friends Church, a Quaker congregation. It is a chance to explore the Quaker way. Each session includes three personal presentations by Quakers from West Newton Friends Church on the topic for the evening. There will be time for questions and answers. Refreshments and childcare are provided. Advance reservations are not necessary.

May 2 Quakers and Everyday Living
April 18 & May 9 Quakers and Jesus
April 25 & May 16 Quakers and Worship

Please come early for conversation, coffee and refreshments!

You are welcome here!

West Newton Friends Meeting, 6800 S. Mooresville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46221 – 317-856-5967 – http://sites.google.com/site/westnewtonfriends/

Quaker Worship -- When to Speak

In the Life

My piece was pat and all ready to say,
She rose first. I threw my piece away.
My well-turned stuff
Was not so rough
As hers, but easy elegant and smooth.
Beginning middle end
It had and point
And aptly quoted prophet priest and poet.
Hers was uncouth
Wanting in art
Laboured scarce-audible and out of joint.
Three times she lost the thread
And sitting left her message half unsaid.
'Why then did thee throw it
Into the discard?'
Friend,
It had head
(Like this). Hers oh had heart.

Robert Hewison, 1965

from "Quaker Faith & Practice: The book of Christian discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain:

Learn more about Quakers at Quaker Quest @ West Newton Friends Meeting. This Wednesday's program is "Quakers and Worship"

Paying Attention in Love: A Spiritual Exercise

We start using our senses to experience the presence of God around us when we learn to pay attention in love to our surroundings, the spots where we live. Though it is in God that we live and move and have our being, it is in very specific places like our homes, offices, farms, schools and the like where we actually live and move and are being. Take a few minutes now and look around.

· What do you see?

· What do you smell?

· What do you hear?

· What do you taste?

· What do you feel?

Grab a piece of paper (or a scrap of napkin, computer keyboard, or journal) and write down your answers.

This is a simple step, but it is the first step in learning to pay attention. Seeing God at work and play around us, however, involves more than merely paying attention. Seeing God means coupling our attention with love.

There are miracles all around us. They seem hidden because we do not see them, cloaked as they are in the ordinary. It takes the combination of attention and love to notice them.

When we combine attention and love, we move to a new level of noticing. Love and attention give us a deep, clear look at God everywhere around us. So, with the thought of paying attention in love, slow your breathing, quiet your mind and calm your heart. Now, take a fresh look around, with attention and love.

· What do you see?

· What do you smell?

· What do you hear?

· What do you taste?

· What do you feel?

When you’re finished, write down your answers and compare them to what you wrote earlier. How are they similar? How are they different? How did you catch a glimpse or whiff or touch of the Divine?

-- adapted from "Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God"