Tag Archives: resilience

Pastoral Ponderings- Tough Old Bird

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Pastoral Ponderings- Tough Old Bird

How do you like this weather we’ve been having?  A little chilly, isn’t it?  Among the weather warnings has been guidance to bring outdoor pets in to not have them suffer (but what about the poor wild animals?), so we we’ve even gotten Delilah, the barn cat, back into the catio with her nice, warm little cave. But what about the chickens?

As the extreme cold had been approaching, I’d been looking for wisdom online, seeing all these things on extra insulation and such.  I then saw a posting from someone who had been traveling in Siberia, pointing out that hardly anyone had their chickens in insulated coops, though it regularly got as cold as 30 below (Celsius) there, and the chickens did fine.  Some chickens are bred for cold hardiness—ours are among them, called Australorps.

So though I’ve been shaking in my boots going out to check on them, they’re not even complaining.  At zero first thing this morning when I brought them some hot mash, rather than huddling inside their coop with the heat lamp, they were outside, greeting me cheerfully as ever.  Before the first hard cold, I insulated one of their two coops—but they have consistently, even on the coldest nights, preferred the uninsulated one.  Tough old birds for sure.

How is it that we, then, in human skins, have let ourselves get so wimpy?  (I’m wearing a sweater and huddled under a blanket in my nicely heated home as I’m writing this!)  Have you heard the phrase “That’s a first-world problem” in reference to some of the many things we complain about, that are generally just about lack of comfort, or lack of something most of the world would consider a luxury?

We spend so much time and energy teaching people to have a good attitude, stay positive and all—but I don’t think anyone’s ever had to be taught how to complain!  Why can’t we be more like those tough old birds staying out in extreme weather without complaint?

Have you ever noticed that suffering is often addressed in the Bible as something that can deepen our connection and relationship with God, rather than being something to complain about?  Suffering is also presented as something in which to rejoice—“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope” (Romans 4: 3-4).

I’m thinking I want to be like a touch old bird when I grow up!—Pastor Jim

Pastoral Ponderings—Rooted

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We recently rented a trencher to dig a trench through our yard to take electric out to where we’re often “camping” by the pond, and where we’re putting a permanent pavilion out in that area.  Since the yard is full of beautiful trees, we knew it would be full of roots, so rather than struggling with a simple shovel and pick, we rented this trencher that SHOULD have made the task easier.

I’ve seen these things being used—looks a lot like a giant chainsaw on a small tractor-like base for digging through the ground.  Seeing how they worked, knowing the limited area of our trenches, and that it only had to be an 18” deep trench, I thought it would be a pretty easy 2 or 3 hours’ job.  But it was an EXAUSTING, all day event, and with some of the roots and rocks the machine couldn’t get past, it’s still not done!

I wasn’t surprised at how MANY roots these trees have spread out even far from the tree trunk, but was surprised how even small roots, the diameter of pencils and nails, were giving that piece of heavy equipment such a hard time!  Though each small root might have been easily cut through, even without heavy equipment, together, they form quite a durable source of rootedness that has helped these trees last through all the storms of life for almost 100 years.  And other trees with great roots in other places make these trees look like babies.  When we were visiting the Holy Land, it was common to see olive trees well over 1000 years old, some even old enough to have had Jesus walk in their shade!

So how rooted are you?  It’s not just about having one great tap root, nor even the spread of the huge roots I was desperately trying to avoid on this project—it’s the abundance of tiny roots that both provide strength, and the source of sustenance for the trees.  The same is also true for us.

It’s not just the handful of our most primary strengths, but the abundance of those Little Things that provides the strength and sustenance to make it through.  Are you spreading your roots through all of life’s nooks and crannies, finding strength and sustenance from the abundance of bite-sized blessing God pours out on us each day?  Staying deeply rooted in Jesus is certainly important—but it is in counting our small blessings and reflecting on our daily God Sightings that really bring our strength!

Stay rooted—Pastor Jim