Peace

I’ve only been inside the walls of a church a couple of times over the last few years but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been to church. 

I’ve been to church every time I’ve had to learn to forgive two wholly irredeemable goats who jump every boundary I put up and get into EVERYTHING that is none of their business! 

And then I have to forgive myself for my anger towards them. There is always one or two of these goats/spiritual guides in every church. 

Forgiveness, of course, goes deeper than that between humans. I have learned that asking for forgiveness means more than “I’m sorry.” It means asking “how can I make this right between us?” And then doing the action required.

I’ve been to church every time gratitude breaks through my desire to be the perfect farmer and to be responsible for everyone and everything. 

Gratitude for the faithfulness of the sunrise that never ceases to present itself in a thousand brilliant shades of orange and blue rising over the horse barn. 

Gratitude for the web of an orb weaver spider that serves as an unexpected spiritual labyrinth asking for meditation. 

Gratitude for the end of a day when I can look up into the stars thankful for work worth doing and a family that accepts me and sobriety that keeps me alive. 

I’ve been to church every time a service opportunity comes my way, even when it is not on my schedule. 

Every time a hurt animal needs extra attention at the end of an exhausting day. 

Every time my in-laws need a ride to the doctor in Dallas. 

Every time I have an opportunity to help heal the land even though it may only make the smallest of differences and those differences may not be seen for years to come. 

I suppose you could say I go to church (or church comes to me) every day. That is after all the meaning of the Christmas story. 

God being born in the back of a barn in a cattle trough as a sure signal of being with us not just on high holy happy days, but also in the days when we are up to to our knees in manure, and the cows having broken down the fence are running toward the road, and those two stupid goats are just standing there laughing at us with their annoying baaaaaaa. 

God is with us everyday, but I feel most with God in those days when I practice the things I mentioned earlier; forgiveness, gratitude and service. 

We have a five acre pond which we call Poppie’s Pond, named after Susan’s kind father, Ben. But Susan and I also call it our sanctuary. It is where we have sunrise worship, serious talks, dream about the future, and where we watch the water to see what creation will show up next. 

This year we have placed a country-fied advent wreath right on top of our fire pit at Poppie’s Pond. We have put four candles on the outside of the wreath and we have lit candles for hope, love, and joy each week. This Sunday we will light for peace. 

The only thing is that we couldn’t find the right candles with only one wick at the local store for the wreath, but we did find candles that had three wicks in them. And that really works out perfect for me. 

While we will certainly pray for peace in our world and in our nation, we will light those three wicks this Sunday and I will remember the three things that bring me peace. Forgiveness. Gratitude. Service. 

If I live according to these three practices, everyday can be church and life is full of God.