picnic favors

We moved into our house two weekends ago. We are adjusting to our new home and our new town. We have quickly made connections in our neighborhood.

A couple of days ago I got to work and one of the young guys I work with came over to me to tell me what had happened to him earlier. He said some guy came to the store about twenty minutes before it opened and asked my coworker to do a bunch of annoying things that we consider "favors". Long story short, he saw that my coworker was getting frustrated and then gave him a business card and invited him to the Vineyard church in Westerville. My friend said, "If I ever did want to go to church I wouldn't go to that guy's church. Are these people a bunch of whackos?"

That same weekend my same Bike One friend and another guy we work with were at a park riding their bikes. A girl came up to them and asked them if they were hungry or thirsty. They walked over to a shelter house where her church had put out a huge spread and were inviting people to come eat with them. They then left the food for these young guys to take home with them.

I was embarrassed and I was encouraged.

I told my friend that I was sorry that the guy had done that to him and I told him that I was glad that he went to a church picnic.

I am reading a fantastic book by Wendell Berry entitled "The Unsettling of America". I think it will cause a radical shift in my understanding of our relationship with the land. Berry talks about us being exploiters or nurturers. I fluctuate between the two but I hope that I am consistently moving toward nurture in all my relationships.




Boy With A Coin