Our Our Way: The spring roundup

Out our way, even in the dead of winter, Charlie and I were looking forward to the spring roundup. Though we did it year after year, the changing from the old pasture to the new always seem to inspire a lift and a freshness of new beginnings. You could feel a whole new world opening up as we rounded up and then moved the cattle from the old, worn out brown winter pasture to the new, lush summer pasture.

It seemed like there was new life flowing through us all as we went through the fence that divided the old from the new. It seemed the air was somehow fresher, the number of song birds increased, and we felt the joy in the young calves who delighted, kicking up their heels and racing about the new world. Even the old bulls seemed to get a kick in their step and ramble a bit faster as the sight and smell of the new pasture land.

Out our way, we get a hint of that same feeling every year as the Christmas holidays end with the celebration of the New Year. It is still winter, but the promise of spring has already begun. As most folks know, this is the time of the winter solstice when the nights begin to get shorter and the days get longer. The darkness slowly yields once again to the growing light. No wonder, then, that the calendar year begins right after Christmas in January, for it is when the old dies off and the new comes to life.

Many folks acknowledge and celebrate this by making it part of their personal lives by making “New Year’s Resolutions.” They see the new year as a new beginning, a chance to do things differently, an opportunity for a “do over.” As God promises in Revelation: “Behold I make all things new,” the new year gives hope of a fresh start.

Maybe this is the year to forgive those who have harmed and hurt us, and let go of anger and resentments To forgive is not to excuse the wrongs done to us others, but to cease to let those wrongs continue to poison our souls. The victim forgives for his or or her own health and wellbeing.

Maybe this is the year to repent of the wrongs and hurts we have done to others, for who among us is truly perfect and has no need to change? The word we translate as “sin” in the Bible literally means “to miss the target.” To repent, therefore means “to correct our aim.” What marksman refuses to adjust his or her sights once they realize they are off target?

There are many things we know we should do or stop doing, and New Year’s is a traditional time to make those changes. Why? Because God says so? Yes — and for the same reason the owners manual for your vehicle tells you to change your oil every few thousand miles. Bad decisions lead to bad consequences. The manufacturer who designed and built your car or truck knows this, as does the Manufacturer who designed and made you.

The Psalmist understood — Psalm 23 — that the Good Shepherd leads us to the good pasture. He does know what He is doing and He does it for our sake. Granted, Charlie and I had to chase a few strays who thought they knew better and would have died of exposure, hunger and thirst if we hadn’t rounded them up and forced them into the good pasture lands, but most of the herd were smarter than that and stayed on the trail that led to the green grass and flowing waters.

2018, like the old pasture lands, is now worn out. 2019, like the fresh pasture, awaits. Time to leave behind the worn out and dried out things of the past — old grudges, past failures, former times, etc. —  and push on to the fresh new green grass and still waters up ahead.

The cows didn’t know what lay ahead as Charlie and I pushed them out of the old pasture into the new, but we did. We don’t know what lies ahead on the trail God is driving us, but He does. Trust in the Herder. The new pasture land of 2019 lies ahead, and like a young calf, kick up your heels and greet it with joy!

Blessings,

Brother John Bruington