Out Our Way: God sent me the meadowlarks - Isaiah 65:17-25/Luke 21:5-19

Out our way, the fall roundup is always a time of expectation and even deliverance. Winter is coming, the upper pasture is about grazed out, the waterholes are drying up, the temperature is dropping, and the cold Arctic winds are blowing. But soon the drovers come and move the herd down to the winter pastures where the grass is fresh, the water flowing, and where, even in the midst of the worst Alberta Clippers, the stored hay is plentiful and will be brought out.

Now I am no expert on cattle, but it seems to me that in the wild, the bison, elk, deer and antelope get anxious and agitated as winter approaches as the grass runs out and the water freezes over. But not so for Big Mike's herd. They were calm and seemed unafraid as the winter storms began to gather around the Tiger Ridge.

So why were the cattle in Big Mike's herd so unconcerned?

Maybe because, over the years, they had come to understand that there was someone taking care of them. Perhaps that is also why so many of the prophets and Psalmists and disciples faced the terrors, hardships and seeming disasters with a calm their pagan neighbors did not. They knew Whose they were and even in the darkest times knew they would never be alone or forgotten. Out on the Tiger Ridge, Alberta Clippers might cover the land with 12 inches of snow, freeze the reservoirs, and drop the temps to 40 below - but eventually, chinook winds would also come and free the land. And, in the meantime, the hay trucks would come, drovers would break out the ice from the water, and even haul the newborns into the barns during February calving season when the danger of freezing to death for the little ones was a concern. We lost a few some winters, but most made it because we never quit on them.

Now, humans are supposed to be smarter than cows, but I grant you sometimes I have my doubts. I, especially as a pastor, Biblical scholar, preacher and teacher of the Gospel ought to know better ... but I confess to times when it was one "Alberta Clipper" after another and no sign of a chinook wind, and my faith/trust level was about on "empty." Reading the Psalms, Prophets, and especially the Gospels and Epistles helped me restore that trust and faith to an extent, but sometimes I needed more ... and God understood.

Some of you may recall this story, but it's worth repeating. I was driving home in rural Wyoming on a stretch of 90 miles of open country. A huge blizzard hit when I was some 30 miles out of Cheyenne and 60 from Torrington ... and there was nothing in between before Bear Mountain some 50 miles ahead. The road was deserted for, unbeknownst to me, the State Patrol had closed the road shortly after I had entered it and so nobody but nobody was out there.

My car began to act up and suddenly began to lose power, and over the next two hours, my speed dropped until it was crawling along at 10 mph. I had miles to go, the blizzard was getting worse, and soon I would be stranded in the "Wyo-braska" outback with no hope. Believe me, I was praying.

OK - long story short - just when I thought I was doomed, I topped a ridge and there was the Bear Mountain Conoco less than a mile away. I coasted down the other side of the ridge and managed to get into the parking area just as the engine quit for good. I stepped out of the car, shaking from the ordeal, and just then the snow stopped, the sun came out, and 20 to 30 meadowlarks started singing - in the middle of winter! No question that "The Boss" had been "riding herd" even though I had forgotten it. But the Psalmists knew it. The prophets knew it. Paul and the other apostles knew it. And they all wrote of it in the Scriptures. They are our "meadowlarks." But there are others out there as well. If you open your ears you will soon discover present day "meadowlarks" around you - neighbors, friends, good-hearted folk you may not even know, but who are "riding for the Brand" and singing the song of the meadowlark simply by being who they are.

I have endured a great many Alberta Clippers while waiting for the chinook that sometimes never seems to arrive. But then God sends me the "meadowlarks," who know better and remind me of that fact. They are the "herald angels" God has sent to us in the bleakest winters to remind us: God is still with us and the promised good pasture awaits, even if we cannot yet see it. Listen to the meadowlarks! 

Be blessed and be a blessing. Be a meadowlark for someone else in their "winter of despair."

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].