The Corn Patch Gospels

Now, before the spring season begins there’s still a little time to be had to write some things. Although from past experience things got written even during our busiest times around here. Now today on the farm I was doing not to much, just the basics which takes me durn near all day anyhow. Jobs speed up when the temps hit sixty or above, so for now things still keep going at that humdrum pace seven days a week.  There’s a couple of folks working on our big dairy barn roof, getting ready to put steel roofing on there and covering the battered shingles with it. They also do a thing where they put three sets of cables in the haybarn and tighten them up in order to prevent any roof sag in the future. So in the afternoon when I went into that barn to feed and water our four hillbilly hogs I decided to go up into the haybarn and see what was up. Hadn’t inspected the job yet up there so now’s a good time I figured. All looked good and I was more than satisfied with the job that was done. Now when a person is up in a huge old haybarn there’s just something about it all. Its almost cathedral like up there with the high sloping roof that was built over a hundred years ago. The haybarn is almost empty except for a couple feet of loose hay on the floor all over so its quite a large room. And I was thinking, always thinking, thinking about that book that Brad sent this way a while back called the Cotton Patch Gospel. Now that book is kinda neat, written in a country style and a person like me can learn allot from the stories and the way of country writing that the preacher who wrote it used.

So I was thinking about how easy it is to speak like that and to understand stuff written in a country way compared to all the big city stuff that a person is basically forced to read when everything else good is read a hundred times over. Now I was thinking about writing a thing called the Corn Patch Gospels, but not follow the Gospels as closely as the preacher did on the Cotton patch Gospels. More of a country parable type of thing. Its easy to come up with stuff like that because the Bible, mostly the Gospels were the blueprint for country ministry. Jesus spent most of His time in the country and all was pretty good out there. It was the big city where He got in trouble mostly. Even any troubles He had out in the country were from bigshot city religious leaders coming out into the countryside to check on Him!

And I have noticed these last few years many church folks from the countryside figure that they will experience God better in a big city church, especially if there is some big named TV preacher showing up to do the preaching. I did that once, (not preaching, just going to see a big named preacher), and I was more than happy to get back to our little country church and do what we do. I’m more than happy to talk faith at the kitchen table, or by the corrals, or out in the field, a person don’t need some Cristal cathedral to find God, He’s everywhere! Even in the corn patch, or maybe especially in the corn patch. When a person is on a tractor working in the corn patch there’s so much time to dwell on God, just like when cutting hay or raking it. There ain’t no better time to get lost in talking to God. The motor hum or roar really doesn’t interfere at all from my experience, in fact God comes in loud and clear at 2100 RPM!

So coming up in the near future I might write some country parables called the Corn Patch Gospels or Corn Patch Parables, don’t know which one yet but it really don’t make much difference. Not like allot of people will ever read them but I think I’ll have some fun putting faith back nto a country perspective. I love story telling, am kinda good at it so why not I figure! Besides, it’ll arm me with some good faith building stories to recall when the time is right along side of some corral fence or at the local co-op or someplace like that! Yup, that’s what I’ll do if I don’t forget