![]() Celebration is rooted in deep joy that can be discovered if paid attention to. Celebration is not a distraction from the realities of the world we dwell in. And because God is a gracious and loving God, nothing goes to waste, not even the chaff as it too is a vital aspect to the rhythms of kingdom work.Īs we find ourselves nearing Thanksgiving in a year filled with lamentable circumstances, we practice celebration. To ride the combine day or night, tending the agricultural space gifted us. But in doing so we will be part of a kingdom harvest where the Holy Spirit somehow separates the grain from the chaff. It is very hard work and if we are doing it correctly, we will stir up a few dust clouds. That indeed is something worth celebrating. Ultimately, Camp concludes, we know that God alone is the hope of the world, which is to say the United States is not. We speak truth because we know “lies and deceit are an acid that destroys the bonds of community.” We welcome all the gifts of life and respond in love because we know the beauty of living fully. Christians are called to be living embodiments of the kingdom of God, no matter what time or place they find themselves. We are a people pledged to Christ through baptism and entrance into the community of reconciliation, forgiveness, and hospitality, which are not found in sectarian oaths. Our hope is not found in flags or pledges, nor are Christians called to be chaplains that sanction the machinations of political figureheads. What he knows, and I also believe, is that our Christian joy is not rooted in blessing the ways of the nation-state, even though there are moments we can celebrate instances of justice done in the public square. Camp calls for Christians to embody an alternative politic in our context in a way that is neither left nor right nor religious. But my hope is that we find ourselves fully resolved to following Christ by loving God and loving others no matter the results that our pursuit of justice and mercy is done through the context of our faith. Election results for some of these offices and ballot initiatives are still being tallied. Millions of Americans have cast their ballots in the latest cycle of national, state, and local elections. After everyone has been paid, the equipment checked and repaired of any damage, and winter strategies put into motion, the celebration parties begin. Upon delivery the trucks and tractors are put in storage and the cattle are released upon the fields to consume the stalks and fallow left behind, sustaining them for the winter, proving nothing goes to waste in agriculture. ![]() Once full the trucks drive to silos and granaries family businesses have used for generations. Kernels of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and wheat grains are shot into the beds of open semi-trailers after being almost magically separated from their browning stalks and plants they resided in moments earlier. Dust clouds form in fields as perpetually running combine harvester tractors scoop crops from the earth. Fall in the Midwest is a season of long hours, hard work, and celebration.
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