Life Matters - November 19, 2025

As the forests of corn were cleared from the Great Plains, another beautiful sight of God’s bountiful blessings came more clearly into view. The beef cattle. Large acreages of pasture, still dotted with some green slowly but surely going into dormancy, as herds of still summer-sleek cattle grazed on the green or browsed in the browning areas. As well as large acreages of harvested cornfields with cattle browsing on cornstalks while finding the occasional ear of corn to contentedly roll around in the gastric juices of their mouth until worried down to swallowing size. Adding to their cuds for later chewing in the warming sun of these beautiful, fly-free, fall days. 

Beautiful is an understatement. Gorgeous is closer. But then, from the far-flung vivid red orange and golden colors of sunrises, the like-kind beautiful colors of sunset, to the blue skies at times with fluffy white clouds in between, words fail me to describe the beauty. Cameras fail as well, because they can only capture portions at a time. God must be a lover of beauty, as evidenced here and in his creation everywhere we go in this world we live on so temporarily. And if He took the time to make the temporary so beautiful, what must the eternal be like? Admittedly some places on this earth stand out for their beauty more than other places, but if we take the time to stop and look, every area has its own beauty. 

And now, for the rest of the story… as Paul Harvey might say. I spent quite a lot of time on the road last summer representing Lapp Roof Restoration, so I saw a lot of countryside. Pastures of cattle, rivers and streams, greening fields becoming the aforementioned bountiful crops, sunshine, blue skies, storm clouds and summer rains.  

The rest of the story is the storms that can, and do at times, rip across these plains leaving swaths of destruction in their wake while neighbors may be untouched, with no ill effects of the storm, be it tornado, derecho, (a straight-line channel of wind strong enough to take down trees, smash barns and leave a general mess in their path) or the hailstorms that go as quickly as they came leaving a path of ruined crops behind them. 

As I was driving north on Route 281 one beautiful—I mean gorgeous—early, fresh and sunrise bathed mid-summer morning with my window down, breathing in the outdoors as though wanting to be a part of it, marveling quietly at the beautiful green pastures with cattle, occasional horses, the deep green of healthy corn, soybean, grain, and hay fields, I was suddenly startled out of my reverie by a vastly different scene. 

The obvious devastation of a hailstorm was on both sides of the road as I passed through a mile-wide swath of rows of cornstalks—yes stalks—still standing, but with only a few tattered, bedraggled, leaves on each one. A hailstorm had obviously done its damage here, perhaps last night. The damage was recently done and still green. The entire damage was approximately two miles wide with damage petering out about a half mile on both sides leaving about a mile-wide swath in total destruction. 

This past Sunday I and a church brother, who is about the same age as I, were discussing the eventual, and inevitable, demise of our bodies. We both agreed its best we don’t know when our time here will be done as we reflected momentarily on how would our lives be different if we knew the exact time and day. I told him I’m glad I don’t know as, with all things unsure in this life, it keeps me “on my toes.”

There are two sides to social media—to news in general. One side has beautiful, clean, pictures of scenery, family, friends, work and projects—it opens up edifying communication channels formerly unthinkable. Families and friends can easily stay in touch—even though scattered abroad—as if living next to each other. Gospel messages can literally spread at the speed of light.   

But then…there is the rest of the story. A story of time wasted on nix-nootz, useless meanderings that leave no time, nor heart, for meaningful conversation with family and friends, leave no time nor heart for the spreading of the Gospel message. Leave no time nor heart for enjoying the beauty of nature, the carefree play and laughter of little ones, for constructive hobbies, and hinder the time and enjoyment of meaningful work. 

Keeping up with the news can be informative for the purpose of exploring current events through the lens of our faith. Keeping up with the news can also be misinformative these days as ‘news’ becomes purposely tweaked to fit sinful ideologies. Even to the covert, becoming overt, Marxist, and violent, left-wing hatred for God - and America – ideologies where the mob rules by “muddying the waters.”  Avoiding the muddy water helps keep me on my toes and this pen moving. Truth is in jeopardy these days. Embrace it, keep it close. 

As Will Rogers put it; “Always drink upstream from the herd.” 

Life Matters!