Harvesting the Back Yard: Or, Conversations with God
By Don Hagan
Don is a nuclear fuel engineer with Southern Nuclear Operating Company located in Birmingham, AL. He is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a member of Edgewood Presbyterian Church.

I happened to look up in the early evening sky a few nights ago and noticed a large, round, orange moon surrounded by small wisps of white clouds. Even though it was only August, it reminded me of one of those wonderful October harvest moons that seem to always rise around Halloween, October 31st, each year. It occurred to me that most of us 21st century Americans don't really understand much about the value of harvesting or reaping as a society. To harvest for most North Americans means going to your local grocery store, walking down an aisle and picking from a wide variety of vegetables and fruit. Jesus and many of the New Testament writers spoke to people of their time of the importance of harvesting and reaping. Granted these were terms that most people of that time knew and understood, but how do we in today's society come to find value in harvesting and reaping?

For more than twenty-five years, I have been regularly harvesting my backyard. That is to say, I mow the weeds in my back yard beginning in late spring and continue until early fall. I have found it has provided me with some unexpected insights by allowing myself to take the time to converse with God. I'm sure my wife, Janine, always wondered why I always wanted to mow the back yard year after year all by myself. Since my workweek job requires a great deal of concentration and accuracy, I found mowing to be relaxing and allowed me to take the time to seek God among the weeds as well as the grass.

One of the things that I have learned about myself from my conversation with God is that I like to argue with God. No, that's not exactly true; it's that I like to debate God. In return, I have found God to be an excellent debater. Most of my debates, or maybe I really should call them arguments with God, come about from the personal, work or church problems I'm experiencing in my everyday life. As a debater, I defend my positions with stories or quotes from the bible, God's own words, so to speak. But try as I may, God always come back with a "Have you considered this one?" story or quote that blows my debate position. I have come to believe that such debates strengthen my faith by allowing me to see God beyond the descriptive words written in a holy book. Simply put, these conversations bring God to life as well as into my life.

My debates with God have also taught me that many times my behavior is not consistent with God's values. I find that I often try to explain what I have done in broad moral terms that might have little to do with the real reason for doing some action. Since I'm always more mindful of the details of my own actions, God is always there telling me that the "devil is in the details" and I should be careful to not judge my own actions any less than I would others.

This epiphany from God also tells me that the God I have debated these many years has set down certain rules and laws by which He wants His children to live. I am to understand that God is disappointed when we seek to justify the end results by using our interpretation of His laws. But disappointment doesn't mean there can never be any love. Being a parent of two sons, I have come to understand God as a parent. Although He is always there trying to give guidance that's in the child's best interest and disappointed when the guidance is ignored or denied as invalid, He is also always there when the child needs holding and loving.

I like to think sometimes that I'm not too unlike the people living at the time of Jesus; working hard in fields, reaping the harvest each fall and possibly holding conversations with God. While not everyone mows the back yard, I believe that everyone should take to time to have a conversation (debate) with God. Although I have learned that while God is always available to listen to me, it also takes willingness on my part to initiate the conversation. Finally, my conversations are only effective if I'm willing to listen to God and leave my ego at the door.

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