Christ in Tremper's Field

The best part of every day for me is when Cayman, our Rhodesian Ridgeback-Yellow Lab dog, begs for a walk. We have been blessed with a home that sits on 3 acres of lovely forested land adjoining about 250 acres of forests and fields.

I especially love when Cayman and I take a walk during the late spring and early summer. As we walk through our property, along a steep path with undulating hills, the "best dog in the world" sets the pace. He prances, walking with a princely gate swaying side to side, with his trademark floppy ear laying back on his head.

Cayman is a beautiful dog. Friendly, happy, strong, big, obedient, kind with children and other pets. Although he is, indeed, hell on wood chucks. I have to do my best to get to him when he catches one to save the poor wood chuck. So far I have succeeded every time. A couple years ago, Cayman ran after deer and disappeared for a few hours. Today he obeys my voice and holds back, letting the graceful deer bound away, white tail switching, into the forest.

Lately, Cayman and I have enjoyed walking daisy lane into Tremper's Christmas tree field. That is the most glorious stretch of path through fields and forest that God every created. A couple months ago, white daisies clustered in choirs singing Hallelujah at the top of their lungs. A few weeks ago, brilliant yellow daisies with black button centers joined the chorus. They make perfect harmony, the heavens sing with the angels joining in as Cayman prances and I joyfully stroll along daisy lane.

For me, the true glory of our daily walk begins in Tremper's field. The Tremper family had lived on the farm for hundreds of years so I have fittingly named the field, Tremper's field. The trees in Tremper's field have much to teach. An aged Dogwood stands fully in the field without any trees nearby to block its sunlight. Without competition, the Dogwood has grown into a magnificent tree, spreading over a large patch of field with its branches stretching out perfectly in a tall umbrella under the heavens.




In May, the Dogwood blooms perfect blossoms. The blossoms even surpass the perfection and beauty of the daisies along daisy lane. After the blossoms fade and fall, I think nothing to follow could rival their beauty. Yet, the Dogwood has not finished astounding me. Throughout June and into July, its perfect leaves panel out taking advantage of every inch of air and sky. The picture is perfect and joyful to behold.

Yet the most astounding change comes during the late fall and winter, after all Dogwood's leaves have fallen. Standing gnarled and rickety, the Dogwood reveals its age. Surely the tree is old enough to be in the last years of its life. Yet, even in its last days, the Dogwood revealed its vigor through the beauty of its blossoms and leaves. Although gnarled and twisted, it is surely in its prime.



Other trees stand in Tremper's field grandly, alone, spreading their branches covering vast distances in umbrage and height. They, indeed, are glorious. Yet none of the trees give me pause like that noble Dogwood. Poems have been written about the spreading Chestnut tree, yet the state of Virginia named the Dogwood blossom its state flower. Like Virginia itself, the Dogwood is old and gnarled, yet beauty returns to its branches even in old age.

There is even a legend that the Romans nailed Jesus on a cross made of Dogwood.

Legend of the Dogwood

~ Unknown

In Jesus time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
'Twas strong & firm it's branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
"Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so
Slender & twisted, it shall be

With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom's center wears a thorny crown.

All who see it will remember me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected this tree shall be

A reminder to all of my agony."

Rather than symbolizing the cross to me, the Dogwood in Tremper's field symbolizes Christ. He had the courage to stand out among people, to reveal his glory like a city on a hill, like a lighted candle on a stand. He did not hide among people but strove to become the example for all people.

We can learn a lesson from that awe inspiring Dogwood. Seek to stand in a place in the field unencumbered by other trees. Give gratitude when we are placed as a seed far removed from others so that we can grow to our fullness. We will grow into who we have been destined to be by the creator and designer of the Dogwood seed. It takes courage to stand alone in the field, choosing to stand in the full light of day rather than cowering in the crowded forest. Full grown, grandly expanded, in full view for all to see and enjoy. Our majesty, like that of the Dogwood, abounds in the boundless field.

Yes, my daily walk with Cayman through Tremper's fields is a gift from God. I take a step outside myself into the glory of God through his creation. I find myself in the white and yellow daisies, in the Oak and Magnolia trees, among the bounding deer and the soaring hawk. I find myself in front of the glorious, gnarled, blossom bedecked Dogwood in the openness of Tremper's field.

Although many grand Dogwoods have spread their branches over fields throughout the past 6000 years since the dawn of human civilization, none have been as glorious as the one I see every day on my walk with Cayman through Tremper's fields.

You Just Can't Get There From Here!

Close your eyes. What do you feel? Distress? Worry? Anxiety? Those are feelings that we commonly feel these days. It takes a saint to be happy in these times, especially if you read and watch the news every day! Swine flu. North Korea threatening the world with nuclear war. Iran developing nuclear weapons so that it can threaten the world. An economic depression that approaches the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In some ways the situation of the world is like the insurance salesman from Des Moines on a drive throughout the country side without a map or GPS. He gets lost. Seeing a farmer on his tractor plowing his field, the insurance salesman pulls over his late model Mercedes and hails the farmer. The farmer turns off his tractor to hear. The city slicker from Des Moines asks the way back to the city. The farmer sits back in his seat, rubs his chin with his hand while chewing a blade of grass. "Well, seems to me, you just can't get there from here."

How much that is like us! We want to get back home but seems like we just can't get there from here! At least the Insurance salesman knew where he wanted to go. For us, we can never go back to better times. We have to go forward to a place we have never been before. That's really scary.

So, where are we and where do we want to go? What are the times asking from us and what are the opportunities that await us?

There are some who believe that 2012 marks the end of history, possibly the end of the world. I do not believe that the world will end or that our daily lives will change that much by 2012. But I do believe that we will experience a gigantic turning point in history. Especially two events will take place of monumental importance.

First, the Islamic nations of the Middle East will embrace democracy. President Obama's Cairo speech marked the beginning of a new era between the USA and Islamic nations. The recent protest demonstrations against the hijacking of a democratic election in Iran indicate an undercurrent of support for democracy in the Middle East. Iraq, on June 30th, celebrated a day of national liberation.

Iraq will experience many ups and downs in their democratic life. Democracy is messy. It is the worst form of government, except for all the rest. My money is on democracy, Islamic democracy, winning in Iraq over radical Islamic terrorism. They are walking a path pioneered by India. India recently held the largest democratic election in history with Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew and Christian participating. If only Gandhi's efforts had succeeded in keeping Pakistan within Indian sovereignty we would have an even greater example of democracy among many religions.

Second, North Korea will collapse under the weight of the United Nations resistance to its nuclear terrorism. Korea will be united by the end of 2012 not by the force of North Korean nuclear weapons but through a collapse of their already bankrupt financial system. A tyrant can afford to starve his people as long as he feeds the military and arms them. North Korea is facing an immediate future without an inflow of supplies or money from other nations. That is the reason for the insane threatening of the world with nuclear war. They are dying, the regime is crumbling on the eve of the installation of Kim Jong-il's son.

So, where will we be on New Year's 2013? Rest assured, we will wake up and see the dawn of another day! The world will not end and our daily lives will continue. But we will have entered a new era, an era of building peaceful relations among the nations. Islamic nations will have crossed the threshold into democratic Islam. Korea will be reunited and posed to help East Asia and Southeast Asia enter a golden age.

Our generation and the next generation will have a tremendous responsibility to take the next step. Religious leaders, saints, and lay persons in every religion will have the great responsibility to live the teachings of their religions, to create a parliament of world religions. The generations following will have the task of creating one world community governed by a new world Constitution and government.

This would truly be impossible if we relied upon our own talents and abilities. The task lay beyond our talents and abilities. But God and the Heavenly Hosts have always helped us in the past and they will in the present and the future. We are moving toward the Kingdom of God on earth, the fulfillment of every religious person's dreams and hopes.

So, maybe we can't get back home from here. That's good. Because the new place where we are going together, the place we will create together, is much, much, much better.

April 15th: The Day Abraham Lincoln Died

"The last breath was drawn at 21 minutes and 55 seconds past 7 A.M. and the last heart beat flickered at 22 minutes and 10 seconds past the hour on Saturday, April 15, 1865." Carl Sandburg marked Lincoln's last moment of life in his monumental biography of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln had prophetic dreams about his pending assassination. He considered himself a man of destiny and believed that his life would end at the hands of an assassin. Few will miss the irony of his assassination taking place on Good Friday, the day that Jesus suffered crucifixion on the cross. Lincoln had lived in a way similar to Christ, carrying his cross throughout the four bloodiest years in the history of the United States of America as the leader of the cause to preserve the union.

Lincoln's death came a few days after General U.S. Grant received the surrender of General Robert E. Lee on Palm Sunday 1865. Although the Confederacy had yet to formally surrender, all expected a complete and unconditional surrender soon. President Lincoln had made a daring visit to Richmond the day after Grant's army rode into the city. Lincoln sat in Jefferson Davis's chair in the capital building, pondering the man who had sat as his adversary throughout the four, long, horrendous years.

Lincoln had not even wanted to attend Ford's Theater that evening. He had no interest in watching the British play, Our American Cousin. Yet is wife insisted, wanting to celebrate the expected end of the war with levity and amusement. Once the announcement had been made in the newspapers, Lincoln felt obliged to attend, even though he had forebodings.

The death of Lincoln, like the death of Christ, seemed destined and nothing could stop it. Just as the Civil War seemed destined to exact the death of 620,000 North and South, Providence appeared to require the death of Lincoln upon the cross for the nation's sin of slavery. Slavery, that horrific practice of owning men like animals, led the United States into hell fire and brimstone, into an apocalypse of fury and destruction.

Why had the English colonies in America received African slaves? Pure and simple, making a profit through selling agricultural products. During the 1600s in New Amsterdam, slavery had been admitted and then dropped. The Dutch plan to create plantations worked by African slaves failed. In Jamestown, the effort to plant slavery in the 1600s succeeded. The Southern way of life and slavery became inextricably interwoven, especially for the aristocratic slave holders like Washington and Jefferson.

Slavery. The cross upon which Lincoln died. Did John Wilkes Booth, the foremost Shakespearean actor at the time in the United States, assassinate Lincoln because he abolished slavery? No. Booth's reason for killing Lincoln lay simply in his fury at the disgrace brought by the South's defeat. He held Lincoln responsible for that defeat and humiliation. Ironically, Lincoln would much rather have attended a Shakespeare play with Booth on the stage than Our American Cousin.

If God had wanted to save Lincoln's life that night, he could have easily done so. A combination of events, all essential to the success of the assassination, coincided. Lincoln's preferred body guard had other duties, leaving a misfit to protect his back in Ford's Theater. Rather than stay at his post, he went out for drink and women in the street. That allowed Booth to take his hiding place next to Lincoln's box. Booth used a single shot derringer from five feet distance to kill Lincoln. Angels surely could have fended away that inadequate bullet. But, no, the bullet struck Lincoln mortally.

Why did Lincoln have to die, crucified on Good Friday? If he had lived, how very different the Reconstruction would have been. Lincoln's lack of desire for revenge, his single-minded intention to forgive and welcome back all southerns who took a pledge of allegiance to the United States of America, his commitment to ease freed slaves successfully into the fabric of American society would have made for a very different nation.

Instead, Andrew Johnson, the vice president sworn in upon Lincoln's death, had a far less charitable stance toward the South. He held that punishment for rebellion is the proper and right course. The North would force the South through Reconstruction. The long road for freed slaves into full citizenship began. A road that, under Lincoln, certainly would have been shorter and more successful. If Lincoln had served through his second term, maybe Fredrick Douglas would have eliminated the need for Martin Luther King 100 years later. Who knows? Who knows . . . .

Yet we are often pawns of destiny far more than shapers of destiny. We have parts to play in the grand unfolding of the Providence of God. Why did God require the sacrifice of Abraham Lincoln on April 15th, 1865? Why did God require the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the same day about 1830 years earlier? The ways of God are mysterious and past all understanding. Yet we know that great people who believe in love often end their earthly lives on the cross. And, although we would prefer---as surely they would---that they lived, through their life and death on the cross of the providence, the world is a vastly better place.