Community Sabbath (Week Three): Hi-Lu Farms

(Photo from www.freeimages.com, #1573842.)

“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey...”
(Exodus 3:8)

Growing up on the Hi-Lu dairy farm on the plains of western Kansas, it may come as no surprise that Maggie McIntyre and her four sibling learned early on the value of hard work.  After all, there was always work to be done. There was the herd of 40-60 Brown Swiss cows that needed to be milked every day. There were also fields of wheat, corn, milo, alfalfa, and soybeans that needed to be cared for and grass pasture that needed to be managed.  There were chores at home and chores in the field in addition to the normal demands of homework and school activites.  

For Maggie, this hard work has translated into a highly successful legal career and a happy marriage all while raising two very active and talented teenage boys.  In every way, she leads a productive and busy life.  However, Maggie will be the first to tell you that productivity and busyness are not the measures of a good life. 

"My father always took a Sabbath," she says.  "On Sunday, we milked the cows and we went to church. My mother prepared a roast or fondue, something simple. But that was it.  No other work was done. If we were in the middle of harvest, we stopped. After church, we spent the rest of our day visiting with friends and relatives, relaxing, playing croquet and watching sports on TV." 

For her parents, Howard and Irene Lutes, keeping of the Sabbath was an important part of practicing their faith, and not just on Sunday.  Maggie would often find her father praying and reading before dawn and her mother would sometimes take a break in the middle of the day and go to the study to read her Bible. "I think it is hard to really have a relationship with God if we don't invest any time in prayer and meditation," Maggie says. "Stop light prayers are good, but we need to dedicate an hour or more every day if we are going to have a real relationship with anybody, including the Lord."

"It is counter-cultural, for sure," Maggie says. "Even back then in rural Kansas, our neighbors didn't always stop for the Sabbath.  In fact, one of our neighbors, whose wheat field was across from the church, always harvested on Sunday while we were having church. It was hot, so the windows of the church were open.  His combine was loud and it was disruptive to the service.  My father didn't like that."  

In ancient Egypt, the Hebrews were enslaved to their Egyptian taskmasters.  In today's busy, outcome-based world, we are sometimes our own taskmasters.  After being delivered from slavery, ancient Israel took time every week to remember that they were no longer slaves.  They took time every week to celebrate the benevolent God who delivered them to a land flowing with milk and honey; a land much like Hi-Lu Farms.  We need that time as well.

"Church shouldn't be secondary.  And not just Sunday morning, but Sunday evening and Wednesday night.  That is how I was raised and how I have raised my own family.  As a result, my boys didn't always get to do every activity that their friends did, but I wasn't going to go to soccer tournaments on Sunday.  They didn't always like that, but I hope that they understand why we made that decision.  If we are too busy, our relationship with God suffers."

"Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.