Up unto thee, our living Head,
let us in all things grow;
till thou hast made us free indeed
and spotless here below.
Charles Wesley – Jesus, United by Thy Grace (UMH 561) – Stanza 3
I am so thankful for those sacred moments that interrupt my drive time across the Gateway District. The above photo captures one of those special moments. For those of you who love farming, you will know immediately what this is called. Some might call it center-point irrigation, while others will call it water-wheel and circle irrigation. And if you have another name for it, let me know! This is a fascinating irrigation system that was first invented by Frank Zybach of Nebraska in 1948; who had dropped out of school in the seventh grade to work on his father’s farm and in his blacksmith shop. His center-point irrigation system transformed farming and continues to influence methods used today across the country.
When I saw this particular system running early in September, making its way across the field, I was fascinated with how slowly the wheels were turning and how quiet the apparatus was. All you could hear was the mist streaming out of the sprinklers, soaking the ground below. It was mesmerizing to witness, and I was entirely engrossed by what I was taking in from the front seat of my car.
And as I sat there watching, I kept thinking about God’s grace. God’s absorbing, abundant, and amazing grace. The grace that goes before us, and what John Wesley called prevenient. This prevenient grace was in the way the wheels kept turning and going forward, marking out the path for which the water would fall. And all that soaking water reminded me of the grace that cleanses, the grace that forgives, the grace that pardons, the justifying grace that makes us right. As the wheels turned ever so slowly, the hissing sound of the sprinklers spread their water all over the sod below; the water droplets glistened in the light of the sun. This was the sanctifying grace, the grace that makes one holy.
I sat there in awe of this display of God’s absorbing, abundant, and amazing grace. I was transported to a bedtime prayer I often shared when the boys were younger when we were trying to practice scripture memorization: “Grow in grace, 2 Peter 3:18.” Praying those words aloud. In contrast, I sat in my car watching this irrigation system sent me back to that nighttime ritual with our boys before the lights were turned off. And then I realized my own eyes were watering, and said, “Amen.”
I close with a helpful definition of grace by Bp. Kenneth L. Carder: “Grace is God’s presence to create, heal, forgive, reconcile and transform human hearts, communities and the entire creation.” My heart was certainly transformed in this moment alongside the road, where God’s grace was absorbing, abundant, and amazing.
Blessings,
David