Planting season & Marathons

The beginnings of semesters are always interesting. I am lucky in that my vocation is one that still has seasons, and August is the planting time. A new crop of freshman comes to college with their dreams and expectations. Some expect to show those professors a thing or two. Some are so overwhelmed they can barely function. But, all are excited and optimistic as they move forward into a new part of life.

Unfortunately, in a month or two, the dreams of August have faded. They no longer are idealistic. In fact, many have become cynical. Half of them change their major. A third of them will change their major twice. College isn't what they expected. Some, I never see again. They give up coming to class in favor of doing other things. But, there are those who tough it out. There are those who revise their dreams and expectations and do the work it takes to get to the end. They work with others. They plug into the student community. They get involved in BCM or a local church. They do well in their classes and really excel at the college experience.

It reminds me of the parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-9), and I think it is an interesting metaphor for the Christian life. So many individuals have an experience with the divine and are excited and optimistic for the future. Then, they go and live in this world, and it turns out that being a Christian is hard. Family may not care. Co-workers or fellow students make it hard to be the person they need to be. Some become cynical. Some give up in favor of doing other things.

I suppose it is just another way to say that college/farming/Christianity is a marathon and not a sprint. It is showing up every day and doing everything you can to be better today than yesterday. Of course, we don't usually glamorize the marathon runner. We like the 100m or the 200m. We like "fastest man alive" or "fastest woman alive." I suppose it is harder to market "fastest man alive over a distance of 26.2 miles." That is kinda hard to put on a t-shirt. Neither is the Christian life very glamorous.

To those freshmen that start this fall, "Welcome!" and "Pace yourself! Plan on doing all the little things every day to succeed. To Christians, my prayer for each of us is "Pace yourself! Plan on doing all the little things every day to succeed." I pray we have the strength it takes to do whatever it takes to persevere, to be like Christ each day that we live. It isn't always easy. It is hard to keep our optimism and idealism when we look at this world. But, I know that with Christ and his gift of each other, we can walk forward with him—even when life doesn't turn out the way we thought it should.