a surrender - 62

(Continuing "a surrender", chapter seven, "freely have you received, freely give") 

The men on that first retreat had very hard lives. Most of them were homeless. They had to fend for themselves every day on the streets of the city. One of the men said he identified with the man in Heather’s story, who clung to his demons because they made him strong and they made people fear him. Being feared felt better than being despised.

We were very encouraged after that first retreat. The men had been interested, and eager to talk about their lives and listen to the others. They were grateful for the good food, the rest, and the quiet. And we parted as friends. The experience was inspiring and energizing for us as well, even more than we had hoped. It felt like proclaiming good news to the poor, like Jesus did.

We made lots of new friends during the many retreats at the farm, over the next eleven years. And several of them came back again and again. It was good to see how their lives had changed, and how God was helping them.

Most of our time on the farm, though, was spent helping the community there in various ways. We planted long rows of strawberries, weeded them, picked the berries when they were ripe and sweet, and then covered them with straw for the winter. We weeded and mulched row after row of blueberry bushes, and filled buckets with the berries, plump and delicious. Heather helped tend the huge vegetable garden. And I would drive a truck to the city once a week, to take the vegetables and berries to our friends in the community there. In the winter, we would help cut and split fallen trees, so the wood could season for a year before it was needed to heat houses the following winter. And several days a week I helped make bread and cookies in the community bakery. Most of the bread and produce from the farm was sold at markets, but we also got to enjoy many of those good things ourselves.

As needs arose in the community, we learned new skills to help in other ways. When one of the older men was no longer able to get into his wheelchair by himself, I started visiting him each day to move him, and help with meals and washing and simple medical care. When another member started having trouble with memory, I learned some basic bookkeeping. I also learned to do some of the routine maintenance needed for the homes on the farm. Heather eventually took over managing the large vegetable garden, and learned how to prune the fruit trees and the vineyard. Another man’s back pain was worsening, so I started doing all the mowing. And I learned how to maintain all the shared network equipment; a complicated system was required to provide internet access to our many homes out in the country. It felt good to be able to help, and we were learning useful skills.

Continued...