Different points of view
18/09/16 05:14
One of the joys of living in community is that other people bring fresh perspectives to conversations. Different people perceive the same situation in different ways. Being a part of a community opens one to looking at things from a different point of view.
Recently, I realized how differently two people can look at things through a conversation with a loyal and dedicated church member. This is someone I have known for a long time, who is very active in our congregation and a dedicated volunteer who invests many hours in church activities and events. It is a person with a heart for mission who believes in serving others and embraces many of our congregation’s programs. It is a person whose values are fairly similar to mine. We were having a conversation during a break from a work project and talking about our congregation’s firewood project.
I’ve written quite a bit about that project. Basically we obtain wood from people who are thinning their trees or have to cut down trees for a variety of reasons. We cut the logs to fireplace length and split them, stacking the wood in the church yard. Then we deliver the firewood to partners on the Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge reservations who distribute it for home heating. We ask only that the firewood not be sold, but given away. The project began without any budget or need for funding. We used what people gave us. When we needed a mechanical splitter, a donor came forward with a machine. Later a second splitter was obtained through gifts from multiple donors. An appeal for a heavy duty trailer resulted in a donation. Other trailers are borrowed from church members. The pickups to deliver the firewood belong to the members of our congregation who also donate the fuel for deliveries. One of our basic operating principles is that we will use what we have and do without what we don’t have. There have been no fund-raising events, and no committee meetings. We simply invite whoever is available to work and we get done what we are able.
The project has been fantastically successful. We deliver nearly 100 cords of wood a year. We have the joy of working together almost every week. People have participated in a wide variety of ways from baking cookies for the crews to providing childcare for workers to donating wood to working on crews and dozens of other tasks.
As a pastor, one of the things I appreciate about the project is that it is completely worry free. I don’t have to do anything except be a member of the team. I work when I am able and feel no guilt when other duties keep me away from work days. Others make the arrangements and phone calls and keep the work flowing.
So we were talking about the project and some of the deliveries we will be making this year. As usual, there are some changes. One of our big partners on the Cheyenne River Reservation passed away last year and we don’t have his home as a place for distribution this year. That particular delivery has been a big event for many years. We know we’ll find other partners with whom to work, but things are a bit less settled this year than in previous years. My friend was looking around the wood lot which has a lot of wood, but only about a day’s worth of wood that is unspilt. We will need to find more wood to split or we won’t have work for regular work days. I mentioned a few people who have said that they have wood to donate. My friend, however, expressed worry that we won’t have enough enough wood to deliver this year.
As we returned to work, I was puzzled by his worry. As I have said, I don’t worry about the project at all. What people give us we will give to others. What we don’t have, we won’t worry about. There have been years, in the past, when we delivered far less wood than we already have split and stacked for delivery this year. I’m sure that things will work out.
Then I was granted a bit of insight into my friend. He is thinking of the project in terms of resource distribution. He sees firewood as a resource. Like other resources, there is a finite supply of firewood. He has spent his active career managing resources and making sure that they are sufficient to meet needs. From that perspective, it would be a significant problem to run out of resources.
I see the ministry in terms of relationships. I am grateful for the ways in which it builds relationships between people. I’m overjoyed to have my reservation friends get to know my friends from our congregation and vice versa. I have been delighted to occasionally work with a son or daughter of an elder as we begin to forge relationships with a second generation of partners. I respond to request for firewood because I see opportunities to build relationships with people.
And I can see nothing wrong with delivering all of the firewood and running out. If that happens, we will just have to find some more and split it. After all, I can remember when we had no firewood in the back yard of the church and made deliveries directly from the homes of firewood donors. From my point of view, running out of firewood would be an expression of a job well done and would be easy to explain to our partners. “What happened to all the firewood?” “We gave it away.” After all isn’t that the reason for the project?
It is a good thing that we are both involved in the enterprise. Our different perspectives is one of the gifts the ministry has been granted. His caution helps us be prudent with our deliveries. My desire for relationships gives us new opportunities to serve.
I just wish my friend didn’t have to worry. I think things are going to work out just fine.
Recently, I realized how differently two people can look at things through a conversation with a loyal and dedicated church member. This is someone I have known for a long time, who is very active in our congregation and a dedicated volunteer who invests many hours in church activities and events. It is a person with a heart for mission who believes in serving others and embraces many of our congregation’s programs. It is a person whose values are fairly similar to mine. We were having a conversation during a break from a work project and talking about our congregation’s firewood project.
I’ve written quite a bit about that project. Basically we obtain wood from people who are thinning their trees or have to cut down trees for a variety of reasons. We cut the logs to fireplace length and split them, stacking the wood in the church yard. Then we deliver the firewood to partners on the Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge reservations who distribute it for home heating. We ask only that the firewood not be sold, but given away. The project began without any budget or need for funding. We used what people gave us. When we needed a mechanical splitter, a donor came forward with a machine. Later a second splitter was obtained through gifts from multiple donors. An appeal for a heavy duty trailer resulted in a donation. Other trailers are borrowed from church members. The pickups to deliver the firewood belong to the members of our congregation who also donate the fuel for deliveries. One of our basic operating principles is that we will use what we have and do without what we don’t have. There have been no fund-raising events, and no committee meetings. We simply invite whoever is available to work and we get done what we are able.
The project has been fantastically successful. We deliver nearly 100 cords of wood a year. We have the joy of working together almost every week. People have participated in a wide variety of ways from baking cookies for the crews to providing childcare for workers to donating wood to working on crews and dozens of other tasks.
As a pastor, one of the things I appreciate about the project is that it is completely worry free. I don’t have to do anything except be a member of the team. I work when I am able and feel no guilt when other duties keep me away from work days. Others make the arrangements and phone calls and keep the work flowing.
So we were talking about the project and some of the deliveries we will be making this year. As usual, there are some changes. One of our big partners on the Cheyenne River Reservation passed away last year and we don’t have his home as a place for distribution this year. That particular delivery has been a big event for many years. We know we’ll find other partners with whom to work, but things are a bit less settled this year than in previous years. My friend was looking around the wood lot which has a lot of wood, but only about a day’s worth of wood that is unspilt. We will need to find more wood to split or we won’t have work for regular work days. I mentioned a few people who have said that they have wood to donate. My friend, however, expressed worry that we won’t have enough enough wood to deliver this year.
As we returned to work, I was puzzled by his worry. As I have said, I don’t worry about the project at all. What people give us we will give to others. What we don’t have, we won’t worry about. There have been years, in the past, when we delivered far less wood than we already have split and stacked for delivery this year. I’m sure that things will work out.
Then I was granted a bit of insight into my friend. He is thinking of the project in terms of resource distribution. He sees firewood as a resource. Like other resources, there is a finite supply of firewood. He has spent his active career managing resources and making sure that they are sufficient to meet needs. From that perspective, it would be a significant problem to run out of resources.
I see the ministry in terms of relationships. I am grateful for the ways in which it builds relationships between people. I’m overjoyed to have my reservation friends get to know my friends from our congregation and vice versa. I have been delighted to occasionally work with a son or daughter of an elder as we begin to forge relationships with a second generation of partners. I respond to request for firewood because I see opportunities to build relationships with people.
And I can see nothing wrong with delivering all of the firewood and running out. If that happens, we will just have to find some more and split it. After all, I can remember when we had no firewood in the back yard of the church and made deliveries directly from the homes of firewood donors. From my point of view, running out of firewood would be an expression of a job well done and would be easy to explain to our partners. “What happened to all the firewood?” “We gave it away.” After all isn’t that the reason for the project?
It is a good thing that we are both involved in the enterprise. Our different perspectives is one of the gifts the ministry has been granted. His caution helps us be prudent with our deliveries. My desire for relationships gives us new opportunities to serve.
I just wish my friend didn’t have to worry. I think things are going to work out just fine.