Manure

On Saturday at the Rural Ministry Conference one of the presenters proposed a metaphor. Christians are like manure. Pile them up and nothing good happens. Spread them around and other things start to grow. Tonight I want to propose a similar but different metaphor. Jesus is like cow manure. The gross, dirty, unwanted, and discarded is redeemed through Christ to be the harbinger of hope and life.

Coming from a broken family, I know that some things are more than the sum of their parts. I believe that something great can come from something horrible. I know that delicious organic fruits can be grown with feces. I know that God has wrought holiness, love, and life out of human suffering, hatred, and death in the person and life of Jesus. I know that through the Holy Spirit the same possibility has been given to us.

All this talk about crap comes from our having spent the afternoon at the Juniata Feed Yard. Joe Boyer hopped in our van and showed us around the expansive feed lot. We saw the feeding process, the pens, the lagoons, the veterinary services, the mountain of manure (which was affectionately termed "Nutrient Mountain", and even the organic corn fields which were fertilized with feed lot byproduct. 

I took a lot of great photos today. I thought I would share three of my favorites. 

First - my favorite sign of the entire trip:

Second - my new favorite pastime, taking ridiculous pictures of Kelli.

Third - Bob the dog, an instant hit!