Sermonette: Aug. 9, 2021

In the name of our Father, greetings to one and all.

“Hot enough for you”? How many times have we said or heard that this year? Quite a few I imagine. Perhaps for many of us, and I include myself, who are too young to remember the 1930's, this recent spate of high temperatures and accompanying lack of rain seems ominous. Just a few weeks ago, I heard a farmer mention that this is the worst crop he's ever had. We can see from the road as we drive around the area, pastures never really greened up this year and there is little hay to be had. Although it doesn't do us much good in the short term, there are areas where there has been rain; not enough perhaps, but there has been rain nonetheless. We don't have to drive very far south from here and I've seen some good looking crops. Not as good as in other years, but there is a crop. There are bales in the hay fields. Again, not as many as in previous years, but they are there. So what's my point? Let's not get overly worried. It is a true statement that living in an agricultural area like we do, if the farmers and ranchers don't have any money, neither will we. Agriculture drives a huge part of our economy. Should we be concerned? Yes, but let's not get carried away. As Christian people, we believe that God will take care of us. We have to believe this stretch of weather will pass with precipitation totals and temperatures returning to normal.

This point came to mind a short while ago as I was talking with a lady at the nursing home in Maddock, where I volunteer to lead worship services once a month. She said her family farmed north of Minnewaukan. She was a young girl in 1936 and it was so dry you could walk across Devils Lake. It was so hot and so dry, that almost nothing grew. What little did grow was eaten by grasshoppers. On occasion, the grasshoppers would gather in such large groups that from a distance they looked like a cloud in the sky. This is not a science fiction movie. This really happened and not in just a few counties and not just in North Dakota. The entire Midwest suffered through what was called the “dirty thirties”. Bismarck, N.D. just went through a period of a week where temperatures reached 100 degrees. Abnormal? Yes. Unprecedented? No. That string of days with 100 degree high temps did not set a record. Again, it was the year 1936, and also the year 1888, that had more consecutive days of 100 degree high temperatures. So, again, you may be asking what is my point? My point is that our world is not coming to an end just because we are experiencing weather we haven't experienced before in our lifetime. God is not punishing us for our misdeeds. Weather patterns come and go. They change. Yes, it is hot and dry now, but not as hot and not as dry as it was back then. We should and can accept that. How about this for those who think we are doomed because of the weather. Let us go back to the days before Christ. People throughout what we would call the Middle East today, were suffering from a terrible drought and went to Egypt to purchase grain because that was the only area that had grain on hand. That's thousands of years ago, dear friends. Entire countries suffered from drought. They lived through it. So shall we live through ours.

While we can't do anything about the weather, we can do our part to help alleviate some of the effects it may have on others. Heat can be particularly hard on our elderly. I would like to suggest that if we know of those who live alone, and going out in the heat and humidity might be difficult, let's ask if we can do some grocery shopping for them. Let's give them a call or drop in to say hello to make sure they are OK. Do they have air conditioning? If not, ask if they would like a fan. Keeping the air moving is so helpful on these hot and sticky days. Maybe we could bring a pitcher of good old fashioned lemonade with us when we visit. A glass of lemonade with ice is a great refresher and I'm sure appreciated. We can pray. We can pray for our earth, that God would replenish our water supply, our lakes and streams, our fields from which we feed the world. We can pray and thank God for all His blessings and ask for His protection during this dry and hot weather.

Yours in Christ.