Building Fences

I developed a nice rhythm while at Koinonia--sleep in, read silly book in bed while waking up (P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series rocks!), eat a simple brunch, pray, meditate, breathe, meditate, breathe more, then join in afternoon work on farm. One afternoon I went to help some of the guys with fence-building (I say "help" but it turns out that sitting around reading theology and building a fairyland with an almost 3-year-old does not, in fact, build muscles useful for breaking through very packed Georgia clay with post digging tools...still, I did manage to make a couple of fence-post holes, even if it did take me 4X as long as it did any of the other people working with me!). It was a great afternoon, actually, and I found that working really hard and sweating in 90+ degree super-humid heat felt really, really good. Ah, the endorphins! My poor body just never gets all that much exercise, and it loved the chance to work. As we worked we talked theology. We dug. One of the guys break-danced. Another told me about his change in life--moving from being a successful engineer working for a wealthy oil company to disillusionment with living for career and money, to living on this farm, working with his hands, praying and thinking about what his life should be. I talked with a father about child-rearing. They were all very nice about my sub-par fence-post-hole-digging skills. By the end of the afternoon I was totally soaked in sweat. Totally soaked. I don't know that I've ever been so gross or so smelly. My entire shirt was wet. My hair was soaked. But there was something peaceful and calming and meaningful about working with the earth, building something so concrete and visible, and I could see how this life could be healing--working with others, talking about God, about the right way to live, about simplicity, building fences, growing food, building community, eating together, worshiping together, agreeing, arguing, debating, finding ways to live and work together. Every part of my day felt meaningful. And that was a very new feeling.

I did, though, forget the sunscreen and wound up with a raging sunburn...thank God for the Georgia rains...