It all depends our your outlook

October 21, 2021

From Pastor Joe

Two farmers lived next to each other-Farmer Bright and Farmer Crabb. The two farmers were as different as night and day. Farmer Bright looked forward to each day with excitement and enthusiasm. He loved to work in the fields, to plant his seeds deep into the ground. He loved the beautiful trees, swaying corn, singing birds, mooing cows, and all his barnyard animals. He loved the sun on his back and the smell of the earth beneath his feet. He felt privileged to be able to provide food for his fellow human beings, and felt proud to be an American. Next door to Farmer Bright was Farmer Crabb. Farmer Crabb dreaded the crow of the rooster at 5 AM, dreaded each new day and was resentful he had to work in the sun, listen to the squawking of the birds, feed those stupid cows and get his hands dirty. In addition, he did not like corn. “Ungrateful Americans, they don’t care about me”, he muttered. When Farmer Bright would see Farmer Crabb on a bright sunny morning, he would yell across the yard, “Morning, Farmer Crabb isn’t it a beautiful sunny day with such a clear sky?” Farmer Crabb would grumble, “Yeah, it will probably give me sunburn and scorch my crops!” When clouds would gather and needed rain began to fall, Farmer Bright would stand on his porch and shout, “Isn’t this great-God is giving our corn a drink today!” Farmer Crabb said, “Yeah, but if it rains too much, it will flood and wash away all of the crops and you and me too.” Farmer Bright noticed how complainy, negative and grumbly Farmer Crabb was about everything, and decided to put Farmer Crabb to the test to see how deep his negative outlook went. He created a plan. Farmer Bright went out and bought the smartest, most expensive, bestest champion bird dog he could find. He trained him to do things no other dog on earth could do-impossible feats that would astound and mystify everyone-especially Farmer Crabb. Next, he invited Farmer Crabb to go duck hunting with him. Early the next morning, Farmer Crabb, Farmer Bright and the amazing super dog went to a nearby lake, hid their boat in the tall weeds, and waited for ducks to appear. Soon, the sound of ducks was heard. Both men raised their shotguns, fired and two ducks fell dead. This was the moment Farmer Bright had been waiting for. With a gleam in his eye and a glance at Farmer Crabb, he pointed to the dead ducks and said to the amazing wonder dog, “Go get ‘em boy!” This will astound Farmer Crabb, produce a smile on his face and some positive words out of his mouth, Farmer Bright thought. The amazing wonder dog, leaped out of the boat and rather than swim to where the ducks were, the dog walked on the water to the ducks, picked them up in his mouth, walked back on the water, hopped back in the boat and laid the ducks at their feet, with a wag of his tail. Farmer Bright turned with pride to Farmer Crabb, waiting for a smile, or some sign of amazement. However, there was none. “Well, Farmer Crabb, what do you think of my dog?!” Farmer Bright asked. Unsmiling, Farmer Crabb said, “The dog can’t swim, can he?” Do you know anybody like Farmer Crabb? Or maybe you yourself are a Farmer Crabb. Or are you more like Farmer Bright? One looks at the positive, possibilities, privileges, the other tends to dwell on negatives, nullifying ideas as if nothing good is gonna happen. One sees the threat of a storm rather than the benefits of rain, one appreciates the work on a farm, and the other resents it. You might think this is a made up story about people who don’t really exist, but there are people like this all over the world, the country, the state, the city, even within the walls of our church, maybe even in your chair looking at your computer. Some see a cup half-full, others see it half-empty. Some see possibilities, some see problems. It all depends on your outlook. “This is the day that the Lord has made-let us rejoice and be glad in it!” How is yours today?