Greetings and salutations, people of Zion!
It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to write a Midweek Musing, but I’ve been enjoying hearing from some different voices over the past few weeks. I am so grateful to have a community that enjoys going deep and sharing their thoughts. That is what being a church is all about.
This week, I want to share with you a short story I came across a number of months ago that has stuck with me ever since. The story is called “Watch With Me,” by Wendell Berry. It is a (long) short story that I came across while reading That Distant Land, by Berry. I’ll give you all a summary and share with you why it has stuck with me.
“Watch With Me” is a story of a community’s response to that one lost sheep. There are two main characters in this story: Tol Proudfoot and Thacker Hamble, also referred to as Nightlife. Tol Proudfoot is a leader in his community. He is the type of guy that is known for his disheveled appearance. He is a straight-shooter and cares deeply for those around him. He may be one of my favorite fictional characters because of the authentic connection and relationship that he has with everyone he encounters. Nightlife, on the other hand, is known for his volatile personality. His nickname, Nightlife, was based on “the theory that he could not tell daylight from dark, and therefore was liable to conduct his nightlife in the daytime.”
The story starts with Tol going about his day on his farm when Nightlife comes and snatches up Tol’s shotgun that he has resting against his shed. Tol can tell that Nightlife is not himself and is concerned that Nightlife will harm himself or someone else, so he proceeds to follow Nightlife at a distance. Tol is eventually joined by all sorts of people from the community as they watch Nightlife from a distance. The group that is following consists of all kinds of people: some are genuinely concerned, some just want the gossip, and some are along for the show. This group proceeds to follow Nightlife for a whole day and night until finally Nightlife delivers a sermon on the Shepherd and the lost sheep, and then he comes to his senses.
There are several parts of the story that jump out to me, but perhaps my biggest takeaway was the idea of the “ministry of presence” that was demonstrated by Tol Proudfoot and others in the community. Here was a man that they knew to be a bit of a handful and that was prone to disrupting life, which is just what he did on this particular day. Tol and the community did not leave him alone. They followed him, interacted with Nightlife on his terms, and sought the safety of their fellow townsperson when he was having a bad day, even though it was inconvenient.
The ministry of presence is something that every member of the church body can seek to implement in their daily life. We are called to walk with the ones that are hurting, broken, and downcast. It doesn’t mean that we are able to explain away all the bad things, because that is impossible. However, we are called to reach out and keep reaching out to those in need even when it’s not convenient. This is a challenging task. Oftentimes, our reaching out can be met with anger or resentment, or it can be inconvenient. I know I am very guilty of giving up when I am met with these types of reactions, but that is when I should turn to the grace of God to give me the strength to continue. My prayer for myself and you is that we are able to grow in this ministry of presence everyday and that we will have the eyes to see what that looks like in our daily life.
Looking forward to the day when we can all come together again!
Janelle Dienner