I'm pretty sure where it went wrong was having the 11-year-old drive the tractor.
We were at the farm of some family friends, helping with spring planting. The idea, in theory, was a simple one: Use the tractor to pull a disking sledge through the field to make furrows. Once it was done, we could walk down each row, pressing one seed into the soil about every eight inches.
So there we were, townies and farm folk, children and adults, working together to get a crop into the ground. Two of us were age 11 that spring, the oldest of the kids. My friend was the farm boy. I was the townie.
The first pass of the tractor and sledge made some progress, but the ground was still hard from winter. For those of you who know farming, it was harrowed but not furrowed. Another pass was needed. That’s when the farmer asked his son to drive the tractor.
A big smile on his face, my friend climbed up onto the seat, placed one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the large gearshift knob. Wrestling it into reverse, he backed that tractor away from the fence line like a pro. He stopped, planning to turn and pull forward.
That's when it got stuck in reverse.
No matter what he did, he could not get the thing into any forward gear. To be fair, it was an old tractor. It might have happened to anyone. It was just my friend's bad luck it happened as he was about to plow his first set of furrows. His turn was over before he had even gone 10 feet.
Farms run on hard work, good tools, and windows of opportunity. It wasn't like we could just quit for the day. Neither the good weather nor the presence of additional farm hands (even townies like us) could be relied upon. A solution had to be found.
That's when the farmer had his idea: He would drive the tractor backwards. The sledge would now be in front, so to speak, but the principle was the same. The disks would be pressed into the soil and the field would be tilled. All he had to do was look back over his shoulder as he drove the tractor backward through the field.
It worked pretty well … for the first row.
But while backing through the second row, something caused the tractor to swerve. The sledge backed over part of the row he had just finished plowing. He managed to straighten out the tractor, but not before doing more damage to the already completed row.
After the same thing happened twice more, he gave up.
That was the end of plowing, at least for that day. A mechanic was called, and we were told, “You kids go play.” Which we did.
I recalled this incident when I read this week’s passage from Luke. A disciple declares he wants to follow Jesus, but wants to tell his family goodbye, first. In reply, Jesus says a person is unfit for the Kingdom of God if they put their hand to the plow and then look back. To many readers, the passage sounds like Jesus is condemning any potential followers who wished to tell their families goodbye. But did Jesus really say we can't follow him unless we disconnect from our families?
No.
A little sleuthing finds that what Jesus is warning against is someone continually focusing on their previous life while also trying to be His disciple. It just won't work. It would be like trying to plow a field while looking back. You might be able to keep your furrows straight for a short time, but eventually it would all end up crooked.
Not unlike trying to plow with a tractor stuck in reverse.
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BONUS MATERIAL:
When I was 11 years old, it was common for children of all ages to work on family farms. Second, it was common for friends to drive out from town to help on farms. Third, it was common (and perfectly legal) for 10-year-old children to operate farm machinery, including tractors and pickup trucks.
PHOTO and a little bit on “Why Looking Back from the Plow is not a Smart Thing”:
AXIOM OF THE DAY:
In theory, theory and reality are the same. In reality, they're not.
—NOT originated by (as many have suggested) Albert Einstein, Yogi Berra, Richard Feynman, or any other modern person. The earliest form of this axiom appeared in the February 1882 issue of the Yale Literary Magazine in an article written by Benjamin Brewster: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, while in practice there is.”https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/04/14/theory/
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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. Join us at 8:00 a.m. for some good food, great scripture, and each other’s company.
Blessings,
Steve
**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Read them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=62
Print them here:
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
Psalm 16
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
Proper 8 (13) (June 29, 2025)
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