The Tractor and the Spoon

by Pastor Sharron Scott

1/25/2010

There was a very large body of water next to a beautiful valley, with a river flowing through it. People came from far away and decided that it would be a beautiful place to live (without the river). They could build so much more without the river dissecting it. And so they built a huge wall around the body of water, so large that they could not even see it anymore, and planted vines to cover up the wall. Soon the little river dried up. The street was dusty and dry. After a while they forgot the lake had ever been there.

They built their town, building next to building, house next to house, with no place to grow crops. “Where will we get our water?” They asked. We will have to pipe it in from the next town, where we buy our food.

Eventually the town became depressed, because they could no longer afford to continue to live this way, depending on far away towns for everything. Bit by bit people began to leave, to seek out a “better place” to live.

One day, a young woman turned toward the gigantic wall built around the body of water. ‘Wow, I had forgotten that was there!’ She thought. ‘I heard a legend that there was a lake behind that wall. How blind could we be? All we need to do is dig a trench so that the water can come through our town! Then we can stop paying others for our water, and grow our own food!

Looking around, there was no one to help. She realized she had no tools-- not even a hammer or trowel. “I’ve got a small spoon. It’s not much, but it’s a start!” she said. She ran home and got it, and hiked toward the wall.

‘I guess I need to start here’… she thought. But looking up at the huge wall, she felt defeated before she began. She started to walk home, at the opposite end of town. ‘NO’, she said to herself. ‘I won’t give up. I will just go get a bigger spoon!’ She got a cooking spoon out of her kitchen and began to dig down the middle of Main Street, in the direction of the wall. She wasn’t going to think about how to break down the wall, but just about the next few spoons full of dirt.

People walking by laughed, and told her she was not being realistic. She pointed at the wall, saying “the answer is there, and I’m headed in that direction”. All they saw was a block wall with weeds covering it. Shaking their heads, they all walked away; all but one other person. He was very old.

When she told him what she was doing, he said he remembered an old story about a body of water, but he wasn’t sure it was true. “You hear His voice, don’t you?” he asked her. “I thought I was imagining that” she said. A voice inside her kept telling her to keep going, to not give up. The old man knew she had heard that voice, because he had also heard it. The old gentleman couldn’t do much except encourage her, but she appreciated his heart. He brought her a little water from what he had left, and she continued to dig.

Days went on, and there were times when kids came and kicked in the dirt she had dug out, so she had to start all over again. But eventually (it seemed like a life time), she got closer. As much as she didn’t like to admit it, she did sometimes try to give up and go back to her old life of hopelessness. But that wall kept calling to her, and the voice kept encouraging her. She would always end up going back.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of digging and putting up with jeering and taunting of a very hardened community, even losing friends and family, her little trench reached the wall. When they all saw she had finally made it, a few applauded—and laughed, shaking their heads at the same time. But a few more came out from hiding, and stood beside her, asking what kept her going all this time. She didn’t tell them she heard a voice inside, or that the wall had been calling to her.

“I just know the answer to all our troubles lies behind this wall!” she told them. “Well, they said, “we’d better take it down then!”

They began to use their hands, spoons, knives, anything they could find. Eventually they did make a dent in the wall. The young woman nearly gave up, and turned around to find a place to rest. There were several more people watching curiously, but not helping. “Don’t stop now!” They said. “It looks like you are almost through!”

Disbelief rattled her. “How could they just stand there and watch as I do most of the work? And these are the people I am doing this for? I need to think.” She sat down and rested, and realized that the wall was still calling to her. “Don’t give up!” she heard the voice inside her say. She looked past the growing group of observers, and saw the little trench she had painstakingly dug. Regardless of the others who just stood back and watched, she felt she needed to continue on. And she needed to join those who jumped in to help her.

So she took up her spoon (what was left of it!) and kept scraping away. Some helpers tore down the dead branches. Some carried away the small chunks of wall. The young woman focused ahead, and saw a tiny stream of light through a crack.

She began to dig and scrape faster! Then she heard a low, loud rumbling noise start from somewhere very close by. They all stopped… but since it didn’t seem to be coming closer, they kept clawing at the wall.

As the hole became bigger, she was able to look through. She saw something that looked like a giant metal hand resting in the dirt ahead of her. Needing to see more, she continued to dig. Finally the hole was big enough for her to crawl through. Everyone else stopped digging and began to beg her not to crawl through. “Who knows what could be on the other side?” they pleaded. Some left, realizing that no “answer to their struggles” was spurting out of the hole in the wall, so they left in discouragement.

Finally shaking off the hands that held her feet, she pushed her body through the hole in the wall. She stood up, rubbed the dirt out of her eyes, and looked around at the giant metal hand. She was immediately scared out of her wits, and turned back to the wall, intending to crawl back through the hole. Unfortunately she had displaced so much dirt that she could not fit without digging out the hole. She started to dig frantically, hoping to escape what she thought was certain doom.

She could not resist looking back every so often to see if the huge, rumbling thing was moving closer. It was not. “Don’t be afraid” her inner voice said. Working up her nerve, she stopped and looked around the giant metal hand to see what was behind it. She finally figured out it was a metal digging bucket, attached to a tractor. The rest of the tractor was even bigger than the digging bucket! She was just so close to the bucket that she couldn’t see the tractor. And there was someone sitting in the cab!

“Don’t be afraid” He said again. She realized He spoke with the same voice she had heard within herself. He had a kind smile. His eyes were gentle as he looked into hers. He just sat there, waiting.

The young woman looked at the hole, then at her hands, and the spoon which she had dropped on the ground. She looked at the digging bucket, and back at her own raw hands. She closed her eyes and envisioned the little trench she had dug down the middle of town.

She turned around and looked back into His eyes. Her heart leapt as she realized he was extending a hand toward her! She decided to take a risk, ran toward the giant tractor, and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up.

She was sure he would start moving forward! She thought he would take over, and just break down the wall! Instead, he took her hands and placed them on the levers and controls, and gently showed her how. She moved forward, lifting the digging bucket slightly.

She stopped, trying to remember why breaking down the wall seemed so important. In His arms everything seemed to be fine. He looked at her, and then turned around. Following his gaze, she saw a massive body of water! It was obvious that it used to be somewhat larger, because the shoreline used to be higher.

“What do I do now?” she asked. He nodded his head in the direction of the wall. She moved the levers, and the tractor began to move forward. Everyone watched as the wall began to tumble. People on the other side moved in every direction, scurrying and screaming to get out of the way. Finally the huge digging bucket met up with her little trench.

She stopped pushing the levers, and the tractor stopped. For a moment, everything was quiet. Suddenly the people could now see the water, and were trying to get to it. They climbed over the broken wall, over the digging bucket and ran and jumped into the little lake. The Man in the tractor and the young woman joined them. The people drank, and played, and rejoiced at their “good fortune”. And then they realized what they needed to do. The tractor was there, but it had stopped moving. It was powerless without someone to push the levers. The young woman and the Man were already walking in another direction, having a wonderful conversation. Hundreds of people began to move the tractor toward the water. It was facing backward, so the bucket was dragging the whole way. It was tough, but they did it. Yes, the tractor ended up in the lake, but no one seemed to care. The water that would provide life was now flowing into their little town!

The people realized how dry and barren their lives had been. They also realized that the answer was always there; they just did not have eyes to see it. The tractor was ready, but they had to be close enough for it to start. And the whole time He was there, waiting patiently.

It just took one person to hear His voice, and take a risk.