“Is this your first time raising cattle?” was the rhetorical question my new neighbour asked me.
As we had just finally moved onto our acreage after purchasing it 2 years previous, we had decided to—while building a house, make use of the two large corrals which are on our property and raise a couple of yearling heifers for beef. Should be easy…right? My fences and gates were tight and strong. Just load them into the north corral and let them graze until October. All ya gotta do is to alternate pasture and keep them watered. Cheap, easy (and healthy) beef. Except for one thing…
They didn’t stay on my property. Not for more than three minutes anyway. Those two demon cows broke through my fences like they weren’t even there. One decided to move in with the previously mentioned neighbours horses. The other one I finally located 3 weeks later. It had found some donkeys to hang out with about 3 kilometres south of us.
The problem wasn’t my fences. The problem was a lack of knowledge on my part. These yearlings were used to being in a herd. Fences didn’t keep them in. The herd did. I had removed them from their herd and they didn’t know that barbed wire fences were supposed to contain them.
What were the consequences of my ignorance? Well, I learned what not to do if I decide to raise cattle again. I suffered some stress, embarrassment and cold wet feet as I chased those dumb animals for hours that chilly evening until it was too dark to see them. In the end, I found a buyer for both animals. I also got to make friends with a whole bunch of helpful new neighbours that I might not have otherwise met for years.
A while ago in a podcast, author and speaker Rob Bell posed the question, “Is this your first time being a human?” “Did you expect to get it right the first time?”
Great questions.
I grew up in a religion which taught me that I got it wrong just by being born—before I even made any mistakes, because of some dude called “Adam”. Also, there was an angry, all powerful being who would punish me forever if I didn’t give intellectual assent to certain, very specific religious ideologies before I die.
Seems harsh.
Interestingly enough, we got the idea of ”original sin” from a 5th century theologian named Augustine of Hippo and the concept of finite crime being infinitely punishable because it is committed against someone infinitely higher than us in status from a man called Anselm of Canterbury. His only reference point for a concept of “justice” was medieval justice. Makes sense since he did live in the 11th century. Too bad the modern church is slow to upgrade its operating software. It’s all historically traceable folks. These ideas did not come from Jesus, though they did make it into the bible from biased translators who reflected the thinking of Augustine and Anselm (Also in later editions, Calvin and Darby).
Have you made mistakes? Hurt others…hurt yourself? Have you been told that God hates you and is angry with you and you are probable going to hell?
Wait…Is this your first time being a human? Did you expect to get it right on your first try?
Here’s the good news. God knows very well what you are going through and has nothing but love and compassion for you. Kind of like when your first child was learning to walk and kept falling down.
You are the realization of a dream God has had for countless millennia. God has been excitedly waiting for you to pop into existence forever—not so that God could punish you, but so that there could be relationship!
Do your mistakes have consequence. Oh yes. But they are temporary. Will you have to make amends for the people you hurt? Yes. In the end, you learn from your mistakes. Might even make some new friends because of them. After all, it’s all about relationship.
Just keep learning and growing and getting better at being a human and know that God is on your side, rooting for you, and walking along beside you.
After all…
It’s your first time.