Work Day 2: "A Moment that Stuck" by Steve Knox of Silverton FCC

I think it was Fred Craddock who said you should preach in such a way that people cannot shake off the message while they shake your hand at the exit door of the church.  It should stick like a piece of scotch tape that cannot easily be shaken off.

On this journey in Ecuador, there are moments that stick.  There are images that cannot be shaken off like the dust on your clothes at the end of a work day.

For me, one such moment came as we were heading up the steep rocky road to Cachimuel a couple days ago.  Looking out the bus window at a field of broken corn stalks, stood an elderly woman.  Short, wrinkled with age, carrying a bundle of stalks six times her size.  They were tied somehow to her back.  I suppose she was carrying the stalks home to be used for animal feed.

It was a moment that stuck to me like scotch tape.  An image of human determination, the dignity of work, and the burden of poverty.

That moment reminded me of another moment when Jesus walked into the synagogue and spread open the Isaiah scroll and read about bringing "good news to the poor."

I hope and pray that when that precious little lady with the huge bundle of corn stalks on her back saw FEDICE bus coming up to her village it was good news.  For me, it was a moment that stuck.  An image that cannot be shaken.

Rev. Steve Knox preaching at La Iglesia Evangelica in Cachimuel

Blessings,
Steve Knox