The Kingdom Land by Bart Tuma Page B

that worked during the harvest
season, or like his dad, for that matter. His habit was cutting
himself off from people. He knew now he could no longer be a loner
that needed no one. Again the simple reality was that he needed to
love God and people. It was the people who had abandoned him so
many times in the past that would make that task difficult.
    He had told the Coopers that he needed to forgive his
parents. He knew he had to first ask the Coopers for their
forgiveness. Forgiveness was needed for all the years he had been
rude to them, including last night. It had been a shock that he
couldn’t go to his one remaining parent, but the Coopers were only
a couple of hundred feet from his bunkhouse. Maybe it was easier to
think of forgiving parents that weren’t close. It was harder to
look the Coopers in the eyes because of all that had
transpired.
    His mind thought of the past day and then the long
process it would take to really make the changes necessary. He then
thought of the farm and the harvest. He hated the first day of the
harvest season. It meant for the next three weeks the only thing he
would be doing is work and sweat. Each year when they pulled the
combine into the first field it seemed as if the harvest would
never be done. But unless the harvest was started there would be no
hope for its completion. It was only the completion of the harvest
that meant all the months of labor had really been worth it. As he
looked at his life, he knew a lot had to be done, and it wouldn’t
be as simple as it seemed when talking with John. He also realized
it was only by accepting and relying on Christ that he could begin
the harvest of making his life different. Christ had planted the
seed and tilled the ground; now Erik was going to have to complete
the harvest by determining to get into the fields of change.
    Even as he thought through this reality, the pain was
still sharp. He still couldn’t overlook another example of people
leaving him. He couldn’t think of an example of any person loving
him without having him dropped on them. He wanted to be a son with
a family, even more so after his talk with John. He had determined
it in his mind to be part of a real family. Somehow, he had
expected that he would find his mother and everything would be
magically different. All the years of pain and hurt would be gone,
swept away by a new beginning. Now he knew that had only been
another dream. His only option, he concluded, was to have a family
of his own and raise his own son. Certainly in Fairfield there was
no woman that would take him. Certainly the thought of his own
family was as distant as the changes he needed to make.
    About noon he saw a car coming up the dirt road to
the fields. On the plains the dust made thrown up by a passing
vehicle made its approach visible long before the car actually made
appearance. When he could finally see the car, it was one that Erik
couldn’t identify. It was a late model car that wasn’t suited for
the dirt or ruts of the field road, but it was obvious it was
making its way to Erik. There was nowhere else to go in this land.
As Erik drove the tractor down the hill after another circle of the
field, he saw the car door open and John stepped out. He had
something in his hands. Erik was both glad and hesitant to see
him.
    Erik pushed the throttle to stop the John Deere and
opened the side window of the tractor’s cab. “John, what are you
doing out here? That’s an awful fancy car for the fields. A rock
will put a hole in your oil pan.”
    â€œ Your aunt made a casserole and I
brought you a dishful. She thought you might like that more than
your bologna sandwich. I also have some cold pop.”
    â€œ That’s nice of you, but it’s a long
ways from Fairfield to be an errand boy,” Erik replied, but he knew
the food was secondary to John’s visit.
    â€œ I found myself in the area today.
Thought I would stop in and visit. Your aunt