When you think of famous trios, who comes to mind? Larry, Moe and Curly? Huey, Dewey and Louie? The Three Musketeers? The Three Tenors?
Whoever popped into your head, I bet they aren’t as unique and quirky as the trio I see outside my window as I write this: Cody, Boo and Gertie—a horse, a donkey and a guinea hen—who have become nearly inseparable pasture buddies on our farm.
I can understand Cody and Boo’s camaraderie, but I was truly surprised when Gertie the guinea joined the gang. But she did, and now the three can be found hanging out, literally within “spitting distance” of one another, all day long.
Cody began his life as a wild mustang in Nevada before being adopted by someone in this area. A good friend of ours eventually ended up with him and asked if she could keep him in our pasture. Our friend is quite knowledgeable and experienced in all things equine and we knew she would regularly check on Cody, so the decision was a no-brainer for us. All the farm ambiance without any of the farm work, a proverbial win-win for us all.
Around the same time, other friends offered to give us Boo the donkey (named after Boo Radley of “To Kill a Mockingbird” fame) and he was too darn cute to pass up.
Shortly after Cody and Boo arrived, Gertie the guinea hopped the fence and the duet became a trio. Bless her heart, Gertie was the lone survivor of The Great Crum Poultry Massacre perpetrated by a demonized raccoon in our henhouse last spring. Guineas are a bit ditzy anyway, but after witnessing that, it’s no wonder Gertie is a little weird.
She now toddles around the pasture with Cody and Boo like she’s just one of the boys and can most often be found literally right up under Cody. It’s like she surveyed the whole area asking, “Where’s the least likely spot for a raccoon to get me?”
By George, I think she found it.
It’s all very cute to watch. So cute, in fact, that I now wear a sleep mask when I pray in my office because I’m so distracted by those three outside my window.
The other day it occurred to me that Cody, Boo and Gertie are actually a pretty good picture of the church: critters that perhaps wouldn’t normally be close, but are brought together because they need each other’s protection and fellowship.
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body … and were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but of many.” (I Corinthians 10:13-14)
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another … .” (1 John 1:7)
I’ve often marveled at the sociological smorgasbord of people in the churches I’ve been blessed to be a part of. Talk about strange “pasture buddies”—the highly educated and less educated; rich and poor; blue collar, white collar and no collar; young and old; single and married; from every race and from many cultures.
We’re all able to do life together because we serve the same Lord, rejoice together in the salvation He’s lavished upon us, and allow Him to knit our hearts together.
“Lone Ranger Christianity” isn’t healthy, necessary, or God’s plan for us. We really do need each other.
Thanks Cody, Boo and Gertie, for the reminder.
“And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)