The windmills ARE giants!

Have you ever experienced a freeze in time? You stop what you are doing. The world melts around you. Sound fades. Your focus shifts and what you see as important changes. This is my tale of such an experience.

The church I work for was doing its annual Family Fall Festival on Tuesday. Last Thursday I stayed to help a good friend of mine drum up volunteer workers. I made about thirty calls and my mind was numb. After a Starbucks break (For those of you who know me I can't stand Starbucks coffee, so relax... I had a Carmel apple cider... it was amazing.), I went back to calling. My first call was to a couple who could not serve because a family member was on the brink of death and they were essentially waiting to bury her.

I was shocked. This is when time froze. There were others in the office working, but I didn't hear them. I am wondering why this hit me so hard. People die all the time, right? I remember thinking "What can I do to help these people?" So I prayed for them, got all of the vital info etc. Then hung up, feeling that wasn't enough. Next call... "I'm sorry I have to attend a funeral." the next... "I'm sorry you have her ex-husbands phone number would you like hers?" then... "Sorry, it's just me and the kids, so I have to work that night." Here I was volunteering to tackle the giant of the volunteer shortage, and i found out it was a windmill instead.

In his book "Don Quixote", Miguel de Cervantes tells the story of a crazy old war veteran who ends up jousting with windmills, claiming they are giants. Only to get smacked in the head with a blade from its fan. Fighting the wrong enemy can and will be our downfall.

So I ask you this. Which is the windmill and which is the giant? We focus on the event and call it a giant. After all it as the possibility of producing hundreds of converts. I, however, am willing to say otherwise. Even at the risk of being a Don Quixote.

You see, the modern church thinks filling a dome with tens of thousands and giving a watered down, half baked, and frankly cheap gospel is "at least spreading the good news." I don't buy it. You shouldn't either. If it doesn't cost you your life, it won't gain you a new one. It's a get what you paid for scenario.

Some may say the pains of people are the windmills detracting from the REAL giant, people in the pews. I say the windmills ARE giants. Not the other way around.