The Coffee Committee

The Coffee Committee

Considering the Paths of Truth

The Coffee Committee

Considering the Paths of Truth

Considering a Barn Raising

Or Pondering Peer Interaction

Committees, sub-committees, standing committees, central authority, advisory boards, grassroots up guided development of policies, undirected gifts; These are tried and true tools used to build an organization, ways to get things done.  But there have been other ways people have combined their efforts that have met with equal or superior success, that is, if you consider that they were doing more than just building an organization.

A while back the free people of Israel were flourishing (out of bondage – lots of goats and sheep and children).  They asked Samuel (a major judge and prophet at the time) to appoint a king to rule them.  It seems that the surrounding peoples had kings who owned them and that it worked out fairly well, not many decisions to make, do your work and there are not many surprises.  Samuel didn’t like the idea much.  He thought that a free people chosen by God should continue to choose God as their King.  He thought that the inconveniences of having to cooperate with one another, offering respect and courtesy and putting up with one another (you know all that 10 commandment stuff) and having to plan their next move all the time was a small price to pay for maintaining the freedom God had given them at birth.  But a disheartened Samuel asked God about the “king” thing anyway, in deference to the pleas of the Israelites.  God told Samuel that he should grant their request, that he shouldn’t feel rejected, that it was God himself who was being rejected as king.  He told Samuel that it wasn’t the first time they had rejected him, deserted him, or worshiped strange gods; so Samuel shouldn’t expect any better treatment.  Finally God told Samuel to warn them about the power a king would have over them; but if they still wanted a king to let them have one.  Well the Israelites decided they wanted a king, they got their King, and things haven’t been the same since.

Not long ago, but a while back the subjects of another king, King George, were living here in the colonies.  They lived an ocean and months away from George and most of his power.  Under those conditions the freedom God gives us all flourished inside them, right along with the corn and tobacco and farms and towns and ports and oysters and thoughts and churches and children.  Finally they told George that he wasn’t their king.  They said that they were free because God made them that way and that they would put their trust in God; God the King, if you will.  They told George  that they hated making a fuss, but things hadn’t seemed fair for a while now and that they felt an obligation to do what seemed to be the right thing.  George didn’t like it and he put up a fight, but he eventually came to grips with it.

They had some kinks to work out as far as how to decide what to do for government, things like State issues or overseas trade.  But the local issues were easier, more neighborly, easier to see and understand.  Take barns for instance.  Lots of people needed barns.  Barns are hard to build by yourself.  People who need barns tend to live farther apart and don’t get to see other people as often as people who don’t need barns.  A Barn Raising was a good way to get a barn and a good excuse for a party.  Barn building flourished under these conditions.

Tips about Barn Building:

Most of the thinking has already been done by guys who are going to use the barn; of course it was easier when all you had to consider were things like form and function.  Codes and zoning and people who didn’t know why anybody needed a barn anyway hadn’t been discovered yet.

If you don’t know how to build a barn, work with someone who seems to.  Know that everybody didn’t use to know how to build a barn, but that if they hadn’t tried there wouldn’t be as many barns as there are.

Be considerate of the people who are sure they know the only way a barn should be built.  They mean well and obviously have given a lot of thought to barn building and, as they tend to get their way, it lends a certain symmetry to the landscape.

Be considerate of the people who think they are in charge, it tends to help if everyone is pulling in the same direction at the right time and they tend to be good at making this happen; however, don’t forget to build the barn.

Don’t be overly stern with the youth goofing off with risky antics, because you will soon need someone to place the roof joists.

The guy who always wants to do things differently or “better”, give him a hearing (not too long or it will be dark – let him talk while you work).  He probably thinks he has an open mind, so he will be receptive to know if his thoughts are folly.  It helps to hone his thoughts.  At any rate, this is the price you pay and the risk you take if there are to be better barns someday.

People tend to choose a specialty.  They spot a need and try to fill it.  Let’s say you notice saggy barn doors and it bothers you.  You will probably find a way to stop doors from sagging.  I think vacuums were being filled even before we discovered air pressure.

Respect others (Ten Commandment stuff), speak plainly, don’t hide your opinion behind contrived reasons, let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

Eat a good breakfast and lunch, work hard, life is good, enjoy yourself, appreciate your neighbor.  Thank the food preparers, look around, be aware, look for God, thank God.  Remember that you are not just building a barn.

The people of the Colonies also built churches, everybody, even the people who didn’t need barns.  They drew from all the things they learned building barns and called it “common sense”.  They drew from all the things they learned when they weren’t building barns, even things they learned from people who never built a barn.  In fact, lots of these things they knew so deeply, must have been born with them, must have been placed there by God.  They called it “common sense”.  At any rate they built these churches, no two quite the same, and yes it did lend a certain symmetry to the landscape.  Most of all they remembered that what they were doing was more than just constructing a church building.

                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                Coffee committee (well sort of, probably might have been if they voted on things or took minutes and stuff like that)