Rev. Dibble Comes to the Lovely Farm

WILLIAM E. LOPEZ

HC-66, Box 11014

Crystal, NV 89048

Approx. 2,192 words

Rev. Dibble Comes to the Lovely Farm

W. E. Lopez

"Is he coming yet?" Honker the Goose asked Porker the Pig.

Porker raised an eyebrow, not happy that she had been disturbed while enjoying a peaceful nap on a warm spring day. "Why ask me, Honker? Can't you see I just want to soak up some of this warm afternoon sunshine? Now that the snow has finally melted and the sun is out again, I am just so happy that I can be warm again."

It was early in April and all the animals on the Lovely Farm were happy to be playing out in the fields and pasture once more. Grasses were lush and verdant. Flowers were blooming with all the colors of spring. Even the tall trees had put on new green apparel for spring. Perhaps not all the animals were happy because Steady-boy found himself hitched to the plow every morning when Farmer Lovely led him out to the fields. Plowing was very hard work, but it was necessary if the farm was to produce the fruits and vegetables and grain to see them through the coming winter and to sell in the market. Steady-boy was a strong mule and he never complained about his work. When fall arrived he could survey the Lovely Farm with as much pride as Farmer Lovely could for he too had helped to produce a bountiful harvest.

Honker could see that her friend Porker was not going to disturb herself for anything less than a small tornado or an earthquake, so Honker went to what the llamas, Leroy and Laverne were doing this afternoon. She found Leroy and Laverne snacking in the corral on some of the hay that Farmer Lovely had set aside last fall.

"Hooooooooonnkk!" she said. "Isn't it time for the Church Mouse to visit?" Honker asked.

"Don't be impatient, Honker," Laverne told the goose. "You are always in such a hurry! You should learn to relax and take things as they come, one day at a time." Laverne took another mouthful of hay and chewed slowly.

"Can't wait for the Easter Story, hunh Honker?" asked Leroy. "We all enjoy Rev. Dibble's sermons, but he has to visit every farm in the valley and that is quite a distance for a little Church Mouse to travel. We are lucky that he even manages to make it here for the Easter Story."

Mrs. Mischief the Cat had found herself a place in the shade beneath the seat of the wagon parked next to the corral. "Mice are for eating!" she told Honker and the llamas. "They are only vermin who will destroy Farmer Lovely's seed and grain! I'm gonna catch that mouse this year! You just wait!" Mrs. Mischief crawled out from under the wagon seat and arched her back as she pleasured herself with an invigorating stretch.

"The rest of you are all very stupid to believe anything that mouse tells you. He is only trying to convince you to take care of him and feed him because he is so small and useless!" Mrs. Mischief said.

"Why, that's not true!" said Giselle the Goat. "Rev. Dibble only speaks of love and peace and hope. The truth of the Easter Story is not in the facts but in the message. Don't you think the world would be a miserable place if no one had any hope?" Giselle asked.

Mrs. Mischief made a sound like "ka-bleert?" and said. "I have hope, Giselle. I hope that I'm going to have that mouse for breakfast! You just watch me!" With that she leaped from the wagon and headed down the path toward the front of the farmer's house. She knew that because the fields were still damp and muddy Rev. Dibble would have to follow the road coming from the city, and she planned to lay in wait throughout the night to catch that pesky mouse.

"Oh, this is awful," said Honker. "What will we do? Hooonnkk?"

Sunrise the Rooster and several of the hens overheard Mrs. Mischief and the llamas. "We are busy here helping Boo-bah decorate eggs for tomorrow morning. But why don't you ask Diane the Dove if she'll fly down the lane and bring Rev. Dibble back with her?"

"Why are you decorating eggs?" Leroy asked.

"It's Boo-bah's idea. He remembers how lonely and lost he felt when he came to our farm last year, and how happy he was when we adopted him into our hen house. So he wants to carry brightly colored eggs to the city tomorrow, and leave them for the children to remind them how lucky they are to have a home and a family to love them. He doesn't want them to get lost like he did."

"That's a clever idea, Sunrise," said Laverne. "Will he be back in time for Rev. Dibble's morning service?"

"He says he can make it, Laverne. He has grown into a fine strong bunny who can run very fast!" And it was true! Boo-bah was six months old now and he had a fine coat of gray fur that he always kept clean and neat. He could run circles around Steady-boy who was known as the fastest animal on the farm. Boo-bah and Bluster the Dog often played tag in the pasture, and Boo-bah would never run as fast as he could or Bluster could not catch him and would lose interest in the game.

"Did I hear someone talking about me?" asked Diane as she fluttered down from the roof of the barn. She was wearing the red sunbonnet that Sandra Starling from the Douglas farm had made for her. She looked very gay in her red bonnet.

"Oh, yes, Diane!" honked the goose. "Mrs. Mischief has gone down the path to catch Rev. Dibble before he can get to the farm tonight. Won't you fly out and try to find him and bring him here without Mrs. Mischief finding out?"

Diane was very happy to do this small favor for her friend because she knew that Honker had never learned to fly very well, and because she also liked to hear the Easter Story that Rev. Dibble told each year.

"Of course I will, Honker. I'll leave right now so I can be halfway to the city when I find Rev. Dibble and can save him much walking."

"Thank you Diane! Thank you very much!" Honker said. "We'll be sure and save you a front row seat for the sermon." So Diane flew off toward the city.

Around dusk, Farmer Lovely brought Steady-boy from the fields and rubbed him down well. Then Farmer Lovely fed and watered all the animals and milked Giselle while she was eating. Shortly after the farmer left the barn Diane came in through the door to the loft and made a gentle landing on the barn floor so as not to disturb her passenger. She ducked her head nearly to the floor so that Rev. Dibble could step down from her shoulders.

"Thank you, Diane," the little Church Mouse said. He had a smart black coat which covered him from his shoulders to his ankles and carried a traveling bag in his left hand. "And blessings to all you children," he said as he saw all the animals waiting to greet him.

"And to you, Rev. Dibble," they chorused. "Thank you for visiting us at the Lovely Farm again this year." Rev. Dibble went around to shake hands with all the animals, saying a kind word here and there.

"We know you must be very tired from your journey," said Sunrise. "So my hens have made you a nice comfortable bed in the hen house and we'll be pleased if you'll spend tonight with us."

"Why, thank you, Sunrise. Don't mind if I do." When Rev. Dibble had completed exchanging pleasantries and gossip with the animals, he followed Sunrise out to the hen house and had a good meal and then slept soundly throughout the night. He was up even earlier than Sunrise to make preparations for his sermon.

Sunrise awoke while it was still dark outside. There was just a hint of pink and gold on the eastern horizon when he climbed to the top of the hen house and gave his usual "Cock-a-doodle-doooooooo! Cock-a-doodle-dooooooo!" to awaken the sun to begin a new day.

Soon all the animals were awake and gathered together in the barn where several bales of hay had been pushed together to form pews. Rev. Dibble had a fine pulpit where a blue and white checked cloth had been draped over the farmer's anvil standing atop a round cut from a sycamore tree. The animals entered the barn through the rear door where the recent snow had melted to form a large puddle in front of the door. It was traditional that they should walk through the puddle so their feet would be muddied to symbolically show that they were all one with the earth.

The animals sat close together and paid attention with a respectful quiet as Rev. Dibble gave his sermon. Although they had all heard the story before, they still enjoyed the telling.

"…so after many years of faithful service on the farm," Rev. Dibble spoke, "old Alexander finally succumbed to his age and died. But the farmer felt that this was not a proper reward for the faithful dog, and resurrected him as a child. The farmer and his wife loved that child as it grew and matured and taught the child that although he would become master of the farm, the master was always responsible for the safety and well being of his animals."

Rupert and Sunrise, Laverne and Leroy, even Steady-boy all enjoyed this part of the sermon. Some years the Church Mouse told of a faithful dog growing up to become the master of the farm. Other years it was a hard working mule, or pig, or rooster. Each secretly dreamed that he or she would someday become worthy of resurrection to become the master of the farm.

Boo-bah had returned from his morning errand of delivering eggs to the children of the city. Although Boo-bah always made it a point to keep his fur neat and clean, his feet were muddy this morning from his trip to the city and back. Boo-bah quietly slid in beside Rupert just as Rev. Dibble was ending his sermon. Rupert had been so captivated by the Church Mouse's sermon that he didn't notice Boo-bah just arriving and thought that the bunny had been beside him all along.

"Isn't that the most beautiful story, Boo-bah. Wouldn't you like to someday be resurrected and grow up to have a whole farm all of your own?"

"It's a very pretty story, Rupert, but do you really believe it? Do you believe that when you die you will be reborn again? That you will grow up to reign over the animals?"

"It isn't the story that you have to listen to, Boo-bah. It's the message," Rupert said. "Rev. Dibble speaks of peace and love and harmony as the way to our resurrection. Even though there may never be a resurrection, and who can say there couldn't be, doesn't the very idea of a life filled with peace and love give you hope that someday, maybe, there will be a resurrection?"

Boo-bah thought that over. It was true that there was no promise of a resurrection, but there was at least the hope. Certainly the notion of a long life of peace and love was a joyful one.

Reverend Dibble was making the rounds of the animals again, shaking hands and saying kind words. In turn, the animals all told him how much they enjoyed his sermon and how much they wanted him to return the following Easter.

"Won't you stay with us for dinner this afternoon, Rev. Dibble?" Giselle asked the mouse.

"No, I'm sorry I can't, Giselle. There are many more farms on my circuit that I have to visit. Besides, I would certainly like to be gone before Mrs. Mischief returns from trying to waylay me alongside the road."

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Rev. Dibble," said Sunrise.

"Worry? Oh, I'm not worried, Sunrise. But I'm not stupid either. The Almighty helps those who help themselves," the Church Mouse paraphrased.

Rev. Dibble had been gone for more than two hours when Mrs. Mischief returned from her all night vigil. "Meerroooowww!" she said. "That cowardly mouse chickened out and didn't come to visit us this Easter. He must have known that I would get him this time."

The other animals laughed, but didn't want to tell how Diane had flown Rev. Dibble high above the countryside and brought him to the barn. If they did perhaps next year Mrs. Mischief would make it much harder for them to fool her, and they certainly didn't want to miss next year's sermon.

"Yep," Rupert told Mrs. Mischief. "You sure must have scared the Church Mouse away.