Deep Roots

“And then when something old needed a new button, or when something newlymade needed a set of buttons, the button box provided. Grandma’s button box was an old shoe box, better than half full of buttons of all sorts. It was a pleasure just to run your fingers through, like running your fingers through a bucket of shelled corn.”

DEEP ROOTS

By Whitney Nesse

uncles and cousins; along with a large photograph of my grandparents in their classic “church directory” pose. On the lower portion were sagging bookshelves containing a myriad of books, games, magazines, newspapers and telephone books. On the right there was a small bathroom and a tiny closet with sliding doors constructed of plywood. In that “Andy Catlett Early Travels” by Wendell Berry closet was a vacuum cleaner; and on the top shelf there was an old glass jar (with half of a Miracle Whip label still stuck to

A dimly lit, narrow hallway led from a spacious it) that contained my grandmother’s buttons.living room into a bedroom. On the left, lining the upper part of the wood grain wainscoted wall was a telephone and dozens of photographs of my aunts, I loved getting out the button jar, dumping out all of its contents and looking at the buttons. There were hundreds of buttons, all of different sizes, shapes, colors and textures. Some were plastic, some glass, and some wood. Some had a smooth, pearly sheen and some were rough and sandpaper like. I would sort them into piles by color or size or by the number of thread holes. At some point, I am sure that I tried to count them, finding that they were too numerous for a youngster to keep track of. I specifically remember two buttons. One of the two was a half-dollar sized, very 1970’s flair, flower. It was a coat button with a single shank hole and had a rough texture. It looked like a daisy, with white petals and a pink center. I do not particularly recall thinking it was very beautiful or glamorous. In fact, I remember thinking that it was ugly! But it always caught my eye and I was able to sort it out of the rest of the buttons quickly. The other button I remember was a brown coat button which resembled a root beer barrel. Maybe it was the likeness to the hard candy that caused the button to catch my eye, maybe not. But it always seemed to surface rather quickly. I believe that brown button came off of a gray tweed suit coat my grandpa wore. Every button in my grandma’s button jar was just that … a button. They all commingled in the same space at the same time, but there were two that stood out to me. They were both buttons; but they possessed different qualities, a different representation. They were not like the rest.

For the last number of weeks I have been studying with a group of women as to how people of the Christian faith can best engage with the culture when faith and culture collide. What I am finding, as I study the letters from the Apostle Paul to the Colossian church and to Titus is that, as followers of Christ, we can engage with the world and actively participate in our faith. As people who have heard and accepted the simple Gospel of Christ, we do not have to run from the cultures of the world nor do we have to embrace all of the cultural practices. As Christians, we are a walking representation of the Gospel. As we mature in our personal relationship with the Lord, we will approach life differently.

We see Jesus exemplify this throughout His ministry. Jesus was fully engaging with the culture when He was celebrating a wedding in John chapter 2. In John chapter 3, Jesus met with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. It was there He participated in an intriguing conversation, engaging with the cultural and religious norms — yet firmly upholding the truth. We never saw Jesus conform to the culture when the culture misrepresented the truth. Rather, we saw Him as the walking representation of the Gospel and engaging with the culture. Jesus was a human being — yet unlike any human being who had ever walked the earth.

As Christians, to engage with the culture, we must engage with the culture as individuals who are actively participating in our faith. As people who are walking representations of the Gospel, we will approach life differently and possess different qualities — just like those two buttons in my grandma’s button jar: commingled yet outstanding.

Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v

Klossner is true dairy ambassador

LAND MINDS, from pg. 2

dairy judging contest, and the Dairy Showcase, but the dairy and meat goat shows, the sheep show, the poultry show, the general livestock judging contest, and the lama show.

Klossner has been the announcer of the Nicollet County 4-H, open class and FFA shows for many years. She has been a member of the county fair board, president and secretary of the county Holstein association. Klossner is involved in the Lafayette Lions Club, New Ulm Farm-City Hub Club, Connecting Nicollet County, Nicollet American Legion Auxiliary, and Bernadotte Lutheran Church/ Fields of Grace Parish.

A prolific writer, Klossner has served the local newspaper as writer, photographer and later editor for 27 years. Although she retired 10 years ago, she proudly proclaims, “I flunked retirement in just a month” and has kept busy with organizations and publications since then.

In a time when media-bashing is a popular sport, Klossner has forged an iron-clad reputation as a fair and talented journalist. Congratulations, Ruth. It is recognition well deserved.

Paul Malchow is the managing editor of The Land. He may be reached at editor@TheLandOnline.com. v