DON QUIXOTE - WINDMILLS OF THE CHURCHES
In a story by Miguel
de Cervantes Saavedra, a short sighted Don Quixote and his farmer friend Sancho Panza, rides around Spain charging at windmills in
the mistaken view they are giants that need pulling down as they were terrorizing
the people. I sometimes wonder if I
have been like Don Quixote within the church, except instead of giants I see God’s presence
and instead of bringing down the windmills, trying to make them work.
Everywhere I go I see windmills (churches) with shafts of light coming
down from heaven and surrounding them with God’s glory so I charge towards them
wanting to be part of what God is doing there. As I get close, I see people struggling to till the soil, grow wheat on barren land and feed their
children. It is though clear that
although the mill is bathed in light, the
wind blowing and the spirit moves, the sails of the mill barely move or even turn
at all. The tenant mill owners and
their worker instead of producing flour
from the grain the farmers bring, are standing around, bathing
in the shaft of light they are rejoicing because the wind is blowing and are crying
out for the spirit to move even more.
Puzzled I ask the tenant mill owner why with all this wind, the
sails are not turning and grain turned
into flour and he says God supplies all the people need to eat. The workers are happy dancing and singing
and have all they need so why do they need more. To that I reply,
look around you, the farmers do not have enough. The people in the fields around you are ill
through lack of food. The mill could
supply all the food needed if only your workers worked the sails that flap idly
in the breeze. The tenant shrugs his
shoulders and asks what do I know of these things. “Look” I answer “even though I may not be an engineer, even I can see the sails flapping and hardly turning no matter how strong the wind blows. The mill stone is moving ever so slowly and the
wheat we have does not make enough for ourselves, let alone the farmers whose wheat it is. Surely the owner of the mill would want us
to do better than that.” As I look
around puzzled that so little is being achieved, I notice the brake on the sails is not fully off. The belt drive connecting the cogswheels on
the sail to the cogs on the millstone is slack and slipping. A couple of the beams are also missing. I therefore ask the mill owner if I could
fully push the brake lever on the sail to the fully off position. Maybe take up some of the slack on the belt
drive and possibly replace one or two of the missing beams. Immediately I am jumped on by the workers
standing by him. I am bungled out of
the door and before I know it put back on my horse and told to find another
mill to harass. Scratching my head,
I ride into the distance only to see
another windmill with a shaft of light beaming down on to it. I ride towards it and find again a similar
story. Again to be bundled out of the
place and sent packing as soon as I ask why is there not more food for the
people living near the mill to each.
And so it goes on. Each time I
see a windmill with the sun beaming down on it and a strong wind blowing, I take it that God is there. I therefore ride towards it as fast as my
little steed can take me, only to find
the same story repeating itself. I
upset the owners and anger the workers.
After many such experiences I have to ask myself, am I
so short-sighted and mistaken. Are the
churches windmills, which should be
producing flour from the crops in the fields that surround them.
Or they just dancehalls. A place to come for a good time. A place just for dancing and singing. A place just to party with God? The bible would tell me otherwise. Christian stand up and preach the same things
I am saying. Even in the cool of the
day, over a pint as evening draws in, I am told what I am saying is right, so why
do I evoke such strong responses. Ah
they say. It’s the way you are saying
it. You are being judgmental. You are judging them. You have to wait for God to move. You just have to be patient, when God is ready, He will move. He will provide in His own time and in His
good way. You should just say
nothing, join in the dance and wait. And in the meantime, people go hungry, people die for the lack of flour that is
needed even though the fields are full of corn.
Reflecting more on this and why I provoke such anger by saying if we
just release this lever, tighten this
belt or replace this beam, I
wonder. The mill owner insecure and
feeling criticized, knows the mill could
do more but he is busy as it is. He
has far too much on his hands to start with.
If he released the brakes, the
sails would move faster and he could
have a breakdown. The deputies and
senior hands. If the tenant owner had
wanted the mill to produce more flour, he would have said so, wouldn’t
he? Anyway who’s this young upstart saying
he knows more that we who’ve been here all our lives? The workers too are upset. If the sails moved faster or the belt didn’t
slip as much, we would have to do more
work. The grain hoppers would empty
and we would have to keep topping them up.
Then think of the flour, more
bags to fill. To lift and carry outside
to the wagons and distribute. Even
the neighbours would be upset, think of
the noise as the sails turn round faster.
The activity around the place,
all that coming and going. The
traffic, think of it, more and more grain brought on site. The flour needing to be taken away. No, it’s better all round if the Don Quixote just
kept quiet. Kept his opinions to
himself. Better still just went away
and pestered someone else. As for the
poor people, the people around us desperately
needing food. That’s not our
problem. If they need feeding, why don’t they do like we do, come into mill and enjoy the dance. What’s that,
they’ve not been invited. Isn’t
that the work of the Holy Spirit. God’s
responsibility not ours. Come on let’s
dance. The music is starting up again.
