Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?   James 2:15-16, NIV)

On the coldest morning in a month—
though it had been a rather mild month—
I headed down the hill in a single digit wind chill
to feed the horses.

As soon as the porch door swung shut behind me,
the geldings—at the far end of the paddock— 
jerked up their heads and headed towards
the round pen.

I emptied Earl’s ration of pellets and ground alfalfa
into the small feeder fastened to the wall of the open stall
and Jazz’s into the one screwed onto the galvanized rail 
next to the gate.

Done with that, I looked down the hill
at the low mound of what was left of the big round bale
of mostly brome (and a bit of orchard grass)
tangled under the feed net.

Figuring to make it easier for them to finish up
what was left from three weeks of feeding,
I decided to walk down through the paddock
and take off the woven web of nylon.

I expected another day or two of decent hay
would be laying under the net on the ground.
But… what I found was nothing but a single armful
of matted, molded hay.

By the time I finished clearing the net of its catching strands,
my hands were numb and my fingers stinging 
inside the thin gloves that were meant
for warmer days.

In mid-afternoon, with thicker gloves and flannel-lined pants,
Randa and I took our chances in the cold,
unloaded a new bale and rolled it into place,
trimmed off the thin rotted rind.

After taking time to stretch the feed net over and around,
we tilted the heavy, black, round bale feeder up and over
and worked it into place, then fastened a small tarp
to help keep off the snow and rain.

With just a tinge of pain settling into our fingers,
we drove truck and trailer and tractor out of the paddock.
From the warmth of the house, we watched the boys
with fresh bits of hay in their mouths.

From a distance that morning, I had assumed that there was still hay.
But I had found, as we often may,
that all it takes to better know the needs of others
is a bit of time and a closer look.

And then, more than the knowing,
and sometimes even more than prayers,
it is the showing that we care
that matters most.