Wild Cherry Jam

I should have taken a picture.

A kilo of wild cherries – geens they call them locally – off of our trees. Not very much, you might think. Just over two pounds. But then remember, in every cherry lurks a potentially tooth-destroying pit. You don’t want to leave any in a pot of jam.

So, for over an hour, I heated cherries, encouraging them to pop their pits, which some were reluctant to do. Some took much squashing and heating. Each needed fishing out of the cherry juice and skins individually. At the end of the hour, during which time I enlisted Don’s help as it was getting to be just too much, we had about a quarter of a kilo of pits! 

The jam making progressed very quickly by comparison, and at the end of a back-breaking evening we have four precious jars of wild cherry jam. Not yet tasted any – rather reluctant to open one of these rare jars as I know it will be years before I decide to go down that path again!

Perhaps if I were to go way off-piste I might compare our lives to pots of cherry jam. Each of us is full of pits. Boy don’t we know it! And how often do we find ourselves up to our necks in the pits? 

As God heats us up in his gentle embrace, we release these hard pits to him to skim out. Some of them aren’t hard to let go of; we long to be set free from some things and easily give them up. Others are not so easy. Maybe some resentments and bitter memories need to be forgiven, but we’re not so sure we want to forgive. In theory we do. In practice, not so easy. 

But with the continual gentle embrace of a loving Lord, who forgives us every infraction, big or small, we can give up those pits to his grace and mercy. 

And at the end of our lives, long or short though they be, we may be like pots of sweet cherry jam, with no hidden pits lurking within.

By the grace of God, this is possible. All it takes is our will power, day by day, moment by moment, pit by pit.

God’s back must be so sore!