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Monday 23 October 2023

Tough Exteriors

 


I am still wrestling with apples from our trees, some only about the size of golf balls. As I peeled my way through a bowl of them on Saturday, I slipped and peeled the nail of my middle finger, quite far into the quick. Ouch!

Now our green-fingered neighbour Shirley has brought us a perfect pumpkin from her patch. Pies and cakes and soup here we come…if I can penetrate the tough outer skin without peeling a fingernail or stabbing myself with the knife. (I’ve accepted the offer of help from Don, whose track record with sharp implements and fingers is not impeccable…)

Sometimes – or maybe always? – a tough exterior conceals a tender richness of heart. May the love of God so soften my heart that I persevere in relationships which might otherwise repel me. ‘People judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ May I be given the discerning eyes of the Lord today and every day, and never cancel or diminish anyone because of a tough outward attitude which may have been formed from pain, in self-protection.

May I leave all judgment to the Lord.

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