God did make the little red apples

The red apple harvest from our tree in the grand-sounding ‘orchard’ is in. It is so satisfying to bite into a sweet, juicy apple, knowing no pesticides touched it, and no plastic was involved in its transportation to my kitchen.

I came back from the supermarket with many things encased in plastic. Fish from the fish counter (I should have taken my own container); a handful of nectarines; pate and hummus, orange juice. Much more.

What’s to be done? For me, a bigger investment in thoughtful shopping, planning ahead, finding alternatives. For us all, louder clamouring for options in the markets, so we can fill up our own containers and choose loose produce.  

This week, I’ve been reminded of how the Lord is intimately involved in our daily lives; he has answered two major things which I’ve been praying about in surprising, even delightful, ways. That is encouraging me to say with conviction, we should all be asking him to help us as individuals to live more sustainably, so that we make less of an impact on this wounded earth of his.

Expectantly, we should listen for his whisper. He wants to partner with us in this.

Of summer sun and wasps

Glorious morning yesterday for sitting outside and enjoying Saturday breakfast, which Don usually cooks. French toast with maple syrup (yes, I know that the Canadian warehouse where they stockpile maple syrup has been raided and we could face a serious shortage soon. Note to self: buy a giant one at Costco next time.). 

The sun beat down out of a perfectly blue Med-style sky (or Californian, for that matter), and the wind desisted for the day. It felt perfectly settled as we pulled the folding table and chairs from the greenhouse and prepared to enjoy a relaxed breakfast.

Swoop in the wasps, drawn by the syrup perhaps, or the shower gel or the shampoo or whatever. I resorted to the Aussie cork hat (as anyone reading this who is friends with Doug on Facebook probably already knows) – glad to have furnished others with a good laugh.

Well. That’s the way of the world, isn’t it? Not the cork hat, but the wasps zinging in to sting their way through a rare, perfect summer’s day and ruin it for the humans. 

I guess you might think the same about the Garden of Eden. There they were, Adam and Eve and God, in a place brimming with good fresh fruit, exotic plants and abundant sunshine. And for Adam and Eve, hanging out with the Creator of the universe. What more could you want? In slithers the snake, slyly suggesting that actually, there is more. And Eve listened.

We swotted as many wasps as we could (well, Doug did) and I have to admit, the allusion is pretty weak as we didn’t hear any of them whisper, “Did God really say ...?” 

But I have to end by wondering out loud – where would the world be today if Eve had stepped on the snake instead of listening to it? 

It’s a little like wondering where we would be today if Hitler had died as a baby. There’s no knowing, but it’s probably safe to say that behind every evil being, there are a dozen others waiting to step up to the plate.

Praise God that he had a plan. Executed at such a cost to himself. What a saviour!