A simply glorious morning. I sat down to write this but felt
compelled to abandon it for a bracing walk round the woods. A walk I did once,
twice a day with Dusty but have since abandoned, to my loss.
I passed the towering dung pile the farmer has dumped as he’s
cleaned his barns through the winter. Rotting into something wonderful.
I returned home, praising the Lord for his gifts and the
beauty of this day, and took the kitchen garbage round to the compost bin. In
it went – a small hill of coffee grounds, tangerine skins, potato peelings,
onion skin. And then I passed the pile of rotted compost which Don recently
moved from the compost heap to the garden. We left it longer this time, maybe a
year, and the result in terms of tilth and richness and well-rottedness is
evident. Whether or not that will result in a marvellous veggie crop next
summer remains to be seen ...
I heard some teaching last night in which the woman declared
that our history is part of our destiny. Our past is what makes us who we are
today. Our shames keep us humble. Our hurts give us compassion. We may want to
erase some memories but God uses them all to bring a fresh crop of
righteousness from the gardens of acquaintances and friends where we live.
There are some memories I’d like to delete. Some things I’d
like to have not done. They continue to sit in a big towering pile of dung. One
day it will have rotted into something wonderful which will feed the faith of
someone else.
It’s a transformation beyond my imagination, but within my
mustard seed of faith. From dung to pure gold. But then, the dazzling diamond
comes from the hardest-pressed coal which has had time. Time.
Your sins are forgiven, Jesus told the woman caught in
adultery and the man paralysed by disease. Your sins are forgiven, and in God’s
amazing recycling scheme, they are transformed into something beautiful.
Amazement. Humility. Overwhelming gratitude. Awe and wonder.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is everlasting life in his perfect son Jesus Christ.
A day like today, clear and still after days of stormy
winds, encourages me to breathe deep the forgiveness and love of God, and be
thankful. Forever thankful. Those he has forgiven much, love much.
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