Agonisingly slowly, the outsized lorry with a hydraulic
lifting arm reversed down the drive, underneath the low-hanging canopy of trees,
to deliver a couple tons of sand in two ‘bags’. Having successfully
accomplished his task, the driver drove off confidently – and his truck ripped
off a branch of one of the beautiful Norwegian elm trees. Now there is an ugly
scar where that substantial branch used to be. That scar will be visible for
the rest of the life of the tree.
Today, Mhairi and I walked our route, which we’ve not done
for a few days because of the heavy rains. As we rounded a bend through the ‘enchanted
forest’, we saw the path ahead was obstructed by another fallen branch. Probably
the heavy rains had weighed the long branch down, and perhaps there was a bit
of rot where it emerged from the trunk, so that the tree could no longer
support it. The branch cracked off, and in crashing down it tore another branch
off, too.
God is faithful, and he is loving. He is our gardener, and
when we submit to his regular pruning, we are saved from violent crashes which
tear at the heart of our being. Pruning may be painful, but God’s pruning isn’t
destructive. Instead, it encourages new growth, fresh buds.
I don’t want to wait until I have developed a destructive
habit which eats into who I am, and takes part of me with it when it finally
comes down. Instead, I ask God to nip all these negative things in the bud, and
shape me to be who he created me to be, a child of God.
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