Coal in June

It is a depressing comment on the warmth of our summer to note that for the first time ever, we took a delivery of coal this morning, two days ahead of the Longest Day – midsummer. The midges were out in force at 7.30 am, but the coal man assured me that meant the temps were rising. So. Is it a choice then? Freeze or be devoured?

It paints a dismal picture of Scotland, but perhaps I should ameliorate it by noting that now, just after lunch, the sun is out (though the grey clouds still scud across the sky) and the midges are taking a siesta. After I write this I plan to do a little work in the garden, although it may in fact be raining again by then ...

Raining again. Dusty and I walked round our local hill this morning and I noted that on the steep slopes there was clear evidence that torrents of rainwater had carried forestry detritus downhill, now strewn in gullies that streak the hillsides. Evidence of storms past.

The storms of life also carry away detritus. Some of it we’re glad to lose, but sometimes we feel bruised and broken after a tumultuous time of trouble. We may feel gouged and gutted and just plain weary. A storm can steal our sparkle and joy, and we feel scarred.

Jesus invites us to come to him and he’ll refresh us, look after us, and help us rest. 

All I have to do is go to him. All I have to do is sit still and rest in him. All I have to do, is just be.

I am thankful that I can afford to buy coal. I am thankful that I have a fireplace in which to burn it. I am thankful that I have a beautiful dog who thinks I’m wonderful, and I’m thankful that I have a God who thinks I’m wonderful, although clearly I am bruised, scarred and broken. 

Gratitude lifts my attitude, and the clouds of depression are blown away. For the moment, anyway.

Always Good

Productivity isn’t necessarily measured in the ticks beside jobs on a to-do list.

It’s possible to be productive while sitting still on the couch. Mentally productive. Spiritually productive. 

The protestant work ethic is deeply engrained in me, and I know that buzzing round the house or garden, accomplishing definite tasks, somehow seems better than sitting still exercising my mind or my spirit. And yet I know it isn’t.

I know that when I sit and meditate on Scripture, or sit silently in prayer or companionably in prayer with a partner, I am refreshed. But more than the refreshment I feel deep in my soul, I know that I am productive.

It is impossible to pray a prayer and have nothing happen. 

Something happens in response to our prayers. God is listening, even when it seems we go on praying the same prayer for years. Things are happening. Unseen things perhaps. Imperceptibly perhaps. Maybe they are happening in the way we are asking. Or maybe he is working in our own hearts to widen our vision and deepen our perception.

The important thing to remember is that God is love, and he can’t be anything other than love. His love took Jesus all the way to the cross. He is always listening when we speak; he even hears our prayers before a word is on our lips. 

I want to be productive today, and not particularly in the way of ticking off jobs on a to-do list.

Cryptic Clues?

Saturday. Our day for the Times crossword.

We’re not actually very good at it. Well, sometimes we manage to finish it, working together. But it is a good brain exercise they say, and we enjoy the challenge.

Sometimes the clues seem more obscure than others. Sometimes they seem absolutely simple. Who writes these things, anyway?

I hasten to add that we don’t do the cryptic clues. I don’t even understand how those work. We do the basic definitions, and those are challenging enough for us.

Sometimes life seems a bit like a crossword puzzle. It’s hard to figure out what things mean. 

Reading the Bible can be that way, too. The meaning of a passage can appear obscure, irrelevant, or meaningless. But as you re-read it, pondering over it, praying for understanding, that’s when you discover what people mean when they call the Bible the living word of God. Because all of a sudden, a word or a phrase lights up with neon lights and its meaning can cut right to the heart of your problems, or it can challenge you to look again at something you didn’t realize was a problem, or it can comfort you at your point of need. 

It is as if your best friend is giving you a word of advice, encouragement, or comfort.

Which, of course, it is.

Violets

Today our walk took us down the road past the ‘haunted house’ and through the ‘enchanted forest’. 

A few years ago, the muddy track was levelled and graded and a skim of rough stones was spread on the top.

For awhile it was an eyesore to us. We’d quite liked the pastoral, natural appearance of the muddy track and this new ‘road’ felt like a giant scar on the landscape. Gradually the weeds and grasses have seeded themselves between the stones, however, and now it gives a softer appearance. 

Until today I was thinking they were just weeds and grasses. But this afternoon, as the sun fought its way through heavy grey cloud cover, I noticed tiny violets smiling up at me, their pert heads bobbing in the breeze. Purple, with yellow and black markings. I couldn’t help but smile.

Perhaps the message is that no path we might tread is seeded only with weeds. There are always flowers amongst them.

No support?

There’s a climbing rose outside my bedroom window.

It’s been there for several years now. When we first planted it, the trellis which supported it was adequate. But over the last couple of years, it has shot up beyond that trellis and is reaching for the roof.

But there is no support beyond this now rather pathetic looking trellis. So waving at me as I stand inside the bedroom, is a rather weak, long branch of what could be a beautiful rose bush. 

It won’t be beautiful, though, if it isn’t properly supported. It will be gangly and straggly and battered by the wind and weather. Any peach-coloured roses it might have borne will hang their pretty heads and die.

Sometimes people wonder if you have to go to church to be a Christian. No, there is nothing in the Bible that says that. But unless a believer is part of a support network, it is easy to begin to weaken, to sway and get battered by the storms of life. 

Church is a trellis for the Christian. It may not meet on a Sunday morning. It may consist of a couple of friends who meet up every week for a time of sharing and prayer. A vibrant faith needs the support of other believers. 

Jesus calls himself the vine, and his followers the branches. We need to remain rooted in Jesus, and supported by each other.

I am so grateful that God has given me a great trellis.