Fall is the time to plant the garden websites say, but this fall we need not just to sink daffodils into the ground (the deer do not eat them), but to consider how we can plant bulbs of hope. Many of you must think this is a pollyannyanish thought considering all the turmoil we have in the world today, but it is not.
We really do have choices in how we approach the horrors we see around us. True, none of us has the individual power to make changes in most, if not all, of what we see going around us, both in the world and in our own country. But little things do make a difference. Remember Greta Thunberg and her strike on climate change?
Yes, we say, that was then, but forces just seem to overwhelm us. Making change is like planting a garden. Looking around, you make a plan, discard what is no longer useful, clean up the debris but put it in a place where little animals can use it to protect themselves for the winter, and plant. So, make a plan, discard what didn’t work, clean up the debris in your mind, and start digging the hole. We may have winter coming, but spring will bring results of our hard work today.
Prayer for the Day
Feeling the first chill of autumn, we look about our gardens,
Wondering what it is we can do on rainy mornings;
Remembering your word to us, O God, to care for others,
We lay out our plans for the work that lies ahead.
Hold us fast to your promise, O Lord, that of new life,
So we are able to work through the winter to come.
In the name of the One who holds us fast,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
C.S. Lewis, British writer (1898-1963)
If the fish had stuck to its gills, there would have been no movement up to the land.
Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, essayist
Be strong and courageous, and have no fear or dread of them,
Because it is the Lord your God who goes with you;
God will not fail you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31: 6