Summer: July/August 2010

Dear Family of faith,

We human creatures can be so foolish! I was reminded of that earlier in the year when I was getting ready to mow the lawn for the first time after the winter frosts. I was on a weed hunt, plucking out all the unwanted invaders that had taken advantage of the weakened grass. As I looked around, my eyes fell on a tall stem shooting out from underneath the mulch in a flower bed. Atop the stalk was a beautiful, pastel-colored pinkish blossom. Without a moment’s hesitation I plucked out the bloom, then spent a bit of time examining it more closely. As I held the soon-to-be-withered flower in my hand, marveling at its simple elegance, I thought to myself, “You fool! There wasn’t a single blossom in all my flower bed except this unplanted interloper, and you have just destroyed the only thing of beauty in the garden!”

I wonder how many beautiful things we have uprooted in our lives because we thought they were out of place. How many serendipitous blessings has God sent our way that we failed to see because we had other plans and missed the splendor of the moment? More than that, how many people have we ‘written off’ because they didn’t fit our concept of a friend or good church member? In our haste to get on with our schedule, we have pushed aside divine encounters with angels sent to teach us about God and ourselves.

Now that summer has come my garden has a lot of blossoms; yet the memory of that one early gift still lingers. Like far too much of my life, I rue past days when I ran roughshod over opportunities for beauty, wisdom, joy, and peace because “I had other plans.” Just how old does one need to get to learn that God has plans of which we know nothing? As the ancient proverb teaches (Proverbs 14:12): “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.”

This summer I encourage you to live with humility—the humility of recognizing that God has a better plan than you to bring beauty and blessing to our world. I encourage you to live aware of your surroundings, to live open to what is happening in the present moment, to live with the expectation that the people you meet may have been sent from heaven itself. Don’t end up plucking up what is meant to bring goodness! Some word you hear, some song you listen to, some smiling face that catches your eye, or some glimpse of beauty that you see today may be just what you need to bring you the peace and joy you are seeking. And for heaven’s sake, don’t destroy the only beautiful thing in your life because you weren’t expecting it.

With affection, Pastor Carlan