The Pruning Chore

Every January begins the time to prune. I arm myself with gloves and long sleeves to combat the roses' thorny stalks. How such a beautiful plant can have such a painful stem is beyond me. Even with my careful clipping I come away with bleeding pokes and scratches. I then begin to trim the vine that robustly rules our eastern yard. Amazing that it has grown so thick these past fourteen years. If only it had been that way when we had first moved in, maybe ol' Qausimoto, our terrier mix, never would have learned to scale and jump the fence it covers. Yet the vine hides the scars of our towering Palm tree that cracked and broke its blocks. Now to look at it all, you never would have guessed the former stories.

Pain is always a part of my life. It lurks among the beauty and the bounty of my days. It always comes with lessons for me to choose to learn. Like the lesson of faithful love, even when the one you love jumps the fence and runs away. Or the one who grows up so fast and tall that it cannot be contained by the boundaries of your wall. Or even when it seems such simple words to one another pierce one's heart so deep. I've learned to love in spite of; I've learned to let go of that I can't control; I've learned instead to trust the Creator instead of the created. I've learned the worth is in the waiting, and that every Spring time, the beauty will trump the pain.

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Easter Production

Driving down the freeway, the large billboard caught my eye. "Join us for our Easter Production," it beckoned with splashy brown and orange colors. It made me think, yes, that's what the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been reduced to. . . a man made production. Even this very day we celebrate, the headlines are all about the celebrities that attract the biggest Easter crowd. E.G. "Tim Tebow draws thousands to Texas Easter service." Once again, I had to think . . . who is Easter really about? What happened to "Jesus draws a crowd?" I have grown tired of celebrity worship. Yet, it seems in America that is what most Christians are interested in. We flock to mega churches, we drink in videos and studies all geared to keep us simple minded and complacent. No longer is theology a priority to be taught. No, it's better to read through the Bible in a year by reading only 5 minutes a day. Never mind, contemplating or discuss...

Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind

" Put yourself in the path that God will work." (Pastor Martin Smith, 1/2024) On a crisp, clear Saturday morning, I started up the hill with Gypsy Rose eagerly leading the way. I was more caught up in the fresh air feeling that was invigorating, than paying attention to the few cars that passed us by. But there up ahead, a small red truck had slowed to the curb to flag me down. "Could I help him find his son's house?" He was an older gentleman with his phone in hand. He couldn't reach his son because the calls only went to voicemail, and he didn't have his address, only that it was somewhere here in Rancho. I googled his son for him, but unfortunately, it only brought up an older address which was the current address now for this man. There was no updated address for Rancho Cucamonga. I told him the bad news, but he was so very gracious. He did everything to show me that he was for real, pulling out his driver lice...

Awe

The thunder resounded with a loud clap! Certainly, it came as an afternoon surprise. The expected rain seemed less than what was forecasted, but with the thunder came a bucket of heavy raindrops splashing against my kitchen window. I wanted to take it all in, the fresh aroma of falling rain and the beauty of water drops hitting the leaves of my nasturtium and petunia hanging baskets. Unfortunately, the rain cloud quickly fled, running away into the eastern sky. But then the sun made its way onto the scene, and I was drawn to a thick band of rainbow colors shining up at me. The western sky was magnificently orange, completely bound up tight with that solo color scheme. I went outside to catch it all before it would disappear. Creation again was causing me to pause in awe and wonder. . . Awe is that reverential wonder, that even includes fear and respect. It is only a 3 letter word, but it takes bigger and grander words to define it....

Mary's Heartbeats

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