Poison Ivy in the Strawberry Patch

Beloved:

Poison ivy is growing in my strawberry patch.  Deer ate half of my newest hydrangea bush. The blackberries which I pruned and trained a month ago are tangled in new canes seven feet tall.

But also, this.  A metal pitcher of  blooms from four different hydrangeas.  My favoritest colors of my favoritest flowers.  Neglected as the rest and still they give me this.  Growing fast as weeds and next year’s berry bushes whether or not I’m paying attention.  

I’ve neighbors with tidy lawns, neat trees and slow growing hedges.  They mow once a week, spray for weeds once a month, trim shrubs once a year.  While mine never looks good all at once.  I love gardening and they don’t - yet their yards are practically perfect.  

I’ve chosen to believe that whereas they are working I am playing.  My yard isn’t a job. It’s a hobby - something I do because it gives pleasure.  If I neglect it a month no harm is done and there will still be gifts of food and beauty.  And the reminder that nature can take care of her business without me fussing over everything all the time. 

Which I suppose makes gardening a sort of spiritual practice too - however lackadaisically I go about it.  Insofar as we know our smaller part in the (work or hobby) of creation, we find ourselves in relation to God.  

I pray you play today.  

~ peace & prayers, pastor annette

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