Seeds

Don't judge each day by the harvest that you reap but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson


I heard this quote for the first time tonight. 

It reminded me of one of my favorite stories, based on a true story, called "The Man Who Planted Trees" - if you don't know it, I suggest you go to YouTube and look it up - the video (done by the National Film Board and narrated by Christopher Plummer) is about 30 minutes or so, and for this reason they have broken it up into about three parts, I think.  Anyway, the story is about how the faithful planting of trees by one man for several years, transformed a desolate wasteland into a life-filled countryside. 

I got this still from the video at this site

The truth is, we don't know what our seed-sowing will produce.  We have no idea whose life we will touch, or how - and we may never know. But someone will. 

Someone is glad I am here. Someone has been, is being, or will be blessed by something I do, say, or leave behind.  I do believe that.  I believe it is true for every person; each has a purpose that is far beyond his or her capacity to imagine.  

It is hard to say what that might be, or how it will pan out in the end.  But we all plant seeds - for good or ... not - and these seeds WILL bear fruit.  We may be curious as to the reasons why, or to our purpose, or to the "harvest" that may result.  But the harvest - small or large - doesn't matter.  Only the planting matters.  One seed after another: a smile, a kind word.  Honesty, openness, willingness, day after day, hour upon hour.  

Tiny seeds. Who knows where they will lead, how much they will grow?
I don't.  But I know Who does.

The Rear View

There are a few schools of thought about the past. One school of thought says, "Let's get back to the good old days!" The other says, "Let's forget the past and move forward! It's in the past, we shouldn't give it another thought!"

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. While living in the past and yearning for the way things used to be is tempting and can even sometimes inspire, it limits us from envisioning what the future can hold to what the past has already been. And while the future is still before us, unwritten, many of the past's unpleasant pages might be repeated if we don't remember it and learn its lessons. The past, even the awful parts, can be a truly powerful thing if we determine not to repeat our mistakes and to use our own journeys out of the darkness of the past to help those who are still in their dark place....right now.

There's a quote from a very old book that I like to remind myself of, frequently. It's phrased like a promise, or a series of promises, made to those who follow a lifestyle of rigorous honesty before God, within ourselves, and in front of others - and of healing from past hurts, forgiveness of resentments, and making restitution for past wrongs wherever possible. "We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word 'Serenity.' We will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. Those feelings of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things, and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves." (The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous)

I liken the past to what's in the rear view mirror. Some folks don't use their rear view (they ignore their pasts). And it's true that the windshield (the present and the immediate future) is much larger, intended to be used much more than the rear view mirror. Figuratively as well. But if a person doesn't know that something is creeping up behind him or her by using the mirror and either speeding up or pulling over, there could be a nasty rear-end accident, which could have been avoided with a glance every so often backward in the rear view to see what's going on where he or she came from. So with us in our spiritual lives. Once in a while it's good to remember where we've been, if only to encourage ourselves as to how far we've come and to Whom we need to be grateful - because we couldn't have gotten this far without His great love, guidance, and patience with us. And we can also be encouraged from His faithfulness in the past, that He will never give up on us. Never.

That's worth a look back once in a while.

It's Just Like Jesus - the Promise

"I say to you, from this time on, I shall drink no longer of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." (Mt. 26:29)

"They offered Him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when He had tasted it, He would not drink." (Mt. 27:34)

Jesus made a lover's promise in Matthew 26:29, after He instituted the Last Supper and told them about the New Covenant. "We drink this betrothal cup together now," He said in essence. "You can continue to drink it to remember Me until I come for you. But I refuse to drink it again until we can drink it together in person, in My Father's House." (see previous post for the context of this promise.)

That promise was put to the test at Golgotha, barely 18 hours later. Many have said that Jesus was refusing the gall (which was a narcotic). Not so - because they would have said to Him, "Drink this. It will dull the pain." But He put it in His mouth anyway. He was willing to have the pain dulled.

But as soon as He tasted what they'd mixed the gall into - a wine base - He refused to drink. In other words, He spit out what He had in His mouth and refused to swallow it. Why? Because it was the fruit of the vine. Because He promised.

His promise to His beloved fiancée was that important to Him.

He made no exception just because He was going through exceptional circumstances. A promise was a promise was a promise.

A promise is a promise is a promise.

He kept His word then. He's keeping it now. And He'll keep it for eternity.

He's coming back for us. We can trust that because He has proven to us that His word is His bond.

He's saving His palate, reserving His taste-buds, until the Day that He calls for us, when we will meet Him in the air and go to His Father's house.

That will be one glorious, triumphant sip of wine.