Spring Has Sprung . A Leak?
Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Hello, and welcome once again to the Chaplain’s Corner. As you can see from your bulletin, today’s order of service is: a song, announcements, two songs, the offering. Hehe...teasing you. Actually, though, I do have a quick announcement before we get started. My friend, Denise, who writes a devotional for LEOs called CopDevotionals, convinced me to "branch out" and begin sending my monthly column out via email. I’ll put our subscription info at the bottom.
It’s always a little difficult to know when to write about climatic seasons since Spring doesn’t come to all areas at the same time. In Texas we have a saying about the weather: "Don’t like it? Wait five minutes, it’ll change." Highs: yesterday 70; today 38. (That’s why the grass didn’t get mowed today.) No, I’m not going to complain about the weather, although it does figure in my thoughts this month. Spring has sprung . a leak? What in the world does that mean? Pull up a chair and I’ll explain.
If you read the Gospels, you’ll often come across the phrase "the kingdom of God is like." Well, the last couple of weeks (while it was still "winter") I started seeing some similarities between life and the interaction of weather and trees. I know.I’m talking with LEOs, not some group of freshman forestry students, but I think Ricky, and others of you, need some encouragement.
My first observation, looking at a bare tree on a cold, windy, overcast day, was that some would say that was a picture of their life.cold, gray and - dare I say it - with the chill breeze of hopelessness blowing. Cold.yes. Unpleasant.yes. Hopeless.no. I say that first, because as we all know Spring DOES follow Winter. Sometimes it’s a lengthy transition, sometimes it’s sudden. Some years Spring comes earlier than others, but it still shows up. Second, as we look at the tree, even if we get real close, it looks dead and lifeless. But if you could see inside the tiny buds, deep inside there is life - there are leaves.just waiting for the right time to come forth. Sometimes these buds get buried in the branch as it grows, only to pop forth unexpectedly sometime in the future. God has designed it to work that way. No matter how bleak the "winter," God’s got some new life, some new growth saved back. As long as God loves us, there is hope.
Now, about Spring springing a leak.my second observation. When we moved into this place I planted several ash trees. For the last several years they were among the first trees to feel the effects of Spring and start leafing out. Then winter leaks back in - a heavy frost. Invariably the new growth gets burned and dies. Again, "life imitates nature." If we’ve lived more than 18 years, we’ve undoubtedly had times in our lives when it seemed things were really taking off, only to have them crash and burn a short time later. Hurt? You bet. But . it’s not the end. When the new growth on the tree freezes and dies, the tree waits a while and then sends out another set of new leaves in a slightly different direction. When frost hits our lives, we grieve for a while, and then gradually we start to grow again, but perhaps in a different direction. There is hope. The frost doesn’t kill the entire tree, it just damages the most tender parts.
The poet says, "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree." Ever admired a pastoral landscape with ancient, majestic trees? If you were to look closely at the branches of those trees, you’d see that they aren’t straight. They bend and fork and go off at different directions. When you look up into the tree, the branches appear a chaotic randomness. But, when viewed from a distance, you get a whole different effect. That is, in effect, what the Apostle Paul is talking about when he writes in Romans 8:28: "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Not everything that happens in our lives is enjoyable. Hurts and heartaches are inevitable. But, if we can get hold of God in the bad times, He will work in us and for us, and in the end we can be like the old, stately, but not straight, tree - a survivor and an inspiration to others.
My life is like a weaving
Between my God and me.
I do not choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.
Sometimes He weaveth sorrow,
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the skillful Weaver’s hand
As the threads of gold and silver,
In the pattern He has planned.
Corrie Ten Boom
I could go on and on, but I’ve got to stop. We’re out of time again. (This chair was getting too hard anyway.) Feel free to drop me an email and we can continue this discussion if you want to.
Denise’s devotionals are at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/copdevotionals/
My mail group is at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/chappys_echaplain_chat/
Blessings to you and yours. and Hey! be careful out there.
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
