Each morning this week as daylight has slowly dawned it has ushered in a world of dense white fogginess outside my windows.
As I sit at my dining room table having breakfast, I see my messy raspberry vines out in the small berry garden. I ponder what a mess the vines are … compared to my neighbor’s raspberry canes.
Our neighbor (around the corner and down the street) knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to caring for raspberry canes. His raspberry canes are always so manicured; so well-taken-care of. And each summer, they’re abundantly fruitful!
Recently, as hubby and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood, I noticed that our neighbor’s raspberry canes are all pulled up & tied together in neat tidy bundles of 4 or 5 canes, each bundle arching gracefully over in semi-circle arches along the support wires. All the raspberry canes in his garden are neatly bundled together and in graceful curving arches.
I obviously don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to caring for raspberry canes.
As I was sitting at my dining room table having lunch, gazing out into the white fogginess at my messy raspberry vines, I couldn’t help thinking – “Isn’t this what life is like! Most of us have no clue what we’re doing!”
The reason my raspberry canes are such a disastrous mess is because last summer I did an online search (in an attempt to gather some helpful information about what I should be doing), whereupon I learned that you’re not supposed to trim off the second year’s growth – because the second year’s growth is what produces the berries.
Hence, the disheveled messy tangled disaster of raspberry vines in my garden!
I followed the instructions, and I did not trim off any of the second-year growth!
Life itself feels a lot like messy raspberry vines in the fog!
Most of us don’t know what we are doing. We are making a valiant attempt. But we really truly don’t know what we are doing.
As I was standing out in my berry garden in the fog taking the above photo (pondering how most of us have no idea what we’re doing when it comes to life) my attention was captured by a little bird in the ravine … singing out joyfully!
Right away I turned on my Merlin Bird ID app to see which bird it was. It was a Brown Creeper! (I took a screenshot of my app to show you)
Then at that moment lots more birdsong joined the chorus! My Bird app lit up letting me know Golden-crowned Kinglets and Chestnut-backed Chickadees had joined in! (I took another screenshot to show you)
I was struck with the thought that all creation praises God! Nature’s symphony of praise! I suddenly became aware of the singing song of the rushing stream down at the bottom of the ravine! The stream formed the steady rhythmic background music … with the chorus of birdsong rounding out the musical score, punctuated by duet & solo spotlights!
My Bird ID app lit up again! This time it was a Red-breasted Nuthatch taking the solo lead! Right away joined by a Golden-crowned Kinglet! They sang a delightful duet for a brief spell.
Then the symphony swapped as the Brown Creeper joined in to form new combo with the other two, all the while the Red-breasted Nuthatch continuing to have solo spotlights along the way!
The verse popped into my mind: “Consider the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.” – Matthew 6:26
Standing there in the fog in my garden pondering the mess of raspberry vines – and how none of us really know what we are doing in life – it occurred to me that it doesn’t matter! The only thing that matters is: whatever we do, we do it all for the glory of God! God will take care of the rest.
All we need to do is just join in nature’s symphony of praise! Worship God! Sing joyfully to Him! Praise him in all things!
And as we worship and praise him, he will guide us and help us figure it out as we go.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
“How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” – Psalm 147:1
God says: “I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.” – Psalm 50:11
“Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.” – Psalm 145:21
“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.” – Psalm 98:4
“My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.” – Psalm 108:1
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He leads me. … He guides me.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
– Psalm 23:1-4
“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” – Psalm 25:9
