Two things are on my mind this morning; probably a lot more, but at least two that I'll mention here.I was pruning some vines and trees in the back yard and came across some life lessons, hanging in my apple tree. In the New Testament, it says God is the gardener and Jesus is the vine. It says God will prune those branches that do not bear fruit. My apple tree is bearing fruit for the first time ever.
The apples are on random branches and not necessariy big ones, but surprisingly there are large sturdy branches that are not bearing fruit. I don't know if I should prune them to direct more energy toward the fruit bearing branches or not.
Clearly in my spiritual life I want to be one of the branches that bear fruit and not one of the big showy ones that don't. (You get the idea where I'm going with this one.)The second thing on my mind is the oil spill in the Gulf. Some people are and will not be directly affected by the incident. Others will have their lives changed forever. I read on WKRG's webpage that beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water. For the Gulf coast, that means tourism at the peak of the season is virtually lost. The equivalent of closing Disney World from June 1st to August 31st. And no fishing either. This comes of course after several years of trying to get things back to normal since Katrina. Wow. There is no amount of money or payback or even class-action lawsuits that will fix this. However, having grown up around some extremely resourceful people, I know they will find a way to overcome yet another adversity. They always do. God bless 'em.
(I'm headed that way this week for a class reunion and am anxious to hear people's thoughts first hand. )