Look for Berries Instead of Melons - Appreciating Life's Small Harvests - Part Two

Look for Berries Instead of Melons – 

Appreciating Life’s Small Harvests

Part Two

According to Rhonda Britten in her compelling book, Fearless Living: Live Without Excuses and Love Without Regret, writing daily gratitude lists ensure you will always see life’s proverbial glass as half full rather than half empty.  Gratitude motivates you to look for small harvests as you await larger bounty.  Revisiting specific and miraculous instances of God’s unquestionable faithfulness in your life, encourages you in times of despair and questioning.  Repeatedly saying an affirmation aloud each day is a method of strengthening your faith in Almighty God.  Florence Scovel Shinn, in her brief but powerful books suggests the unconscious appreciates repetition.  Spiritual disciplines enable disciples to appreciate small and increasing harvests.

Parenthetically, John Swinton argues for collective responses to evil as an effective means of resolving the enduring problem of evil.  The church, as a corporate entity, supports anyone experiencing suffering and pain resulting from inexplicable evil.  Through a combination of direct service and social justice advocacy, congregations demonstrate compassion for fellow brothers and sisters whose loved ones are victims of murder, kidnapping, drunk driving, domestic violence, natural disasters and other tragedies.  From providing food, clothing, shelter, medicine and other direct needs to attending doctors’ visits and court proceedings, congregants encourage and empower their brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Also, fellow disciples join reasonable and respectable public advocacy campaigns to change laws and raise awareness and create more just and equitable social conditions.  In his convincing text, Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil, Swinton posits an intellectually respectable and principally pragmatic approach to resolving pain and suffering within the congregational context.  Essentially, God utilizes His faithful followers to combat evil.

Appreciating small harvests does not necessarily mean a lifetime of meager returns.  Rather, a farmer necessarily learns to be grateful for small yields which become progressively larger as he deepens his knowledge of agriculture.  In my formative years, we enjoyed fresh and organic fruit and vegetables from a large backyard garden in South Carolina.  Impatiently, I took great delight in planting and harvesting cucumbers; I did not have to wait long to see results from my deprivation of play time.  Seeds planted in March yielded big, ripe and delicious cucumbers in May.  Beans, corn, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts and okra, all, took too long.  Vividly, I recall internal grumbling as I braved the cold and chill of planting time in late winter not to mention the pungent odor of fertilizer and manure.  Was it worth it?  Will I see a return for my labor and sacrifice? 

These farming reflections are applicable to ministry.  Will I see a harvest for my commitment to the gospel ministry?  What do I have to reflect a quarter of a century in ordained and pastoral ministry?  As I sought immediate return of cucumber harvests, my impatience prevented an appreciation of the other produce.  In ministry, small harvests cultivate patience.  Spiritually and agriculturally, a bountiful harvest simply takes time!  As I needed patience and acceptance of God’s natural order in my formative years, I equally extend genuine gratitude to Him as I await new joys, mysteries and experiences in forthcoming harvests. 

Finally, cumulative small harvests equate with a bountiful harvest just as pecks and bushels of berries create numerous delicious pies and even wine.  Should you periodically experience distracting, detracting and oppressive feeling that you are receiving an inadequate harvest, I encourage you to heed this sage.  Look for berries instead of melons; learn to appreciate small harvests.