Author: Carolyn Gard
“Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12:6.
My yard is full of dandelions, which the bees love but which irritates some of my neighbors. There is a strip of dirt between the driveway and the access road to the neighboring cul-de-sac. For several years I tried planting annuals and perennials there, but nothing seemed to work for very long. I finally gave up and let it go native, with milkweeds and sunflowers and sages and other plants. The bees and the butterflies love it; sometimes you can’t get near for all the buzzing. They are getting their fill of nectar, and pollinating the world. So I’ll leave my yard messy. (I’ve read that you can tell what political party a person belongs to by whether their lawn is messy or manicured. I’ll let you decide which is which.)
On to a messy house. Decluttering is the latest rage, and a Japanese woman has written a very popular book about the subject. She says you should pick up an item and if it doesn’t “spark joy,” get rid of it. Well, the vacuum cleaner doesn’t give me joy, but I’m not about to get rid of it. She also thinks you should only have 30 books–I don’t know anyone who has only 30 books.
What does give me joy? Church. No matter how stressful my week has been, I know that on Sunday morning I can have two hours of being with mutual friends and supporters, getting full of ‘nectar’, and inspiration to go out and ‘pollinate’ the world with the news of God’s love.
Okay, so that was a stretch, going from a dandelion-filled yard to the joy of church, but it worked for me. I hope it works for you.
Lord, give us the courage to be pollinators of your word.
