Roses and Other Problems

I just spent three-quarters of an hour watering the roses and other flowers that surround our little cabin in the woods. I was assured that I needed to plant almost all of them in direct sunlight, along with the grass I am attempting to grow to cover the bare spaces, and ultimately “take over” the good for nothing grass that grows naturally.

I am amazed at how quickly everything turns brown, or curls up, or drops it’s leaves, or just looks like it will die at any moment from all that direct sunlight. I water almost every day. Since I don’t have a sprinkler system, and the plants are spread out over a good size area, I wander around with the hose, hot and sweaty, giving them all a taste of what a couple of months ago was drowning them.

I understand that is the nature of things. Rain is as fickle as an old dog who will lick you hand on Tuesday and bite it on Wednesday.

it reminds me of the “water of life.” To one degree or another, that is the stuff we “take in” when we spend time gathered with the family of God. When people come together, hear the Truth, get involved, experience the fellowship and (sometimes) llove, they often blossom. When they fail to show up, especially on a regular basis, they begin to look (spiritually) like the unwatered grass, flowers, and even trees that populate the Texas heat in July

Just as the flowers and grass around my house are experiencing the normal Texas Summer, our World grows hotter, harder, and more discouraging every day. As we watch those things we, as Believers, treasure slip from our grasp (think: morality, hope, confidence, safety, brotherly llove, peace, joy, comfort) we are all the more surely in need of the “water of life.”

The place the Church gathers is not the only place you can enjoy and imbibe the “water of life,” but it is a wonderful place to do so when one finds oneself purposefully lloved by the saints.

If you are feeling a little withered these days, find a Family of God. . .and get a little “water.”