Late Vegetables

I know that there are seasons for everything. Daily life turns and changes by the seasons, and we human, change and alter as our bodies age and change. Some people, like clockwork move through their professional days, the season of child rearing and into retirement without a hitch. And others bloom late, grow surprising abilities late in life, and find new expressive ways to live youthfully in their later years. The timing of our lives is as unique as the diverse beings God has created us to be, and I want to celebrate the beauty and complexity of all of our seasons, as the summer ends and fall begins.

"As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me." (John 9:4)Jesus has met a man born blind. Every one want to blame the man or his family for his blindness. But Jesus claims the blindness as the opportunity for God to work - for God's love to be made real in his life. In this healing come the acknowledgment of the challenges of life, and how none of our challenges are far from God. In fact, the opposite seems to be true, our unique challenges, our broken places, our hurdles and losses are for God, an opportunity to love us more. An opportunity to help us bloom where we thought we were dead, when we believed our season was over and the end was at hand.

Today, despite the discouragements of our own limitations, may we all have the courage to trust God with the seasons of our lives. May we offer the vines and flowers we have, not seeing their inadequacy but celebrating their possibilities in God's love. God wants the opportunity to show love for us. God wants to help us grow and develop beyond our stuck places. May we remember to ask God into our wilting gardens, our dying places, our final seasons, knowing that we just might be surprised by what is growing within us.