One of the most important aspects of preparing for the blackberry season is scouting for the berries. This process begins in late June and continues until it's time to pick the berries. I like to walk familiar paths and trails looking for green berries. I also look for changes from last year, from downed trees to brush cuts made by the landowners.
In my meditations on this aspect of preparation I've noted two things that relate to my walk with God. The first is the importance of keeping an open mind and the second is the knowledge of that open mind is limited.
Walking the familiar paths and trails can be a benefit but it can also be a problem if that is all I do. I can miss a lot of berries if my eyes are always on the familiar.
There is a danger of falling into a routine. The danger is not the routine itself but allowing the routine to become all there is. When that happens you can minimize the possibility of surprise and wonder.
Just recently I was on a scouting walk with my beagle Reggie. As she looked for rabbits I looked for blackberries. I decided to follow her into the brush when I noticed something--raspberries. Ripe raspberries. I usually see those when I'm about ready to pick blackberries, but here they were in June, far earlier than I'd ever seen them. After finding this bush, I looked around and noticed many more red berries hanging around the trails I walked. Had I not followed Reggie off the beaten path I would have probably walked right by the raspberries not noticing they were ripe and ready to be picked. This event reminded me of how important it is to keep an open mind when walking and be willing to go off the beaten path. It was also a clear indication that despite my experience my knowledge is limited.
It is hard to admit that I don't know it all. I can relate to that old saying, "I'm not always right but I'm never wrong."
On one scouting walk I noticed how the landowner had taken a tractor and brush hog and cut a wider path in areas where I have found some great blackberry bushes. Some of those bushes were now gone or cut back. In addition, new cuts were made right through some nice patches of blackberry bushes exposing them to the harsh sun and turning some of them brown.
I was upset about the whole thing. I imagined a conversation I could have had with the landowner before the cut where I could have shown him or her the blackberry bushes and discussed the great harvests I've had from them in the past. I would offer to pick give them some if they'd just let things stay the way there were.
When it came time to pick the berries, I suddenly realized how what I what I thought was a waste turned into a bonus. The cutting had made the bushes healthier in some cases and gave other bushes access to sunlight, something they really didn't have before. The new paths opened ways into areas I didn't know contained some nice blackberry patches, patches I had missed because they had been hidden in the deep brush. The landowner did me a favor, but at the time I didn't see it that way.
Isaiah chapter 55 is titled in my Bible The Invitation to Salvation.
In it, God through his prophet invites his people to come, to simply come and be restored. He challenges their preconceived ideas about salvation and encourages them to have an open mind. He also clearly reminds them they don't know everything.
What does that mean for us today? It means that if we keep an open mind we can avoid putting God in a box. That really helps when what we're facing is overwhelming and we can't see a way out. Letting God be God opens the door for surprises and wonder. Isn't that what miracles Jesus performed are all about?
If we also accept the fact that our knowledge is limited, then we can live the words of Paul from Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Next week: Get going!
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