Joy that precedes
We’ve been invited! Someone came to my door recently and commented on our front garden. “Amazing job!” she said, looking at the abundance of colors. I deflected the praise because, well, I had nothing to do with it. This garden was a gift. It came with the house. This might be one of my favorite things about relocating. We moved in last June, so we missed the spring flowers. I’ve been waiting eagerly for the garden to reawaken so that I could see what unrevealed beauty came packaged with our purchase. Our floral fringe-benefit. I suppose, in a way, it is the flip side of the wisdom of the Old Testament which notes the irony of stranger inheriting the fruit of a person’s labor. I am that stranger! I did nothing for this riot of color. It was waiting for me to arrive and enjoy it. Recently, I was meditating on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. And for the first time, I noted a significant phrase: His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and fa...
