On the 27th Hilary and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary with a bike ride. We paused for a selfie when we noticed this house number. If you are one of our contemporaries this is where you go to find your glasses to read it : – )
I had also pulled to a halt earlier when my cap blew off. There in front of me on the trail was my friend Joe who walks the same trails daily and is always game for a chat. As Hilary arrived with my retrieved cap, I introduced them and mentioned to Joe, “This is our 42nd anniversary.” He replied, “We’re 44, or is it 45 years married?” He then quipped, “Less time for murder!”
The day after, I was murdering our tomato plant…..well not really. A friend had shared the secret of how to greatly increase the fruit by pinching off the ‘suckers’
Jesus promises us that this is how he will prune our lives as his disciples because he is only satisfied with good fruit that ‘will remain’ (Jn.15.1-17) 1 Corinthians 13 describes this fruit that ‘will remain’ (v.13) as ‘faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love”
We live in a high tech world at a time when ‘suckers’ abound….those distractions that are continually assailing us so that we loose our focus and our peace. A medical diagnosis of “anxiety” is now 5 times as common as a diagnosis of cancer. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staying on you because he trusts in you.” (Is.26:3) Consistently focusing on the ‘one thing’ that really matters – keeping in step with the Spirit and living a life of love, is the pathway to peace
I came in from my gardening meditation and noticed a job in the kitchen that needed done…. so set about loving my wife. When she realized what I was up to she said, “Here, there’s a better way to do that………”
She was right….. My reaction was wrong.
You see love is manifested not only in action but in reaction – that is why it is first of all ‘patient‘ (in reaction) and ‘kind’ (in action). Thankfully love is the fruit of His Spirit, not of our effort!
As we turned from the gateway of 4242 we noticed this sign on the lawn in front:
I’m more and more thankful for these years of learning to love my closest neighbor
It’s not “Less Time For Murder” but “More Time To Die” as Hilary and I each learn to live more fully in God’s unconditional covenant love as by faith we embrace one another’s differences and weaknesses, as gifts in that one who has been gifted to us, and who we are growing to love more and more each day, even as we are together being conformed to Christ.
“….he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.(Heb.12:2 Msg.)
P.S. The children of Israel crossed over into their ‘promised land’ inheritance to make their 42nd encampment.