On Thursday in
Worthington, we received about four inches of wet snow. If there is anything that I grow tired of
very quickly, it's shoveling snow in March.
Later this week, I heard that the temperature is supposed to be in the
50's - everything should be melted by then.
So, what was I thinking as I went outside this afternoon and shoveled
all the snow on the sidewalks and the driveway by hand?
Actually, I
need to have some physical exercise. I
took my time, not really pushing it. The
sun was shining and as I began to remove the snow you could tell that the
pavement was going to dry off very quickly.
I was about halfway through when I heard geese honking somewhere
in the afternoon sky. I looked up and
saw two of them flying right toward me. As they
honked at me on their flyby, I could hear their wings flapping in the wind. I felt like I could almost reach up and touch
them. I wondered what they were
thinking. Can geese think? I mean, I’m sure they have some kind of brain
but do they think like humans? Funny
what shoveling humans think about when they are removing March snow.
I really wanted
to clear the sidewalk before the mail came.
I didn’t do a very good job of clearing a snow path between our house
and the next one. It’s always a nice
thing to do for the mail person delivering the mail – they don’t need to walk
through the heavy snow. I was glad I had
the walkway cleared when the mailperson showed up - winter garb with heavy
boots and all. I was glad I could take a
break for a moment as I leaned on the shovel and asked her “How are you doing?“
She replied “Not
too bad - but I don't like the snow”. I
nodded in full agreement, still leaning on my shovel – I paused a mini-second
and I remembered to thank her for all that she did. She had kept on moving - no time for small
talk with clueless guys who spend their afternoons shoveling their walk and
wondering if geese can think like humans.
I’m not sure
we ever get to do that enough - thank those persons who deliver mail and
packages for us – to thank them for doing their jobs. Some might think it is a small thing to thank
someone for just doing what they are paid to do. This situation we are in right now has
challenged me to think otherwise.
Perhaps it is a small thing – but right now a lot of small things put
together might be pretty important.
Small things
like a mustard seed-sized faith. Jesus
answers the disciples’ insistence that he increase their faith. He told them that if they had faith as small
as a mustard seed, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted
in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6). I have spoken to many persons who have what I
would call great faith, but I wonder if any of them would say their faith is as
small as a mustard seed (there I go, wondering again).
This saying is
one of the more challenging sayings from Jesus in all of Scripture. What does it mean to have mustard seed-sized
faith? Let’s try a simple explanation:
when we think about God and place our belief in Him, having a little is really having
a lot when it comes from God. The
Almighty is so powerful. Our faith in
God doesn’t need to be so huge in order for God to do something for us.
I wish I could
answer the next question on my heart: so, if I have mustard seed-sized faith,
will God remove this coronavirus from the face of the earth? I believe God has the power to do that, but I’m
in no position to wonder if that is part of God’s plan to do that. The best I can do (and that we can do) is continue
to have faith – even a little faith – that God understands and walks with us in
this pandemic time.
I wonder what
the geese would think about that…
No comments:
Post a Comment