Seasons

I’m sitting on the front porch, staring up at the big tree in the front yard. Green leaves are popping out everywhere, from all of the branches. They aren’t full size yet, and still have that distinctive fresh and new green color. The leaves are opened as wide as they can, trying to catch the sun. I wonder if that tree could talk, what would it say about spring. Such tremendous growth is present, but there is a lot of work there as well. Winter came and the tree was quiet, no leaves, no growth, just maintaining life, just surviving. Weaker branches fell to the ground during some of the more harsh winter storms, with icy coverings and the weight of thick snows. But now, it looks quite beautiful.


I wonder if that tree could talk, would it opt for the quiet of the winter season? Would it want to remain quiet, not putting forth efforts for new growth. Of course, that tree wouldn’t survive forever in a wintry state. Eventually, it would need the energy it can only get from the sun, through the leaves.


People talk about seasons and history, as if they were circular. And in many cases, they probably are. We see repetition, even commenting on it with quotes about repeating mistakes, going and coming around. But let me just venture this idea out, it’s not really circular – it’s linear. Linear, and mobile. On that line, we can choose to move forward, move back, or stand still. Well, sometimes we choose. Sometimes, it is chosen for us. There may be seasons, times, in our life where we are like the winter tree. We are quiet, we do not produce fruit, we do not grow, we just survive, just maintain life. But spring must come eventually or we will become misshapen and malnourished. It will be effort, purposefully striving to grow, but grow we must. Then, it is a delicate time, full of promise and yet susceptible to damage by the frost.


“I am the vine, you are the branches.” If God is the vine, He can choose that the entire plant will grow. But what about those branches, the ones that just don’t produce leaves or fruit? Remember the branches in the tree, they fell off during the ice storms. We prune away the dead in the spring, removing the damaged parts and allow for new growth to occur. In much the same way, God prunes us. He sees the damaged parts, the parts which do not recover from the blasts of frost, ice, and snow. Those are removed, the energy that we pour into the them can be then sent someplace else. The damaged parts, they must be examined. Some can be fixed. A little time, tender care, and the appropriate actions can cause the damaged section to promote new life, sending off new shoots, in a new direction. Other damages are much more severe and must be removed, lest the whole branch sicken.


We are in a spring, it is a new season, with new days ahead. We can choose to repeat our to seek new growth.

Spring Dreams & Pruning Shears

Today is the day after Christmas!  In a day that is often made up of crazy schedules, clean up, recovering from lack of sleep, and of course a visit from Santa, thoughts can start turning towards winter and how long it is.  Personally, I like snow; the quiet star like beauty of each flake that washes the world in white.   It blankets the plants, providing the earth a barrier of moisture to prepare for spring.

I look out the window right now and the ground has a light covering of snow, just a dusting really.  And it’s stark, fresh color leaves the outline of the plants sharp and precise.  Hunkered down in the living room, with a roaring fire in the oven, a cup of coffee in hand; this is the perfect time to examine the Burpee’s seed catalog that just came in.  On the cover, in a summer red yellow color, only to found in perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes, a slice of such a fruit is presented.  I can hold that catalog, flipping through the pages as I look at different fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs that can appear come spring. 

Turning the pages over, I spot the grape plants.  As I stop to look at these plants, with their little ringlet vines, jagged edge leaves, and ornament like fruit of green, blue, and purple cluster on those vines.  I dream of the taste of these fruits fresh off the vine, the very taste and smell of purple. 

You know, Jesus talks about being the vine, the carrier of the nutrients to the leaves and fruit, (John 15:1-17).  Grape vine is hardy stuff!  If you have had to clear some out of the yard before, you will quickly come to realize that it is not so easy to clear away.   But, a grape vine that is taken care of will not just be allowed to grow wild and tangled through trees and under brush.  Instead, branches that don’t grow fruit are cut off.  The branches that don’t bear fruit are drains on the energy of the plant, taking away from it vigor needed in the production of fruit.  They are removed, wither and are thrown away – even burned up.  In other words, those vines are trash.

The master pruner cuts off those branches that don’t produce fruit, and then prunes the branches that produce fruit.  Take a moment and read that again.  No fruit, no branch, fruit, prune the branch.  Someone who is knowledgeable of the needs of the plant, knows that more grapes will actually be produced through careful pruning.

Many have experienced both of these.  As we grow and journey, God removes the branches which are non-productive in our lives.  These branches are the ones who hold us back, a drain on our energy and strength.  They may be something in our history or a choice we need to change.  One of the branches that was cut from me was a relationship.  The cut at the time felt like a blow that went to my very heart, draining my vivacity to life.  However, over time I realized that this was actually a branch that needed to go.  However, one little piece remained, a shred of the dead that had hung on to the vine.  Instead of removing that piece by force, I was told that it was time to be pruned.  I had to tell this individual that they were forgiven. 

I really didn’t want to do that!  I just wanted this time to be over, allowing me to move on and grow on the fruit producing branches.  Yet, I found myself holding my phone in a dark car, sitting in a parking spot for just a few moments.  The few words that were spoken left me with anxiety, and then it hit me – I realized the truth!  This removal was for me, I had been set free of something left over and dead.  Only the master pruner could have removed just enough, not too much or too little.   

As you prepare for spring, sit down with the Burpee’s catalogue and spend a little time with the Master Pruner.  Is there anything that needs to be removed from your vine, is there any pruning that needs to happen on those branches that do bear fruit?