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It was the first
summer in our new home, the second week in July; and I had noticed
that the black raspberry bushes were teeming with fruit. So early
one morning while my family slept, I put on my old gardening
sneakers, doused myself with insect repellent, and set off with an
old plastic container to start harvesting.
I'd never
picked raspberries before, and the bushes had not been tended to at
all. I never weeded or pruned them. They had been
abandoned, left to grow and produce fruit naturally. And what
an abundance of fruit! My first thought was, "Oh, look how
generous God is for he feeds us with much more than we could
possibly eat!"
The morning
was cool, the grass dewy, yet the sun promised a hot day within a
few hours. The scent of honeysuckle from nearby vines wafted
toward me in a gentle breeze. The birds were all singing
joyously, a symphony of cheeps, chirps, coos, and whistles of
cardinals, mourning doves, blue jays, and all the others I had yet
to identify. Nature, in all it's glory was awake, and I, the
lone human, felt blessed to be there among them.
I began to
pick the raspberries and soon became overwhelmed by the large amount
of fruit, great clusters upon clusters of berries, some deep within
the bushes, some within easy reach. All were of varied colors
from pink to maroon to the darkest black. And as I picked, I
heard a voice deep
within me say, "the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are
few".
"Yes", I agreed to that voice; and suddenly the
raspberries were no longer fruit to be picked, but rather souls to
be saved. And from that moment on I became a laborer for God,
harvesting souls, listening to the voice as it taught me the way of
harvesting.
The work was
painful at times because of the many thorns which scratched my bare
arms and clung to my T-shirt, tugging and pulling at me. "Yes,
God's work is not easy. With the joy of success comes the
difficulty of the work itself."
"Yes,
Lord", I found myself responding.
At times,
swarms of tiny insects fluttered in front of my face despite the
armor of insect repellent. To this, the voice said to me,
"Ah yes, remember that though you put on the armor of God, the
evil one and his followers will try to distract you, hoping to
discourage you enough to give up."
"Yes,
Lord", I responded, and ignored the tiny insects.
I became
oblivious to my surroundings as I picked every berry that was at
least a deep maroon in color. And the voice within me spoke
again:
"Look
into your bowl, it is almost full. Yet there are many that are
not ripe yet. In your zeal, you have picked unripened fruit
and they will be bitter. Be patient, come back tomorrow and
they will be fully ripened. They will come off the vine very
easily."
"Yes,
Lord." I obeyed, picking only the deepest black berries,
and they dropped right into my hand.
These lessons
continued throughout the week, the voice instructing me continuously
as I harvested.
"You've got the ones in easy reach, don't forget those that are
deep within the bushes. Get down and look hard and you will
find them. Don't mind the thorns, they will be there always,
trying to keep you from reaching the ripened fruit.
"Now be careful, in your zeal to reach those
very hard to reach, you have let some of the ripened fruit slip
through your fingers. Put them in the bowl right away where
they will be safe.
"See that cluster that is on the ground? It is still attached to the vine. Do not ignore it. See? It's ripe and juicy and still good. It was not too low to be
saved.
"Oh look! Some ripened fruit have
fallen off the vine onto the ground! But they can still be saved. They just need to be cleansed with water and they will be good.
"Now look deep into the bushes and notice
that no matter how much you try, the fruit cannot be reached. There are too many obstacles to get to them. Leave them there
and they will either die on the vine or be eaten by the birds. You've done the best you could do. Let them be."
And with each instruction, all I could say was,
"Yes, Lord."
When the week was over, and all the raspberries
had been picked, I found that I had collected over ten gallons of
fruit.
"Yes", the voice within me said. "The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. But
look at what just one laborer can do!"
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C. Therese Benoit runs the very succesful
Site
CTherese's Catholic Garden
www.catholicgarden.com |
