Description
A seasonal sign of fruitful giving (Proper 22/Ordinary 27) Year C
Reflection accompanying image “A seasonal sign of fruitful giving”
Walking our dog in the early morning sunshine I noticed the numerous empty horse chestnut fruits littering the path, lying open and highlighted so strikingly by the wonderful clarity of the low angled light. All around bright brown seeds glistened in their soft pristine freshness. In time they will become hardened by exposure to the elements, but not yet. This openness, these signs of giving, are truly sacramental. Nature offers us a clue to the way things are meant to be and can yet be, if we have the courage of our faith convictions. The empty fruits of self-giving lives are what Jesus envisages as littering the pathways of daily life in the Kingdom of God. They demonstrate the nearness of God's love, gifted somewhere close and glistening, pristine and gentle, in the hearts of the needy and hurting around us. This is the way, the only way, that things are meant to be for disciples of Jesus. It is as natural as the opening of a horse chestnut fruit as it sets the seed free. Withholding is anathema in autumn.
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