Saturday, March 8th
David Christian
Archived Meditation
The oak trees around the Chapel produce hundreds of acorns every year. If all those acorns grew, the new trees would crowd each other out and we could have no place to walk. Not one in a hundred of these acorns will actually germinate, and most of the ones that do will be mowed down or eaten by deer or crowded by other plants. BUT that is not the concern of the oak tree. The oak trees job is to produce acorns.
That is the way I think God works. God loves everywhere, indiscriminately, and “He sends the rain on the just and the unjust.” God sows his love- this grace- on the evil and the good and I think He calls us to do the same.
Now, I am not talking about an emotional kind of love but a love in which we are willing to work for the well-being of someone and sometimes we are unaware of this work. Perform random acts of kindness! God wants us in my opinion to sow our love for the sheer joy of loving. Everyday I feast on the fruits of the love shown by others who came before me. Some of these seeds of love will fall on barren ground and some will produce fruit. Such is the way of life and such is the God we follow.
I am reminded of a story of William Willimon who made a trip back to his old college to make a speech. After the speech a young man came up and said, “Dr. Willimon, remember me?” Although he looked familiar, Willimon could not immediately place him. Then the young man said, “I am Rob.” And Willimon remembered the unruly, rambunctious little boy who had gone through a difficult time in a parish he had served many years before.
Now, that child was a poised, fine-looking college student. “I’m doing great here,” he said. “And I am here because of you, Dr. Willimon.”
“Me?” Willimon asked.
“Yes,” he said. “You had a tremendous influence on my life. And I heard you say that this had been your college, so I wanted to come here, too.”
“How did I influence your life?” Willimon asked. Perhaps the boy had been influenced by one of Dr. Willimon sermons or the day camp that he had conducted. What could have caused such a profound influence.
“You remembered my name,” the young man replied. “Yep, you always knew my name and I remembered what a good pastor you were.”
Perform random acts of kindness and love indiscriminately. Who knows where it many lead and it is also good for your soul.
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