The Lilies of the Field

This week's virtual service is at https://youtu.be/crDGrggQt-Y

Matthew 13:31-32

 Last week on our youtube service, the minister quoted John 10:10, "that they might have life and have it abundantly." In this very strange spring, life in abundance seems sadly absent. 

COVID-19 has messed up 

• our Sunday morning worship,
• Friendship Coffee, 
• Sunshine Lunch, 
• Out to Lunch Bunch, 
• Bible Study, 
• Rentals, 
• Choir Practice
• Presbytery visit in May

to mention only a few of the "lacks" in our life as a congregation.

tiny daisies on the roadside

But, it is still spring. The earth is full of abundance if we look. In a normal year, I'd haunt the Butchart Gardens in spring, drinking in the sight and scent of the many bulbs and flowering trees. Until this week, that pleasure was closed as well. So, I decided to take the narrow focus of "consider the lilies of the field," and searched for evidence of the Creator's abundance in the uncultivated corners of my world. 

And there it was -- life abundant, overflowing, extravagant, wanton. God is not stingy, and while our society is in lockdown, this earth, God's great gift to humanity, is wide open. 

In his book on hymns, Dr. Kirk, late of this congregation, had this to say about "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

dogwood in bloom

Often when we think of God the Creator, we consider the vast galaxies of time and space . . . This hymn brings us back to reality. It employs concrete, not abstract ideas. The point of the hymn is quite clear: God is the maker of everything we see around us - and the things we cannot see as well.

poppy planted by birds in my garden

The flowers in the meadows, the trees in the greenwoods, the meadows where the cattle graze --"the Lord God made them all."

pansy is  not wild, but growing through cement?

And He made the fruit that grows on those trees; and the majestic mountains that beauty and a sense of awe and everlastingness to our world, He made those too. . . we see the unfolding

ornamental grasses

splendour of the springtime and. . . and marvel at the perfection of His handiwork.

So, if we "have eyes to see," there is abundance in our lives, despite the vicious virus.

there will be fruit for birds on this tree

naturalized bluebells

My parents used to visit from Ontario and they couldn't stop exclaiming about the lovely green, green, green of our landscape.

flowers in the meadows

P.S. I made a mistake when I posted this video a couple of weeks ago and it wouldn't play. I'm trying again, just to give you a chuckle. Hope it works this time.