August 16

On this morning's walk, I finally remembered a "scriptural" support for the post yesterday. In "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," one verse says, "His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower."

And I observed this morning that the blackberries don't all ripen at the same time. Even when there is a whole cluster of ripened fruit, there are still one or two that haven't matured yet.

So I suppose the message is give everyone their space. There's nothing we can do to hasten the ripening process. All we can do is follow the example of the master of the vineyard in Jacob 5:

4 And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive tree began to decay; and he said: I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not.

Let us be about caring for our olive trees with all diligence and patience and love.