A toe-tapping ditty was popular a few years back: "So let the sunshine in, face it with a grin. Smilers never lose and frowners never winopen up your heart and let the sunshine in."
This week two occasions gave me cause to contemplate these words. The first involved a person I hadn't seen for months; the other, my raspberry patch.
First to my acquaintance. As I neared this person in the produce department of one of our local grocery stores I made the mistake of asking, "Hi. How are you?" You'd think I'd have learned by now. Out poured a litany of negativity and even the news of her recent adventures was marked by a pronounced lack of enthusiasm. I would love to spend more time with this lady but honestly, the on-going blame for everything on everybody else, is off-putting to say the least. I wanted to sing a verse of that song to her.
The raspberry bush was far more productive, in more ways than one. I picked a heaping ice cream pail full of the delectable fruit but was sad to say probably another third of a bucket was tossed out because of mould and it was our own fault. The bushes grew thick and tall this year, nurtured by plenty of water and blistering heat. They were so lush, in fact, that air wasn't circulating and fruit was wasted. Just yesterday I pruned and thinned and based on my observations today, I'll probably get an even bigger harvest tomorrow. It was a matter of letting the sunshine in.
"Blessed-happy and fortunate (to be envied) are all those who earnestly wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him, for His victory, His favour, His love, His peace, His joy and His matchless unbroken companionship," Isaiah 3)18a, AMP
Heavenly Sunshine!
