“Look for the helpers.”

– Mr. Rogers’ mother

Our day was busy from beginning to end yesterday. We had an appointment in town early, then we drove out to the farm. I thought my sandals were out there under the bed but no such luck. I think they’re still packed away with my camping stuff. I’ll have to look in the building. We stopped at a roadside stand and picked up a few more tomato plants that we’ll put in today. We went to the open air produce market in town and picked up a few things…fresh strawberries just picked from over in Ohio, a wonderful cantaloupe, some fresh corn on the cob. Then PT and home. 

After supper, I made some homemade shortcakes and served them with the strawberries over top. No whipped cream…we are trying to cut down on the fats. They were still warm from the oven when I served them with the slightly sweetened and sliced berries and it was divine! 

We sat down to watch the news. I told myself to look for the light…find the helpers. And there they were. People cleaning up. People loving on each other and supporting each other during the memorial for George Floyd. Police and protesters walking together, taking a knee together, crying together. Change is coming…but so is healing. It’s going to take some time but there are young people out there who are picking up the baton now. People who are willing and able to stand up for justice and to orchestrate true change. I hope to see it in my lifetime.

While we were at the farm, I did what I always do. I walked around and took pictures of the flowers that are in bloom. One of the most beautiful was a large Mock Orange on the hillside along the driveway. Some of Grandma’s most treasured flowers can be found within view of her kitchen window. I often wondered why all the cutting and slips and transplants went in one general area. Now I understand. She spent a lot of time in that kitchen. Her farm was the Taj Mahal to her. Planting flowers on the hillside outside her kitchen window was her equivalent to painting a still life. They gave her great joy and peace…just like they give me.

The Mock Orange is huge and absolutely covered with white blossoms. The air is redolent with their heady sweetness. The bees love it. There is a man a half mile down the road that has at least thirty hives. I am thrilled to see honey bees, especially when we hear so much about them dying off. The front yard at the farm is thick with white clover. When I mow, I watch for the bees and wait till they fly away rather than run over them. Each one is a precious gift!

Finding light in these dark times is often like those 3-D optical illusion puzzles that you have to stare at till your eyes focus differently and an image pops out at you. You can be blinded by the shock of it all…and well you should be when it’s happening. But there comes a point in the fracas that you can shift your focus a little and that’s when you see the light. 

I’ve read so many stories and posts and comments the last week…some on my own personal Facebook page. Some have commented…there’s more than just the one issue going on. It’s more than just the one person who was killed. What about this or that? It reminded me of the parable Jesus told in Luke 15. There were a hundred sheep being tended in a flock when one went missing. The shepherd left the ninety-nine alone to go find the one. Someone looking on might think he was crazy or reckless. “Here, here…what about these ninety-nine? Don’t they count???”

Of course they do, but they weren’t the ones in trouble.

It was the one.

That’s why we are helping the one in trouble right now.

It’s what Jesus does.

❤️

“Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Luke 15:3-4, 6-7 NIV