The Dove and the Dung

I waited patiently as I stood in the queue at the petrol station and glanced at my car on the forecourt, reminding myself of the petrol pump number.

As I looked, something pretty caught my attention. Attached to the grille of my car was the distinct shape of a colourful patterned dove, wings outstretched.         ‘What a beautiful dove I thought - a rich symbol of God’s peace’ ‘How did that get there?’

Closer inspection revealed that nature had created the dove from a multi coloured sycamore leaf. My car had been embellished by the wind, and an attractive dove had fixed itself to my car. I was mesmerised!

As I returned to the car, loving the mottled dove leaf, I noticed something else that wasn’t quite as pretty. There, sharing space with the dove on my grille was a very large, fat splat of, yes, cow muck! I soon recalled passing a messy muck spreader the day before on a country lane.

The dove and the dung splat adorned my car, side by side.

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Ecc 7:14

In life we face the fact that peace and trouble, the pretty and the unsightly, the good and the bad, and the rough and the smooth go hand in hand. We cannot escape it, we cannot avoid it, but we can choose how we walk through it.                 Today let us be thankful for the beauty, embrace joy in the good, and carry dignity and patience in the muck. After all, God has permitted both and walks with us through every season.                                                                                                     With Love,                                                                                                                                 Rev Gill x

In all things God works for the good of those who love him. Ro 8:28