Sooty

It was a busy day, I had been pottering about in the house

and garden, having a tidy-up. The washing was on the line,

obsolete documents had been burned, dishes had been washed, and cakes were in the oven. All was under control, so I sauntered indoors to the lounge.

But hang on a minute, who was this?

In my lounge, reclining audaciously on my dining chair was a grey cat!  I looked at him; he looked me, and this smoky grey cat looked un-phased. What was he doing here? And where was my sleek, black cat Georgie?

It didn’t take long for my three brain cells to kick in, and realise that surprise, surprise, this grey cat was, in fact, my black cat Georgie pulling a fast one! He had taken it upon himself to sun himself, not on the verdant green lawn of his sixty-foot garden but rolled in the only square foot that was covered in sooty, dusty, grey, ash from my bonfire! Of all the places!

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.Ps 23:2

As the Psalmist says, God draws us to enjoy his relaxing green pastures. Places that are restorative and nourishing, found especially in fellowship, in his presence, or the Church, yet like Adam and Eve, we can find ourselves lured, inexplicably, and erroneously towards dead things or forbidden fruit instead. Self-pity, intolerance, anger, negativity, harmful habits or destructive friendships. Today may God help us to choose life and joy over dead things that add no value to our lives, and are at worst, corrosive.

With Love,  Rev Gill x

You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Isa 58:11