Pruning like a Carpenter

Wednesday in Easter Week:
AM Psalm 97, 99 • PM Psalm 115
Micah 7:7-15 • Acts 3:1-10 or 1 Cor. 15:(29)30-41 • John 15:1-11

Last summer the porch on the house where I am living was replaced. The contractors expertly shifted the weight on the awning onto temporary supports while the permanent pillars were replaced. They spent about a week laying new boards for flooring, the railing, and steps. I trust that they knew their way around a carpentry project and, now that it is warming, I have been able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. This is a gift for which I am incredibly grateful.

At the time, the landscaping in front of the house was a bit overgrown and so that they would be able to complete the work on the house the contractors cut the bushes back to their stumps. Now, I don’t know a lot about gardening, but I do know there is a season and a way in which plants ought to be pruned in order to encourage healthy growth. When I came home from work on the day the work men had cleared the way to their project, I wondered whether the hydrangea would spring back from this heavy handing lop.

In our Gospel this morning we read the familiar verses around: “I am the vine; you are the branches.” God is the expert vinedresser, not a carpenter doing a gardener’s work. God knows just how to care for the vine so that it might live to its fullest potential. Just as any flowering or fruiting plant requires pruning to thrive, God tends to us and our lives. May we be attentive to the care and nurturing that God provides to us so that we to might go forth and live our fullest vocations be that carpenter, contractor, gardener, or what.

Written by Samantha Clare

Samantha looks for Good News every day.