Shade Tree Wisdom 2/17/12

          The walking was quite pleasant this morning, but more rain is in the offing, and I am glad.  Lake levels are rising, and we thank God for His generosity.

          We often look, but don’t really see.  The Lord surrounded us with beauty in this world. Watching a sun rise over the waters of lake Michigan, first the soft glow, the first rays appear and the sky simply glows with beauty; trees don’t all look alike.  Here one stands tall, another has several crooked limbs that make it sort of appealing.  Or the various birds, one with many colors, another just a soft gray; one hammers for bugs into a tree, another pulls a worm from the ground.

          Look around for your own examples of God’s enduring beauty, given to refresh our souls ad make living easier.

          Yet, the news seem grim, a murder here, an accident taking a life there.  And that list goes on, and on, and on.

          Enough to make us shudder and fear.

          Most Lutheran homes have a copy of Luther’s Small Catechism.  Dr. Luther himself said he studied and read in it every day.  Maybe we should also.

          There I find a really encouraging word.  Luther writes under the seventh petition this: “We pray in this petition, as the sum of all, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and finally, when our last hour has come, graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven”.

          Let that summary bring strength and comfort to your walk today.

GPD 2/17/12