Thoughts for the Day

Woe is me! For I have become like one who,
after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the vintage has been gleaned,
finds no cluster to eat;
there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.
The faithful have disappeared from the land,
and there is no one left who is upright;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and they hunt each other with nets.
Their hands are skilled to do evil;
the official and the judge ask for a bribe,
The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.....

Put no trust in a friend,
have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth....
our enemies are members of your own household.

But as for me, I will look to the Lord,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.

(Lectionary, New Standard Revised Version)

Thoughts

Two years ago I spent the first lockdown with family, attacking a very overgrown garden metres high in bramble bushes and nettles, alongside a field of cows. The weather was warm and I would get up early and go out to dig down and get out the horizontal roots of the blackberry bushes. By the time I returned to Pembrokeshire the garden had returned to something like a garden with vegetables and fruits growing in raised beds and containers. Now, back with the family again in a new house there is a large overgrown garden to tackle, this time with many established plants, no grass, tenacious "cleaver" plants, and numerous large blackberry bushes. My arms are once again showing the scars!

In our passage from Micah today, the prophet bemoans the fact that there are no faithful people left in the land. He is like a hungry man looking for food, but there is none left after the harvest has been picked and the poor have gleaned the fields. All around him are those who seek to do evil, and even the best are like brambles with vicious thorns! No-one can be trusted, even close family members. All he can do is wait humbly on the Lord God - to hear his prayers for the people and for himself!

Lord God,
we pray for Your world,
for all its peoples,
and especially those who
try to live according to Your word.
The roots of evil go deep
like briars in an overgrown garden,
help us not to get caught in their branches,
but to work with You the ultimate gardener
to create beauty and wholesome fruit
among Your people.
Amen.