This place offers not just the beauties of the Southern California climate, but has brought in and nurtured many other trees, plants and flowers to set on display, inviting visitors to gaze in wonder at the natural beauty that fills the earth.
But on Friday, my visit was different than any others. Due to the current wind storm in Pasadena, there were still very evident signs of the damage wreaked by the 40-60+ mile per hour winds. This is normally the place I go to get away from the chaotic mess and noise from the rest of SoCal because it typically looks like this:
But Friday, it looked more like this:
It got me thinking about how much I try to keep up my own "gardens", if you will, by highlighting the beauty, pruning where needed, emphasizing the appearance of it all. And I realized how unexpectedly a wind storm can happen upon us and cause so much destruction... so much evident destruction that no one could possibly get it all cleaned up in a short amount of time. I began looking at the trees that had fallen, where branches had been broken and things literally were uprooted and I thought to myself: this is no easy or fast clean-up process. This sort of recovery takes a long time. It takes time to clear the brush and debris that have accumulated. It takes time for broken limbs and bent trees to grow and lose their damaged looks. It takes time to heal. Nature's lesson captured my attention because I see brokenness around me. I see trees uprooted and fallen. I see broken branches and piles of debris in my life and in the lives of those around me. And I want to quickly dispose of it and get things back to normal -- where they will look pretty again. But, I was struck by the reality of the process of true healing and reconstruction. It tames time. And there is beauty in the process of healing and new growth and even the clean-up of it all... even if it's not noticeable just yet.
Randy and I often sit back and ponder why it is that we do what we do -- our work at studying, teaching about and bringing awareness to issues of injustice and areas where the Bible's compassionate responses are called for; and my training in learning to sit with another in their journey of faith, offering a listening ear to them and the Holy Spirit with them as they discern how God is leading them, where God is working, where healing might be needed, among other things. We see both of our disciplines being vitally engaged with one another because, as I deal with people more on the personal level of exploring their experience of God and gently offering a hand in leading them deeper in relationship with our gentle Lord, Randy brings in the much-needed corporate expression of promoting justice and peace to the community and the world. The work I do one to one is often what brings people to a deeper awareness of how they can contribute their life and skills to the hurting world around us. To grow in confidence that one is truly loved and valued by their Maker gives that much more freedom to offer sacrificially to the needs of others. May the God of healing and reconstruction encourage us in our brokenness today and the days to come.
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