Black Raspberries

This week is black raspberry picking season.  For the next few fleeting days, my daughter and I go out daily to harvest those juicy black jewels to bake, freeze, and eat out of hand.  We go out, armored in jeans, long sleeves, sneakers or boots, and hats.  Our hands still end up looking like they’ve been attacked by a vicious pack of kittens, and there are times when I can be seen running through the woods away from a particularly-nasty mosquito, but all-in-all, we consider the berries worth it.  There are a few life lessons we can take away from the process of berry picking. First, always wear your armor.  If you have it, put it on and use it!  I made the mistake of wearing a less-protective pair of shoes one time, and regretted it.  The Bible says that we should put on the whole armor of God to help us deal with everything the world throws at us. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Be thankful for whatever protection you have, and use it! I know I am very thankful for my hat, which has saved me from many-a mosquito bite.  Next, things that seem out of reach might not be. As we stretch and balance like ballet dancers, many times on one leg, we are able to get to beautiful berries we never thought we could reach.  The effort stretches us out of our comfort zone, but we have a much bigger harvest from it.  Come at problems from a different perspective, and don’t give up looking too soon.  I have learned that you can trust your eyes, your outlook, but just to a certain point. Don’t get too confident in your own sight.  Beautiful clusters hide under leaves or just around the bend, waiting to be found if only you look at the place from a different angle.  Go around your bush again, and you will be surprised by what you missed, and glad you tried one more time. Stir up those leaves and go treasure-hunting!  Pain is part of the process.  Berry bushes have many thorns, and they are the unforgiving sort.  We have to learn to be gentle even while in the grip of a thorny embrace, or we will crush the fruit.  No black raspberries are free:  you pay the price of pain, and there’s no getting around it.  Life is full of pain and full of joy.  The question being, “Is it worth it?”  If so, be careful not to squash the joy because of your pain.  When you learn unrelenting gentleness, you learn inner strength.  Berries are a gift from God, and the labor involved can be part of that gift.  Enjoy your gift of life: may your harvest be great and your thorns few. 

Ephesians 6:11-13 New King James Version (NKJV) “¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”