This morning as I was finishing getting ready to come to the office, I watched an interesting scene unfold that I want to share with you.
As you know, several trees needed to come down around the manse over the weekend. The 2 blue spruce trees that sit adjacent to the manse have been dead for years. When bad storms roll into the area, the trees rock and sway to such a degree that Jennifer and I worried that they would come down either on the manse, the pool, or on our cars. Thankfully the trees are down and, as I write to you, they are being cleaned up and hauled off by a number of people.
The clean-up work started on Sunday evening and has continued each day for a few hours. But the remaining tree, the one the team was working on this morning, needed the most attention.
So this morning, as I made poured coffee into my cup, and wiped down the kitchen counters, I saw Rich, Jay, and JonMark working away on the tree. Jay was cutting branches off and placing them off to the side neatly where they could be gathered up and hauled into the woods. He knew what to do, and how to proceed with cutting up the tree. His steady presence was making quick work of his side of the tree—which I am thankful for.
JonMark, however, is still learning how to cut up a tree safely. He does good work. As I said before, he works hard and does not complain. But the tree that the guys are working on split at the top as it grew. This provides an added degree of difficulty when cutting up a downed tree because, as the tree is cut, you don’t know which direction it might roll based on where the weight is on the slip-top branches.
As I watched, JonMark was knee-deep in cutting branches off his side of the tree. Jay had his side easily in hand. But the scene that I witnessed was Rich teaching JonMark how to proceed with cutting the tree safely up so that it would neither fall onto their legs, or roll onto them directly. I never heard a word of what Rich and Jay said to JonMark, but based on their body language, how they pointed, and where they stood, I could see that JonMark was learning from them both and their relationship was growing. As JonMark’s saw blade stuck in the tree, Rich leaned forward to help and Jay stopped cutting and, I am sure, gave him encouragement. I did not need to hear them, I knew what was happening. . . and more than that, I knew how I felt watching them teach my son.
As we continue to think about gratitude this week, I read another quotation from Samuel Wells that applies to us. He wrote:
“Relationships unearth untold gifts and assets and blessings and innovations. And gratitude names the process by which the deficits. . . turn, through our becoming open to one another’s gentle companionship and unexpected grace.”
This ‘unearthing’ is what I was watching as Rich and Jay worked with, taught, and encouraged JonMark in their combined work this morning. I wonder today, what relationships has God placed in your path that might just help you witness untold gifts and express gratitude for that person’s presence?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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