Rose Garden, Anyone?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

Inward peace and outward war – the tension cannot hold.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

The countless blessings you send overwhelm my capacity to apprehend them.
The few struggles and losses I experience do not compare with your abundant goodness.
The birds of the air and lilies of the fields have nothing on me. Yes, you care for them, but how much more, it seems, for me.
Blessings all around, within, minute by minute, day after day, without end.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“No, Simon, just cutting bait is not really an option.”

[Nope, He didn’t say it.]

D. Blog: Rose Garden, Anyone?

Nobody promised us a rose garden. But I think that’s fine. Those gardens, imagined as places of ease and leisure, involve a lot of care, a lot of labor, and a lot of thorns.

Instead, we get the promise of LIFE, something much greater than the other. Think of it, perhaps, as a vast landscape with a multitude of growth experience. It might even include a section of roses, but spending time only there will limit our growth.

I imagine Eden looks nothing like a rose garden.