A Gentle Tug

No this is not the name of a chidren's book about a good natured tug boat it is a simply philosophy taught to me growing up on my grandma's farm in Kidder, Missouri. One day my cousin and I picked a bunch of peaches off one of the trees in an orchard on the farm. They looked good. But when we took them in to my grandma she gave each a squeeze and announced we had picked them too early. We told her they looked right and she explained that the tree knew when the fruit was ripe. Now grandma was a wonderful woman but even at 10 years old I doubted she talked to the trees so I asked her "how does the tree let you know when the peaches are ripe?" Her answer was simple "when you pick the fruit too early the tree tries to hold on to them it resist having the fruit removed from it's branches, but when it's ripe a simple gentle tug is all it takes - and the tree releases the fruit right into your hand. However if you miss this opportunity the tree will release it's fruit and it will drop to the ground where the insects eat at it and the sheep and cows step on it.  We need to be aware and it may take several gentle tugs before the fruit and the tree are truly ready". (This is a paraphrase since I can't remember where I put my car keys 5 minutes ago, much less the exact words spoken by Mabel O'Connor to two of her grandsons over 4 decades ago.)

This philosophy was lost on a 10 year old but 40 plus years later it is making great sense. In the past few years I have spent some time looking back over my 30+ years of ministry. What I have found is that when I tried to "force" spiritual  moments to take place (at youth evnts, retreats, confirmation classes) they seldom happened. But when I simply was present in the lives of people, in the midst of their joys, their mundane daily activities and their pain, I often found that a simple word, hug, or gesture brought the greatest rewards. Being there when the fruit was ripe and then being willing to  offer a simple gentle tug changed lives. As I begin a new season of ministry I am left with Jesus words  found in Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)  
    Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." I don't know what the Lord has in store for me. But what I do know is that I want to be a worker in his harvest field. Investing my life in things that will never pass away. Moving naturally through life and using every opportunity to give a "gentle tug" in Jesus name.