Though Our Lives May Be

It was a dull November day and I was removing brush from my back yard. The only way out is a narrow gate between my house and garage. Misjudging the situation, I tried to stuff a large mass of branches, leaves and tools through the small opening, only to get them stuck. The song in my heart that day definitely needed some uplifting. The solution of course, was to reduce my load to a manageable size rather than trying to do everything at once. Christ's reference to the "narrow" gate came to mind here, which would be expected to be the harder way. But perhaps we can make things less difficult for ourselves by lessening our load - those inconsequential things that we fret and worry about. And when our load is smaller, it is easier to share the load of others and concentrate on what needs valuing most - our relationships with others. Yet when life gets difficult we often blame others for our problems, resulting in damage to those very relationships. Often that blame is misplaced, ignores our own role, and doesn't actually fix anything. November days may be cold and dark, but we can still look forward to spring when we can plant our seeds in the hope of new growth. In the same way, we allow our relationships with others to bloom when we make room for more caring in our lives.