Happy New Year!
I know, I am a week late, but this is the first moment I have had to sit down and write the post that has been on my heart for a few days.
I don’t know about you, but for me, the start of a new year holds so much promise for something new. Especially when I am coming off of a year that seemed to be a struggle. If you have read my blog long, you know that something I work on regularly is gratitude, which has truly changed the way I look at life. Most of the time.
But there are always those times when I am sick, tired, overwhelmed, or frustrated, and my focus on gratitude falters. That happened some in 2019, and to be honest, more than once I may have said that I was just done with 2019.
Yet, while there were definitely struggles in a number of areas, there were also many joys and much fun in 2019. I think that is one of the reasons that the book I am currently reading, and this one section in particular has just stayed with me the last few days.
I was given the book, Searching for Happiness, by Martin Thielen, and it has been my “before bed” book since the start of the year. (I almost always have a non-fiction book that I can read a chapter of before bed. If I try to read fiction before bed, I stay up way too late.) In chapter two, Thielen recounts a story he heard from John Claypool about his grandfather.
For decades a beautiful plum tree stood in the backyard of John Claypool’s grandfather’s house. The tree was the prize of the farmer and the pride of John’s grandfather. Then one day a tornado swept through the community. the storm destroyed many trees, including that plum tree. The violent winds ripped the tree from its roots and left it lying lifeless on its side. After the tornado blew over, people ventured outside to survey the damage. Before long a few neighborhood men gathered in John Claypool’s grandfather’s yard. They stood in a silent circle, gazing down at the once beautiful plum tree, now ruined beyond repair. Finally, one of the men asked John’s granddaddy, “What are you going to do with that tree?” After a long pause the old man replied, “I’m going to pick the fruit and burn the rest.”
Martin Thielen
“I’m going to pick the fruit and burn the rest.”
This simple statement is so profound that I can’t stop thinking about it.
What if we looked at yesterday that way? What if we looked at 2019 that way? What if we looked at our whole life that way?
Looking at what is good, what brought joy, what inspired hope, what we learned and how we grew, but letting the other stuff go is picking the fruit and burning the rest.
So, what fruit are you “picking” from 2019?
For me it is things like graduating from seminary the same weekend my daughter graduated from high school, a girls weekend in Memphis, a 3-family trip to Southhaven, Michigan, a family trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, a great Vine to Wine 1/2 Marathon and 5K, my son turning 16 and getting his license, a wonderful internship experience at First Presbyterian Church Edwardsville, Illinois, an amazing family, a great group of friends, lots of books read and lessons learned.
And as I move into 2020, I will continue to learn to enjoy the fruit. I hope you will as well.