Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, December 23, 2023
In our neighborhood there’s a “cut-through,” a grassy trail with a narrow graveled path. Beneath the path is at least one, and maybe two, giant water pipes which lead from the Lake Youngs water preserve (just beyond the far end of the trail in the distance) to water processing plants miles behind me. The lake is a major water source for the city of Seattle.
As you can see, this cut-through passes between the backyards of the neighbors. Most of these folks have chosen to fence their yards, which means that they normally don’t care what happens beyond the fence. It’s not their property, after all.
But I’ve noticed over the years that there’s one family which has gone a different direction, and you can see evidence of this on the right. Rather than a fence like everyone else’s, they have a stone wall, partly covered with some sort of shrubbery. At the distant end of the wall there’s an opening, and through it you can ascend a few steps into the yard.
What’s so interesting is that the householders have decided to mow beyond their wall, out to the very edge of the gravel path! Nobody else has done this—they’ve simply allowed the grass to grow.
So, why has this family done this? Who knows? Maybe they just like yard work. Maybe, as they sit in their backyard enjoying the landscape, they would prefer seeing closely-mown grass. And there may be a variety of other reasons too.
The bottom line, of course, is that this extra work takes time. The well-mowed expanse you see is actually larger than their original backyard lawn.
Anybody who sees creation from the perspective of an intelligent Creator immediately discovers that God is awesomely lavish and generous with what He’s made. God is not a timeclock-puncher, knocking off work according to a schedule. And He doesn’t skimp on materials. God gives and gives and gives.
God wants you and me to be generous too. And He’s said this often in the Bible. The texts at this link are just a small sample: