Categories: uncategorized
Date: 27 June 2005 06:17:06
I love this time of year. Winter is pruning time...I have 50 fruit trees that I take great pride in pruning. Pruning the trees to encourage better fruiting is a skill that my father taught me.
My Dad was an orchardist until he was made a paraplegic by that awful condition polio. Many of my childhood winter days were spent up a ladder with secateurs in hand and my Dad sitting below directing my cutting as I moved around the tree. I was proud of Dad and glad to be his hands.
The first winter after Dad died I headed for the orchard and I could almost hear him telling me what to do. I think that is why I love pruning...it's been a long time (over 25 years) but I still feel his presence with me as I prune.
It's funny however, even though I could prune I never really knew what I was doing, I was always just following instructions. I eventually did a course at a horticultural college to find out why I was cutting particular branches the way I had been for years. It was a real revelation.
There are a lot of people in this world who I would call “Christian” because they are heading towards Christ, but they don't actually know that they are. And I reckon the role of the church is to give those people the revelation.