Prayer of Confession

In Unison:

Holy God,

There are days when we fail to rest.

We stretch ourselves too thin. We say “yes” to every invitation.

We run a million miles a minute. We ignore your command to rest.

There are also days when we fail to act.

We wait for someone else. We take the easy road.

We find excuses and justify our inaction.

God, forgive our imbalance.

Remind us that birds rest, and they also fly.

Show us how to do the same. Amen.

Slow Growth

There’s a vine in the South that covers everything.

It chokes out the light. Grows up to twelve inches per day.

In a matter of years, it will blanket a forest.

If you saw it from space, you’d marvel at its reach.

If you saw it from the passenger seat, you’d weep at what it covers.

Those looking for fast shade plant this invasive vine.

Who can blame them? We’re all impatient.

But if it’s fruit you want—

the tart cherry,

the sticky sweet kumquat,

the soft side of a peach,

the crisp bite of an apple—

then bless the rain.

Thank the sun.

Put your hands in the dirt,

and wait.

The Gospel:

Luke 13:6-9

Then [Jesus] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”