If you are fortunate to have a garden, however large or small, during these times of pandemic, you have probably spent more time in it than usual. You may have noticed the creatures that share your garden with you, who either have made it their home, or are passing visitors. Observing these creatures, their habits and the way they live, can, I believe give us an insight into the nature of God and may enable us to reflect on our response to Him and to one another.
‘Ladybirds’
Summer is a time of visitors, with family and friends coming to stay, and we go to stay with them. Some visitors come for longer than you had hoped for, and others don’t stay long enough. But what makes a good visitor? Someone who helps with the washing up? Someone who keeps out of the kitchen? Someone who brings presents with them, or someone who leaves your house as tidy – (or even tidier)- than when they arrived.
I invited summer visitors to my garden this year, in fact, I paid for them to come, and I hope that they and their children stay for a long, long time. They are a family of ladybirds, invited specifically to eat the blackfly off our runner beans – and they have! But now they are nowhere to be seen. I just hope that if they have flown away, that they laid eggs before they went.
Jesus was a welcome guest at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He invited himself to the home of Zacchaeus. He was urged to come to the house of Jairus. He enjoyed hospitality in the home of Peter’s mother-in-law. When he left their houses, he left his hosts richer and wiser. He had graced them with his presence and had blessed them by his spirit.
Through lock-down it has been difficult, and sometimes even prohibited to invite people into our homes, which is sad, because Christian faith and practice is built on hospitality. The Early Church built up each other’s faith by eating and meeting with each other. Lydia opened up her house to Paul and his friends, and we are reminded by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews to ‘not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
So, we may not have been able to open up our homes much these days, but we may be able to welcome to our gardens both friends and strangers, and we can definitely open up our hearts. Generally speaking – we hope! – a generous and obliging host results in an appreciative and well-behaved guest.
I think that is the case with our ladybirds. We welcomed them onto our runner beans, provided them with a feast, and they have left our garden in a better state than when they came.