‘Broccoli’s Lesson’

2/26/2019

I Was Thinking…

George H. W. Bush was known for his aversion of Broccoli. Had he lived long enough to see the tragedy of last Monday, he would have at least smiled, of this I’m certain. 40,000 pounds of broccoli from an overturned tractor-trailer was tumbled onto the side of an I-285 to I-75 exit ramp. From this ‘stemmed’ an interstate exit ramp to be impassable overnight re-opening at 6:30 AM the next morning. It was the ‘crowning’ news story of the day.

We never know what a day may bring. Traffic in metro-Atlanta can be, on its best days, an adventure. But when there is broccoli to contend with, it makes for a ‘steamy’ challenge even on a cold winter morning. Yet with unknown challenges some of the best innovative solutions are discovered.

On this day, Tuesday, February 26, 2019, we wait for the conclusion of the ‘Called General Conference’ in St. Louis, Missouri. We, who love God’s United Methodist Church, have waited, discussed, worried, and prayed. And by the end of this day, we will know the results of a time spent by United Methodists in St. Louis.

Some will be pleased, and some will be displeased. Some will be frustrated, and some will be relieved. Some will be ready to move on to disciple-making within the UM Church and some will be ready to leave for other paradigms of disciple-making. Whatever the result of this Tuesday and our feelings about it, tomorrow is coming with God’s future for our discovery.

Like broccoli blocking an interstate exit ramp there will be unexpected moments for all of us. These moments are not options, they are the certainties amid uncertainty. It is not whether unexpected moments come or not, the question is what will be our innovative response to such moments. The question is ‘Where will we find the wherewithal to do what we are ‘called’ to do?’ Where will we find God during an unexpected season?

Somebody somewhere at sometime loaded a tractor-trailer with some frozen broccoli that was intended for the dinner tables of America. Some hard-working farmer and the farm-team planted, tended and harvested healthy broccoli thinking, perhaps, of the families it would feed. But it was not meant to be…at least not for this truck of broccoli. Was it wasted broccoli? That’s one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that it was the most famous broccoli for a day or two. You’ve heard the saying “Every dog has its day”? Well I suppose that is true of broccoli as well.

Even when things don’t turn out like we think they should and we may even feel time and effort has been wasted…remember Annie’s song ‘Tomorrow’… “The sun will come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow… there’ll be sun. Just thinking about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow… ’til there’s none. When I’m stuck in a day that’s gray. And lonely, I just stick out my chin, and say…Oh, the sun will come out tomorrow. So ya’ gotta hang on ‘til tomorrow, come what may. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya’ tomorrow! You’re always a day away.”

Jesus might have sung it this way “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:34 – The Message

I love you with the love of the Lord!

Always Thinking,