That was then...

There are recipe books you buy, and books, or files, of recipes you compile. I was looking through the file of collected recipes earlier this week, and realised how much it reflected the garden we previously fought with ( it was a tad large to manage ) at the vicarage before retirement. Amongst the easier parts of that garden was a large rhubarb patch. Consequently the file contains recipes for dozens of things which can be made with rhubarb; all sorts of jams and puddings and drinks, and even a soup. Bottled, frozen, stewed; you name it, we did it.

I did bring a small crown to the house we now live in, where the garden is much smaller, and the need for a large patch of it given over to rhubarb is much diminished. And the plant has taken time to thrive. All of which places our rhubarb enterprises in the 'that was then, this is now' phase. The recipe file can be thinned out; much of the rhubarb stuff can go.

We move on. Faith moves on. Some folk outgrow a childhood faith, but fail to develop and adult one. I can see much 'that was then, but this is now' in my own faith, and hope it presently reflects something more suited to the needs and conditions of now, something more adult, mature, realistic. It has had the corners knocked off, is more at ease with questions than answers, is prepared to live in wisdom rather than knowledge .I cannot say that the faith- like the recipe file- has thinned out. Rather it has been enriched, filled out, and God fills the horizon. And this is riches indeed.