Remodeling, Pruning, and Listening for God

As I write, plumbers are working upstairs in my home. It’s a master bath renovation that has been YEARS in the making. They are piping for a new tub, vanity and commode. My carpenter will be here in another hour or so, to continue his work and lay new floor tile. As in all renovation work, there are delays, so my son and I are rather limited with no shower. Thankfully, we live not far away from Camp Calumet, a Lutheran Camp and Conference Center, where we are welcome to use their bath facilities.

Meanwhile, I suddenly realized I could get things done while the workers do their thing. I’ve polished my old wooden china cabinet in the dining room. It’s made of dark wood veneer that needed severe help. And, behold, by using “Old English” wood restoration liquid, the wood was revitalized! Next, I turned to the inside of my fridge. There I find crumbs, fruit and milk stains, unidentifiable (?) sticky/yucky stuff, and…OMG, cat hair? I was able to clean the shelves, drawers, and interior of the fridge to a sparkling shine! Who knew I could actually do this? I had been putting it off for months! Finally, I watered my outdoor flowers, sustaining them through another hot and sunny day.

While I water, I often prune off the spent blooms. There is something very healing in casting away old blossoms. In pausing to do this “dead-heading,” one offers new life to the plant. It’s a cleansing ritual much like bathing small children. One must be careful and gentle. This small act of love stimulates new growth, increases flowering, improves the plant’s reception of air and light, and brings beauty. It very often also brings me peace.

In pausing from our regular routine , we often receive new insight and restoration to our spirit. When the day came for the beginning of the bathroom project, I felt restless. How would I go places to get the things done that I believed “needed” to be done, or get the things I “needed” to get? Well, the old saying goes: “Bloom where you are planted.” This is a quote attributed to St. Francis de Sales,1567-1622, a French Bishop of the church and an author. Since I was definitely “planted” here at home, it was time to get blooming! Thus, the restoring, cleaning, pruning. Not unlike what my carpenter and plumbers are doing.

And, maybe, it’s true that energy begets energy. The energy of others inspires our energies to rise. It’s why movements or demonstrations multiply and draw others in. It’s why laughter increases laughter, love increases love, and kindness births more kindness. I suspect the energy of the construction crew revitalized something in me.

Perhaps the healing of the world begins with pruning dead blossoms off a single plant. Or pruning our thoughts so that we might see what is needed in the other before us. Pruning away our presumptions, so that we might listen with more compassion, and less suspicion. Pruning away the busyness, so that we might pause and listen to the God who is always present, always inviting you and me into the fullness and abundance of life. For God tenderly prunes away what is dead and lifeless in us, so that we might learn and grow and blossom where we are planted, where we find ourselves this day, no matter the situation or scenario. God’s cleansing love is deeper and more gracious than the muck or the dead blooms in our lives. This love shapes and forms us into who we have been created to be.

Consider the description of the “tree of life” in the book of Revelation, chapter 22 — “On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month…and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2) The symbol of the “tree of life” relates to God’s healing and restoration for all. Healing of the nations, the world, the community, the people. Healing, therapeia from the Greek, from where comes our word for therapy, defined as restoration, service, care, attending to the entire being - physical, spiritual, mental.

So, while the construction crew works its restorative powers on my master bath, I am reminded of the ever-restoring power of God. Healing that is witnessed in creation, in uplifted spirits, in acts of kindness, in attending to and caring for the needs of others. New life that blooms for you in forgiveness, baptismal waters, and a simple meal of bread and wine.

Today I remembered to offer water to the crew. it is sustenance and hydration for the hard work they are doing. They were ever grateful. I was only saddened that I didn’t consider it earlier. I was, in fact, too preoccupied with my own thoughts. Prune me, oh, God, prune me, I pray. Revitalize me and restore my spirit so that I may see more clearly around me.

As every gardener knows, each day there is more pruning to do. Thanks be to God for the “remodeling” that God enacts in our lives, so that we may pour forth a love that knows no bounds, a love which flows into the peoples and places aroud us. Make it infectious! May this love beget more love, until the concept of beloved community is known to all!

Finally, may you discover the gifts God has lavishly poured upon you. May simplicty and peace restore you. And, just in case, if you have a remodeling project going on, may it go well and inspire new life in countless ways!

Below is my Thunbergia plant, one I often need to prune and water and pay attention to. It always welcomes love. May you welcome love as well.