Expected Yield

Time is turning, inching slowly

from summer, warm and lazy,

toward autumn, crisp and bold.

Spring seeds planted,
lying dormant,
warmed within the fertile earth,
waited for gentle rain.

Sprouts took root,
grew quickly,
tender shoots turned thick and tall,
initial wonder turned to worry:

Growing too fast, too big,
Running out of room.
Underneath, the stems are weak,
Maybe they’ll never bloom.
Big enough, let’s prune it back,

Let’s just let it be.

Ever see one this shape?

Size doesn’t matter to me.

It seems to be a bumper crop,

needs body, heart and soul,

working team that pulls as one.

Row by row, we must move

from lingering daydreams and promises

toward shortening, crisping realities.

Time is turning, marching forward
from seedlings, feeble or strong,
toward harvest, brass or gold.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop
and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
You, too, be patient and stand firm,
because the Lord’s coming is near.
Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged.

The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:7-9

(People seem to fret a lot about CHANGE -

some adjust well,

others do not. 

There usually is a lot of grumbling throughout the process. I wrote this one year as our church was going through a series of "growing pains"...)