Blackberry Wisdom

(click on photo for larger view)

You might not think there's much to be learned from a blackberry bush, but I can assure you there are lessons a-plenty. Sure, it's fun to go pick those luscious fruits of summer, tote them home and cook up one mean cobbler. I have loved explaining to the boys that my mother always makes a special white sauce to go with her own out-of-this-world blackberry cobbler, so that's why I do the same thing. Heck, I even turned this into a spelling lesson as I taught them about the word "roux" and how with a little sugar your basic roux becomes the supreme accompaniment to a blackberry cobbler. Are you getting hungry yet?!
Like most things in life, if you start to dig a little bit deeper, you'll find a wealth of wisdom. What do two old Family Teachers and three young lads actually learn down on the fenceline as we pick these berries?

• Nature provides abundantly for us and our bounty has been plentiful. In fact, we know to leave berries on the bush for the birds and insects.
  
• You can learn about harmony and peace from otherwise threatening sources, such as yellow jackets and wasps. They are only trying to get the berries like us!
• Patience! You need to wait a week or so between pickings so that the berries will be their sweetest.
• You learn quickly how to get out of a tangled mess! The thing NOT to do is panic and tear yourself away in a rush. You have to keep calm, actually lean in to the brambles and then lift up a bit letting the branch fall away.

I thought I'd ask the boys if any Bible verses came to mind while picking blackberries. Randy never hesitated and said, "I am the vine and you are the branches." Well, now. What can you say after that but God is love, and if we love one another, God lives in us, and God's love is perfected in us. Let the people of God say, Amen!