Meanwhile

Meanwhile, back in Four Holes signs of an early Spring appeared. The Tupelo gum trees in the swamp showed flowers at the base of the leaves. Of course, those good folks knew these old trees could not be fooled. Blackberry Winter almost always came despite all the global warming talk. But no worries, Tupelos had deep taproots and thick leaves.

Billy Cowan was having his own crisis. He belonged to a community group named “For Four Holes” or FoFoHo for short. Each member had been picked for a talent because the mission of the group required it. The group was not secret, or a secret for that matter, but no one really knew what they did. All anyone knew was that the group did good for the community, and the results showed up all over the swamp.

One day someone might notice a blighted area cleaned up or some bare area beautified. There might be some new signage to help visitors navigate the community or the library would find new books delivered without a return address. Billy’s involvement gave him a sense that his contributions to the effort meant something. This gave Billy a sense of belonging and joy.

Well, as humans are wont to do without explanation in some circles, Billy noticed he had not been contacted about the meetings in recent months. He noticed some of the changes in the swamp, and he realized he didn’t know anything about them. This caused him to begin thinking there was some kind of mistake. But he also began ruminating something else was amiss.

Feeling lowly, he felt a bit of sorrow come over him even as he tried to reassure himself there must have been something innocent about the whole matter. But this didn’t keep him from feeling left out of the group. He thought to himself, “Maybe it is time to move on.”

This was not the first time Billy had experienced such a loss. When he was just a young lad of 5-years-old, he had been left out of the promise of a prize because he opened his eyes to peak early. By this time in his life, he knew this was children being children, but he never forgot it. Now, being left out of the group felt a little more callous and sophisticated.

While he wallered in his thoughts, he remembered Preacher Pat’s encouragement to the congregation to spend time in daily devotion and prayer with God. Low and behold, the next morning his devotion centered on loss and reminded him to keep his eye on the goal, and this meant to him that he was rooted in Christ and not some group of people, even if they did live in Four Holes. The text was Hebrews 12.

And then he thought about those Tupelos. Early Springs and Blackberry Winters passed before and those deep taproots provided strength. Billy finished his devotion realizing God had answered him. Joy returned, and he smiled. With his worries lifted, he went about his day knowing he was grafted into Christ’s taproot.