Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

I’ve had two things on the agenda this Saturday. The first has been working on building a small water feature to help give the lizards, snakes, bees, bunnies, toads, ground squirrels, &c somewhere to grab a drink in our yard that is not the pool. We’ve had a few lost critters in the pool so I’m trying to find some other ways to keep them hydrated without them getting….critically….over-hydrated.

So far it looks a bit rubbish to be honest. It’s supposed to look like a little babbling brook over kind of shale rocks. Right now, it looks like someone running a hose over some rocks dumped out the back of a pick up truck. There’s not a lot of artistry to it.

The second thing on the agenda today is our older son’s band concert. To be honest, it’s a bit rubbish too! I mean, no one ever leaves an elementary school concert and marvels at the virtuosic performance of Mary Had a Little Lamb or Hot Cross Buns.

But everyone does leave smiling. They see the hard work that went into that small step. The teachers and parents know the hours of practice it took just to make a sound on an instrument that doesn’t sound like fevered wheezing.

The effort is the beautiful thing.

I suspect this is how God watches us. He sees us take steps to care for the world around us or to make something beautiful. As much as rare masterworks of artistic genius must delight him, I imagine that it’s the countless more stumbling, fumbling, very human attempts at care and creativity that bring him even deeper joy.

The effort is the beautiful thing.

No matter how rubbish our first attempts, God loves the effort and delights in our will to use all the gifts he has given us for the building up of the world around us. Whether it’s acts of prayer, care, love, mercy, charity, justice, or more, God does not expect perfection—but he must delight in persistence. He watches us stumble and knows we might run yet.

May all your beautiful fumblings, stumblings, strivings, and effort bring you closer to him this week.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert