Heart & Home link-up

As I stood in my backyard today, admiring the blossoms on the peach and nectrine trees that we hope to harvest fruit from soon,

I began thinking about the trip my hubby and I took to our local garbage tip last Sunday, and how two things had overwhelmed me while we were disposing of our garden waste.

One was the foul stench of all the rotting materials that pervaded everything and made one almost gag!
There was no way to escape it for it seeped into the air and enveloped us, even  inside the car with the windows closed tight.

 The other was the unexpected joy of discovering some struggling young fruit trees trying valiantly to spread their beauty and fragrance - even in that putrid smelling place.

It made me think of the almost "vocational" power that beauty has to transform and lift a thing up from degradation to dignity.

As I was meditating on these things heavy rain clouds began to gather over my garden and the ominous smell of a brewing storm hit the air,

and suddenly I was forced to flee my meandering musings and rushed back to dry shelter indoors!

I boiled the kettle again and poured another warm cup of tea as I watched the grey skies from my window and wondered...

How long does it take for them to get used to the stench?

The Poor.. who live on the garbage dumps of the world?

Does the odour of death and decaying greed constantly fill their nostrils with a hopeless heaviness?

Or does one become oblivious to it all...eventually?

I stand at my stove and fry nourishing chicken for my family's hot evening meal, and my heart is wanting to know this too - what is filling the bowls of the garbage dwellers tonight?

And if they could pick through my trash can, would I be ashamed of what they might find in there to quell their hunger?! 

It's funny what a weekend trip to the local rubbish tip can do sometimes...how it can make one think.

If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother...

For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.  Deuteronomy 15:7 & 11

The storm is now over and the setting sun is spreading a beautiful pink blanket across town as night quickly closes in.

I'm warm, well-fed and safely snug inside my cosy little home.  

Outside, the smell of damp spruce trees and fried chicken lingers in the air...

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Welcome to Heart & Home!

Friends, I invite you to link up posts that show a love for home and family.

Devotionals, craft, gardening, cooking, tea or decorating etc. are welcome.

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