Go where other's don't go

So, since I got home from 'Up North' Spot and I have been collecting wild fruit. There were the raspberries, which became jam; the brambles which have become jelly, been frozen and are currently becoming jam; and now elderberries are being collected for more wine.

Something must have happened in my brain over the last couple of years - not only have I been enjoying the fresh air, occasional fruit which has just happened to pop into my mouth (well, we do need quality control!), being with Spot and getting free fruit etc, etc - but I have been seeing fruit picking as a bit of a church analogy.

The amount of wild fruit being picked seems to have gone up in recent years. Most people go to pick in easily accessible areas - along paths not far from car parks. If the fruit isn't within an arm reach of the path, they won't bother. Spot and I have found going just a wee bit off the path or, in some cases, a bit further along, there's plenty fruit. Does the church sometimes not go far from it's location, unwilling to take the risk to go a little further in search of the ripe fruit God wishes it to harvest?

There are places where there is LOADS of fruit, but it's in a location people may think they shouldn't or couldn't go. Spot and I picked around 2 kilos in a church graveyard. From the looks of things, no one else had thought to look there, even though they were visible from the road and it's a public place. Does the church sometimes not go to some places, believing it shouldn't be there, but where the harvest is outstanding, but no church has bothered?

There are places where the fruit is hidden in plain sight. People park and ride or get off trains. There's plenty fruit, but they are either unwilling or unable to see what's right in front of them. When someone does pick the fruit, they may even wonder why they are picking it at all, especially there. They maybe wouldn't want to be seen picking there - somewhere else, but not where everyone might see them.  Does the church sometimes miss the harvest right on its doorstep, as it doesn't want to be seen to reach out to those nearby or is concerned it may be criticised for reaching out to those hidden in plain sight? Or, worse, there are churches which are so inward looking they not only do not serve their communities, but are irrelevant to the community. When that comes, so does decline and death. The fruit is there, it's easy to reach, if only they'd make the effort.

I pray to serve a church which will look beyond itself. To serve the community and the world. To love its neighbour and be a vessel of light for the parish. Even if it takes a wee bit more effort than going where everyone else goes.