Rev. Jim Jackson

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

On the top rail of our backyard fence, there is a very small crack where the rail connects to the post. I say it’s a small crack because it’s hardly big enough to slip a business card into. Yet in that otherwise unnoticed crack, there is something happening which gained my attention. Would you believe that coming out of that crack there is the beginning of a confederate jasmine? (Apologies for those who weren’t fortunate enough to have been born in the South. I didn’t name; it someone else did.)

How did it get there; how can it get enough nourishment and water? But there it is, proudly sticking its head up and reaching for the sunshine. There’s gotta be a lesson here. Some of us complain we didn’t get enough of this world’s gifts and opportunities to flourish. Sorry, many individuals have proven that we can grow wherever we were planted. No, this is not Norman Vincent Peale writing or even Joel Osteen. No, just olde Jim taking a lesson from God’s own amazingly beautiful and resilient creation.

Only a few days ago, I read about the maker of Famous Amos cookies, Wally Amos.

He was born into many hardships and challenges. Life for him began in Tallahassee, Florida, where lived on the “other side of the tracks” with whites on one side and blacks on the other. Wally was black and with a strict mother who could punish him with severe means like an electric cord whip. His father is mostly away. And when he was twelve, his mother and father divorced.

His first two marriages failed. On and on it went until, through his love to baking, he made chocolate chip cookies, excitedly consumed and praised by his friends.

So eventually with financial help from notably famous friends like Helen Reddy and Marvin Gaye, he put together a company ,earning millions of dollars. Thus with his success and will to succeed, Wally has contributed his life to helping others like himself.

You recall that parable Jesus told about the men who received talents of different numbers—one five, another two, and one, one. The first two did well by investing with risks what they had been given. The results, they doubled their investments and won accolade from their donor.

But not the one talent man, for he was afraid and hid his talent in the ground, eventually loosing that. What if he had spent more time and energy growing what he had where he was? Might have been a different story. Try growing where you are planted. Who knows, ya might see a miracle.