Slideshow image

There's a green thread running through all three of today's readings, and it's the color of flourishing.

The psalmist can barely contain the joy of it: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord" (Psalm 92:1). And then comes that image that the righteous "flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Notice what the psalm promises about the long haul: "They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green" (92:14). This is not a faith that peaks early and fades. This is a life planted in the house of the Lord, tended by God, still fruitful when the world expects the branches to go bare.

Proverbs picks up the same harvest language and tells us how the fruit multiplies: "One gives freely, yet grows all the richer... Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered" (Proverbs 11:24-25). It's a beautiful upside-down economy. The way to be filled is to pour out. Generosity is not subtraction; it's how the tree of life keeps growing. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life" (11:30), what a thing to say about an ordinary faithful person's ordinary faithful days.

And then Jesus, in Matthew, hands us the gift that makes all of this visible: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear" (Matthew 13:16). The disciples ask why he teaches in parables, and the answer, underneath it all, is an invitation; to be the kind of person who actually notices what God is doing. Prophets and righteous ones "longed to see what you see" (13:17). The kingdom is not hidden from you. It's growing right in front of you, and you've been given eyes to catch it.

A word for your day: You are not running on empty. You are planted, watered, and still green, and every bit of good you give away today only makes you richer. So keep your eyes open. Blessed are the eyes that see the small green shoots of grace breaking through the ordinary. They're there. And so is the God who planted them.

A prayer: Gracious God, thank you for planting me where your love can reach me. Make me generous like a well-watered garden, fruitful in every season, and open my eyes to see the good you are growing all around me today. In Christ, who opens what is hidden, Amen.