Simple Pleasures

Read Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10

Go and enjoy your food. Be joyful as you drink your wine. God has already approved what you do.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 ((NIrV)

Juan Guerrero, from Valle del Cauca, Colombia, enjoys looking at the chirimoya (custard apple) in his garden from his patio and watching them grow each day. Their fruit is quite plentiful - far too many for one person to eat. The fresher they are, the more delicious and aromatic the fruit. When Juan picks the chirimoyas, he already has in mind the people he will be giving them to.

This morning, though, he saw a large, ripe chirimoya he had missed during his earlier picking. Juan thought,If someone doesn't eat it soon, it will go to waste. On the horizon, the sun was just beginning to peek through. Juan looked at the sky as he took in the panorama and felt God was offering the fruit to him. He sat down in his garden, facing the morning sun and enjoyed its warmth on his face. Juan started eating slowly, savoring the fruit. He thought about the many blessings in his life. Filled with God's love and goodness, Juan quietly repeated today's verse from Ecclesiastes: "Go, eat your food with gladness." A simple pleasure. Juan has never enjoyed a chirimoya more.

Prayer: Creator God, source of all life and goodness, you bring us the gifts of joy and peace. Greater still are the gifts of your love and presence. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus' name. Amen.