There is a company that is advertising "moments" for their cell and broadband-internet access card business. I am not sure the company, because the commercials all start to sound the same after a few repetitions. I like the ones that spoof all of the other companies, making their "groundbreaking" ideas of cellular connectivity seem superior to anything that has been conjured to this point in our wireless revolution. The idea is a good one, and it's purpose is to prod the consumer to think of the "moments" that they have had over the course of their human experience. My brain is not a streamlined machine, so it takes a significant event(not just hints) to get me to ponder things. Usually the motivators are extreme, excruciating pain, absolute blatant hilarity, or sometimes anything shiny that sparkles when the sun hits it. Sometimes I get distracted easily, part of the "man" thing, I guess.

Yesterday, I mowed the grass in my backyard and had a real "moment." I must first explain that I use a utilitarian push mower instead of a luxury-model, agriculturally-significant, artistically-superior, mechanically advanced rideable-landscaping machine. I am too cheap to use anything else, and I use my "landscaping" time as exercise (because I am too lazy to actually exercise.)

At first, I passed the "moment" off as a result of the intense, focused heat of the Texas sun. It was so hot, that my brain was bumping overload status, and the humidity just saturated my circuitry. I had to focus on a mission - finish the yard in record time. I wanted to at least be finished with this grueling task prior to passing out and baking in the sun for hours before my family noticed my absence. Every step was tough, the incline was murder, and the grass was as thick as the wet hair of a sheep-dog. This was only the first pass, and it was going to kill me!!!

I neared the privacy fence of my neighbor, and stepped right in my "moment." The grass next to my fence is as thick as berber carpet. It was the most luxurious grass that I had ever walked on! As I continued mowing, I started to think. Why was this grass so thick? What has caused this grass in this portion of the yard to flourish so greatly? How could I stop this onslaught of heat and horrible agony? How much more of this could my out-of-shape mass take before I lay dead of a self-inflected total-body cramp?

I realized that I was panicking, so I began to think on the grass. I have not ever done more to my yard than mow grass occasionally. I never fertilize, water, or do anything to help sustain the ecosystem on my property. My neighbors; however, water and fertilize with reckless abandon. They tend the soil and maintain nice yards. It seems that I had inadvertently caught the benefit of their focused drive and dedication. I had done nothing, yet I had the same good results that they had worked so hard for.

In the spiritual sense, things work much the same way. I will try to relate what my moment taught me with three points.

The drive, dedication, and perseverance that my elders have invested pay off before my very eyes. The path that is already beaten down need not be cleared and forged on my part. I just have to learn to follow the trail that has been cultivated prior to my arrival. I don't have to work hard to carve my road out of overgrown, overwhelming circumstances, I just have to trim up the edges a little, so the the next person on this path can see the trail as well (legacy.)

The products of the seeds of faith that have been sown in my past are also starting to show fruit. The work of others shows fruit in my time, and the fruit is as healthy as they could have imagined. They were not able to see the results of their labor (like the grass on the other side of the privacy fence), but they knew that the labor needed to be done. Sometimes I have to work hard on things that I cannot be allowed to see the benefit on. This doesn't mean that I can work any less hard, or allow my focus to be a little blurred. I still must give all for the good of another.

The abundance of the end result many times over-runs the boundaries that we set forth for it. I must put all that I am into what I do for Christ, knowing that he will bless me for my dedication. I also have been made to realize that others will most-likely benefit as well. At first, the people that are being blessed may see the blessings as a curse. It is through this that God can minister to them as well.

Who knows, He may be able to speak through something as simple as mowing a yard or something. Crazier things have happened!