The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Some things are never meant to last. The bountiful summer produce we enjoy is the perfect example. Sweet corn, cantaloupe, summer squash, and rhubarb are rivaled only by the free-wheeling joy ride known as peach season. It is marvelous, wonderful, and all too fleeting. Western slope peaches are simply the best with Cache Valley peaches from Utah coming in a close second.

If they were available year round there would be little anticipation of their arrival and use. It is the six week window of fresh peaches, however, that brings other produce to its knees. How can one argue with a golden fruit that has been around for nearly 8000 years according to the fossil record?

Our pattern each year is much the same. The first lug we purchase lasts about five days as we sate ourselves on the sweet tender fruit. We are the indirect beneficiaries of ancient traders in China who dispersed peach trees around the world. Some cultures, including the Greco-Roman culture, referred to peaches as fruit of the gods. After handily consuming the first box, we then purchase a second lug, though we wend our way through it in a more leisurely fashion. Ultimately, panic buying ensues, necessitating the purchase of a third box as the overall peach supply dwindles. Only when we are finally tired of the ever increasing fruit fly population in the house do we conclude to freeze the rest, knowing that we are running out of time to eat them all.

A vacuum sealer comes into play as peaches are cleaned and dried, then pre-frozen for a couple hours so they retain their form in the vacuum sealed bags. When allowed to thaw for use during subsequent months, the skin slips off the peaches in easy fashion and all is well for the making of untold peach cobblers.

If there were a steady everyday offering of fresh peaches, they would not be such a coveted fruit. It is the narrow window of availability that imparts value and creates a sometimes frenzied demand for the best of the peach crop. We often under appreciate what is in front of us until it is absent once more.

Some of the best opportunities for inviting Jesus into the neighborhood fall into narrow windows of time when persons are most receptive to the work of Christ. Do we pay enough attention to the seasons of people’s lives to know when they are best served by the church? Some moments might even be inappropriate for the church to come knocking. Paying attention to when respectful assistance is called for is nearly always a helpful exercise. How many people have been inoculated against religion as the result of how they were first approached by the faith community? More than we imagine.

Engage the Holy Spirit with high expectation. Don’t waste opportunities to discover the presence of Jesus in our mundane every day existence. Be patient, hope filled, and attuned to listening more than talking. “If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us.” (2 Cor 4:7, MSG)

And if all else fails, offer up a few fresh peaches as a cordial first step. Some of us will never be able to say no to such a gracious gift.