In a little book about God’s grace, bearing the provocative title, “Sin Boldly, But Trust God More Boldly Still,” the author recalls “A hot afternoon back home in Carolina” . . . My family and I were driving along when we passed an orchard of peaches that advertised especially low prices if we were only willing to pick them ourselves. I doubt that any bargain would be sufficiently attractive to me now to lure me out of my air-conditioned car and into a steamy afternoon to pick peaches, but we were younger then, poorer then, and in less of a hurry than we tend to be these days. So we pulled over, paid our money, and selected a bushel basket to fill with fresh, ripe peaches.
As we set off into the orchard, an old fellow who was tending the place, said, “If you want the best fruit, go deeper into the orchard; the peaches along the fringes are picked over, but deeper into the orchard you’ll find the best fruit!” We walked far enough along that I figured we had gone past the picked-over sections. But, just as we set the basket down the old fellow hollered again, “Go deeper!” So we picked up the basket, went a little farther, set the basket down, and again, we heard him shouting his advice, “Go deeper! The best fruit is still farther in!” Once more, we picked up the basket and walked along, finally deciding that surely we were now finally deep enough. However, once more as we prepared to pick the peaches, he hollered, “Go on, go deeper!” This time, we went a substantially longer distance, and discovered that indeed the old fellow was right. The finest, most plump peaches were untouched and waiting for us.
When you stop and think about it, what passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experience at the peach orchard. So often we remain right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives, where we know ourselves very little and God even less! No wonder the fruit of religious experience brings so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls! No wonder so many of us are coming up empty! No wonder we see so many human faces that don’t look peaceful!
“Peace, is my farewell to you.” Jesus knew that if his friends accepted his gift of peace for themselves, they would find ways in love to live in peace with one another. They would help to make peace a reality among their families and neighbors. Anyone who knows true peace, by his very way of being, offers it to all he encounters. May the peace of Christ be with you this week and throughout your life!