Soldiers, Gardeners and Elephants

This morning I read about ‘the armour of God’. As a child I was told of adventures of knights in shining armour going to battle. As a teenager I was challenged to defend myself with the shield of faith, wield ‘the sword of the Spirit, the word of God’.

Getting older I tried to understand deeper truths about the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness… I taught about it, encouraging folks to put on the armour, not just look at it or talk about it. In recent years the belt of truth and shoes of peace seem particularly important…

Today I don’t feel like a soldier; I’m not ready for a battle.

On Sunday morning minister-Lou preached on Jesus’ words, ‘I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener…’  talking about us as branches… remaining attached to the vine… producing fruit… being more fruitful.

She talked about the gardener pruning the vine to enable greater fruitfulness, telling a story about her grandad pruning overgrown shrubs in her garden – so it looked as if there were just a few bare sticks left.

I identified with the picture… remembering times of painful pruning in my life.

Yesterday I read Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Her Majesty’s Servants’… A horse, mule, elephant and two bullocks are discussing their abilities and experiences. The elephant says that his owner describes him as a ‘Pachydermatous Anachronism’. I had to look it up.

Pachydermatous means ‘thick skinned’; an anachronism is something that’s out of its time… implying that the elephant is insensitive and out of harmony with the present time.

Sometimes I feel like a pachydermatous anachronistic elephant…

St Paul introduces his armour description with ‘…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand…’ He repeatedly encourages would-be armour wearers to stand…

So today, whether I feel like an unwilling soldier, a painfully-pruned shrub or an insensitive out-of-date elephant, I shall pray that I will stand strong.