Picking berries in the summer sun

We have three service berry bushes in our backyard. When a friend who landscapes told us that they were edible, even 'good on your cereal,' the kids and I would pick a few and eat them. They are tender, a little seedy, quite sweet and mild. Last year, we even picked enough to have berries and sweet milk one evening.

This year, James has been fascinated by them. I've caught him a couple of times in the evening, standing outside in his pjs, picking them for a 'bedtime snack.' I challenged him and Maia to pick enough to make berry crisp, and looked up service berries on the internet. Now we know they are also shadberries, juneberries and wild plums. We learned that the original people in this part of the world made pemmican out of them. I figured that must mean we could do something with them that would taste decent. The kids picked 5 cups worth, I adapted a fruit crisp recipe, and slapped those puppies in the oven.

Oh my! Heaven. It tasted very much like cherry crisp, only requiring much less sugar and with a few tiny seeds to crunch on. That didn't bother us. We gobbled it up. Today, we picked even more. Enough for two pies or desserts are in the freezer. We'll pick tomorrow evening as well. I expect to have enough for at least 8 desserts when all is said and done. They are ripening fast and within a week they will be gone. I experienced a deep satisfaction at 'living off the land' as my grandparents and great-grandparents did, making use of what is at hand and putting the harvest by for the winter to come.

There was regret, however. All this time, growing there in our backyard, was this bounty of berries free for the taking! I was thinking as I picked about scarcity and abundance. In these difficult economic times, it's easy to think that there is not enough to go around. Desperation and selfishness, fear and anxiety all follow on the heels of a mindset of scarcity.

We are used to having so much that when anything big or small is threatened or removed, we think there's not enough. But the berries reminded me there is enough to go around, the whole world over. We don't share well. We take more than we need. I'm so guilty of spending money on things that don't matter while others starve or struggle half a world or half a street away. I don't even notice the berries in my own backyard, as I hurry on earning money to somehow make ends meet.

God intended abundance, provided lavishly. Small graces especially abound. What will I do with this abundant life I've been given? Will I share? Hoard? Be greedy for more?

I do know that I will make serviceberry crisp again tomorrow, and I will prayerfully and gratefully relish each and every bite. Maybe it will taste better if I make enough to share.