The Unexpected Surprise

This is the third in a series highlighting the simple and the sacred.

What kind of simple activities do you enjoy? The “simple” invites us to engage in the moment –to place our attention in what is happening right now. The simple can help us lay aside the burdens of yesterday and the tasks of tomorrow. 

Have you ever been fruit picking? Until I was an adult, I had little experience in picking fruit. I bought most of my fruit in our local suburban market. Since we moved to Oregon, I have had many more opportunities. 

But today I want to tell you about some of my first experiences as an adult: enjoying the unexpected pleasures of fruit picking while traveling. 

Several years ago, our family was on the way to a camping spot in Fruta, Utah, and saw a sign for picking peaches. At the entrance it said you only would be charged for the fruit you took out of the farm…not the fruit you ate on the tree. With big smiles, our three kids quickly climbed the ladders into the midst of the fruit-laden branches, and started eating peaches. They were so yummy – dripping with juice; making everyone sticky and happy. We did take away a couple of bags of fruit, but most of what we took away already was our stomachs.

One year we took our family camping along the northern California coast, and had an unexpected opportunity to pick berries together – a new kind for us – salmon berries. It just so happened that the back end of the campground where we were staying was forested land filled with lots of these berry bushes. The camp manager said we were free to pick as many as we wanted, but needed to be aware that the local bears also liked those berries! 

Not feeling deterred, we carefully headed up to the berry bushes, staying together to collect. Again, we had big smiles and lots of eating as we picked. We came back from our small expedition with stained hands, happy hearts, and full bellies. 

It has been a number of years since those experiences occurred. 

However, the wonderful thing about pleasant memories is that we can resurrect them and they can bring us joy all over again – remembering the unexpected surprises life brings, the joys of the moment, the fun of sharing together.

Simple pleasures can buoy our spirits in the midst of responsibilities and tasks. They remind us that we are invited to delve richly into our present moments, to delight in God’s creation and to experience joy. 

As we all know, many things outside bloom and grow in the summertime. I encourage you to look for those unexpected moments of surprise when you might pick berries, or stop and walk through a garden, or take time to create a recipe with some summer produce, or...? 

And in the midst of it, look for the ways God invites you to experience the moment. 

“The most pleasurable things we do are not always priced so high

Like listening to a young child laugh or looking at the sky.” 

― Margaret H. Oliver, poet

That is the beauty of simple moments.