God in a Nutshell

The other day when I was in the community living room reading the paper, some Sisters were listening to the weather report on TV, and I overheard the meteorologist say that an unfamiliar object fell through the sunroof of a friend’s car. I glanced up to see them cut to a picture of a mottled green and black walnut, which we’ve been picking up by the truckload here at the monastery…150 buckets and counting! After filling 20 or so buckets myself, it’s fair to say that I no longer find black walnuts quite as extraordinary as they appear in the eyes of our local weatherman.

The current abundance of walnuts calls to mind something James K. A. Smith wrote in is book You Are What You Love: “Too often we look for the Spirit in the extraordinary when God has promised to be present in the ordinary.” How is God present to us through the very ordinary black walnut? Well, black walnuts remind us that God loves diversity, for people either love or strongly dislike their intense flavor. They remind us that God can be found beneath the surface of things, for the nut resides in an unattractive green hull that turns black and mushy as it decays. They remind us that God provides for our needs in sometimes unusual ways, for when walnut hulls are ground, they can be used for blasting, tumbling, cleaning, polishing, and filtration; they are also used widely in the construction, furniture, adhesives, paint, plywood, resin, rubber, paint, and cosmetic industries.

I myself am grateful for black walnut trees because they provide a connection to my father: when he was a young man, he planted some of the trees on the family farm, and after these trees were cut down a couple of years ago, my younger brother gave me the gift of a pen that was created from a piece of the wood. Thus, in a way, God’s spirit that was present in my dad continues to find expression through the words I write with that pen. Upon deeper reflection, God’s presence in the ordinary can turn out to be extraordinary after all!