Australian Thoughts at the Weekend. 20th June 2009

Australian Thoughts at the Weekend. 20th June 2009

During this past week, I had a conversation with a man who had spent a lot of time in the bush until a she said “the kids needed to go to school”. I had visited Cunnamulla, the main town in the area where he worked on sheep properties, a number of times. We chatted about Cunnamulla for a while.

Later I thought about the melons which grew on the dry and hot roadside and how we thought they might be “survival food”. I wrote about this about 5 years ago.

Precious Melons

For many years my son has made a study of bush (Australian wilderness) survival and bush tucker (food). He has collected information in many ways and invested many hours and dollars in gaining this knowledge. He takes every opportunity to camp and walk in the bush with a particular interest in mountainous places. In many places, the mountain slopes are covered by rain forest or jungle. There are huge trees, with an undergrowth of smaller plants taking advantage of the moist shade or struggling towards the sun high above them.

He has gained knowledge of various plants and fruits which are useful as food for variety in the diet and, of course if required, for a survival diet. He has developed skill in cooking meals by campfire including loaves of damper cooked in camp ovens (cast iron pots/kettles with lids).

Some years ago my wife and I were travelling in the west of our State between Charleville and Cunnamulla. The country was quite barren. Like much of the state, it had been many, many months since it had rained. Beside the two lane (one each way) bitumen road, which is officially a highway was red, dusty and sandy ground. Every now and then small plants would struggle for survival.

We soon came to an area where there were plants not only growing but fruiting. The fruit was not known to me but was clearly a melon. They looked like miniature watermelons. Even the leaves on the plants resembled melon leaves. We
noticed that some of the melons appeared to be turning from green to yellow, which to us indicated they were ripening. When we could we stopped to pick a few of the melons. They were the size of large oranges or even large grapefruit. For the next few days until we reached home we did what we could to stop them bruising by rolling all around our car, trying to trap them amongst the suitcases and other luggage.

So on arrival home we presented the bush tucker we had discovered to our son. He looked at them and with his typical smile said simply. “They are Colocynth or Pie Melons and they are poisonous”. In a few moments he had a reference book open which confirmed the identification and their reputation as poisonous. The fruit were had cared for so carefully were quickly consigned to the garbage bin.

I was reminded of St Paul who looked at much he valued in his life before he met Christ and said

“I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 1so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3. 7-11 NLT).

Are we carefully caring for “pie melons” in our life and hoping they are of value when compared with Christ they are nothing but garbage?

MEDITATION:

O Christ, in thee my soul hath found,
And found in thee alone,
The peace, the joy, I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.

Chorus
Now none but Christ can satisfy,
No other name for me;
There's love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in thee.

I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not thee;
But while I passed my Saviour by,
His love laid hold on me.

I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,
But, ah the waters failed;
E'en as I stooped to drink they fled,
And mocked me as I wailed.

The pleasures lost I sadly mourned,
But never wept for thee.
Till grace my sightless eyes received,
Thy loveliness to see.
Authors: B. E.
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 547

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