Meeting God in the Blackberries

So I've been thinking a lot about this quote/poem from The Shack:

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees and takes of his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Actually, I've been doing a bit more than thinking about it. Obsessing is probably a better word. I mean, I just don't get it. I can't turn to the back and check out the meaning in the answer key. I've come up with some explanations but they just don't seem to 'fit'. And it is blackberry picking season, don't you know. And boy, aren't they yummy? Just look at these beauts-

I suppose, with all it's ugliness, the world IS afire with God. I more than suppose it. I know it- I can see it in the eyes of children (both at home and at school), I can see God in sunsets and hear Him in music. He is definitely here. But literally, here? In this blackberry bush? Is God afire in this blackberry bush? It's common enough. I was gonna find out.

So it was a 'come out come out where ever you are' kind of moment for me. Okay, God. Here I am. Here's my heart and now give me the answer. What is this stupid poem all about? The thorns. It must be the thorns- perhaps the thorn of distraction. Or the fruit? All that glorious fruit- the fruits of labor, perhaps? And maybe those big honkers, wayyyy up high- just out of reach, the ones you have to blast through spider webs and big prickly thorns to get to- maybe that's what the poem is about. How BIG that fruit is but that it's big because it had to grow to get that way???

I think God laughed. I mean, I can't say that with complete certainly but I think that a lot of the time, He laughs at me. So anyway, I wanted to know what was so wrong with picking blackberries "the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries'. What's so wrong with that? I mean, I love blackberry cobbler.

And that's when God asked me if I trusted Him. Of course I do. What a, dare I say, stupid question. And then He brought me here:

Can you see that there's a tiny path leading into a labyrinth of thorny blackberries? It's there if you look really hard. That's when He told me to take of my shoes and walk in there. PSHAAA. As if. Whatever. Are you HIGH? Again with the 'Do you trust me?' question. And I had to say...not really. I mean, come on. The thorny blackberries? That's one thing. But what about the black widows? And those fruit spiders? Have you ever seen a fruit spider? COME ON. I bet they eat blackberry pickers for breakfast. That's when God told me very plainly and simply,

"That's why you'll sit around the bush afire with Me and harvest fruit. You don't trust me. Trust me and take off your shoes so you will know Me".

Fine. Like I kinda trust you and if you want me to do this silly thing to prove it, then fine. Jeez Louise. That's when God told me "You trust me with your life...your children...your income...but not in a blackberry bush?"

Fine. One step at a time. Trust.

Deep breath. I can do this. I can trust God with my children. I trust. I trust.

This is looking back at the road from where I stood...barefoot and feeling rather sheepish. You can very faintly see my black flipflops...

And just down that path was the mother load of all blackberries:

This all seems kinda crazy now. I mean, who goes blackberry picking on a Monday with no shoes. Insane. But I get it. I mean, I totally get it. It's not about the stupid blackberries. It's about trusting God with everything I am. God definitely met me in the blackberry bushes today.

He is everywhere- the most simple of places. And when I trust, I can open my eyes to see new things. I just need to trust and I definitely need work on doing that in every area of my life.