The fields in our neighborhood and along the roads are showing a brilliant red these days.The color is not coming from the taller trees but the sumac bushes that have grown wild, planted there by the generosity of birds. During the summer months you don’t notice the bushes so much but as the season begins to turn, their brilliance is breathtaking.

The sumac bush has clumps of red berries which provide a wonderful contrast in summer to their deep green leaves. As you walk through the fields of Minnesota, the plant is common, as is its dangerous cousin, poison-ivy. Over the weekend when I noticed the plethora of buses along Hwy. 110, I was reminded of a very significant memory which included sumac.

While directing a children’s camp one summer at Koinonia, our church’s retreat center near Annandale, the children were working with a fabric artist, learning how to take the gifts of nature and create dyes for yarn and cloth. The theme of the camp was Bibletimes 29 A.D. and our goal was to experience some of the crafts, foods, games, and work habits of the early Christians. The fabric artist walked through the woods pointing out different plants that, when boiled, created dyes for otherwise bland clothing.

She pointed out the sumac, its deep scarlet berries, and harvested some for our first century duds. Placing the brilliant berries in the pot that boiled over the fire, many of the children dreamed of the great red togas they would be wearing later. But as the berries began to boil, the water turned not red, but a rich, beautiful gold.

As I saw the sumac yesterday, I thought about all the times when our expectation of what something-or someone- has to offer turns out to be completely different. That summer our expectation was that because the berries of the sumac were red, our dye would be red. But the sumac held a surprise……gold. How often our expectations allow us only to see the surface of what a colleague, a challenge, a child holds deep within. We see red….they carry gold….waiting to be warmed enough to offer their inner depth.

Just knowing that the world holds such hidden promise should keep us on our toes, with eyes wide open, watching for the next surprise. What will it be?

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."  Albert Einstein