AUGUST 2026

Dear Kind and Gentle People,

OH MY SOUL! August has settled over The Mill with her familiar generosity. The first cutting rests safely in the barns, and the second cutting has already begun. Cucumbers are producing with joyful abandon, several batches of pickles have been lovingly “put down,” plump blackberries are waiting to be devoured—or transformed into a prize-winning pie—and each morning the hummingbirds perform dazzling aerial acrobatics around the bright red geranium window boxes as though they are auditioning for the Heavenly Show Choir.

Creation knows something we human beings are forever trying to remember. Nothing in nature seems anxious about having enough. The fields do not fret. The birds do not hoard. The flowers never compare themselves with one another. Everything simply receives the gift of life...and in turn, gives itself away.

Jesus understood this holy rhythm. “Consider the lilies,” he said. They neither toil nor worry, yet they bear witness to the lavish generosity of God. And when five loaves and two fish were placed into Christ's compassionate hands, they became more than enough for thousands. The miracle was never simply about bread. It was—and still is—about the astonishing abundance of divine love. Love, when entrusted to God and shared freely, never diminishes. It multiplies.

This morning a message came to the prayer chair,

“Scarcity is often the language of fear; abundance is the language of grace.”

Perhaps the greatest abundance is not found in overflowing barns or flourishing gardens, but in the inexhaustible heart of God. There is enough forgiveness for every failure. Enough mercy for every regret. Enough hope for every weary soul. Enough joy to brighten even difficult days. Enough compassion to heal wounded hearts. And above all, there is this glorious and everlasting truth: the Holy One has never once run short of love...and never shall.

Our world continually preaches the gospel of “not enough.” Not enough time. Not enough resources. Not enough acceptance. Not enough peace. Yet Jesus proclaims another Gospel entirely. God’s reign has never been governed by the mathematics of scarcity. Grace multiplies. Mercy overflows. Compassion refuses to calculate. Love simply keeps setting another place at the table, welcoming yet another beloved child home.

As summer slowly begins her gentle turn toward autumn, perhaps our sacred calling is simply to notice. Notice beauty where others overlook it. Notice blessings hidden in ordinary days. Notice the neighbor who longs for a word of encouragement. Notice Jesus the Christ quietly walking beside you in moments that seem wonderfully commonplace. You may discover that you have been standing in holy abundance all along.

May the God who provides cucumbers for pickles, plump blackberries for pies, fragrant hay for the barns, and nectar enough for every hummingbird, fill your life with unexpected goodness and grant you eyes that recognize holy abundance wherever your journey leads.

May Jesus the Christ continually remind you that love always grows when it is shared, and may the Holy Spirit fill your heart so completely with gratitude that generosity becomes as natural as breathing.

PLEASE—Do remember: God has always been a God of Enough...and Then Some.

As Always,

Gobs of Blessings and Heaps of Happiness,

Petah

Rev. Dr. Peter Stickney, Chaplain

Red Geraniums at The Mill by Peter Stickney

Future Pickles by Sasapanchenko