Detour through the olive trees

This morning I decided to change my normal walking route and take a detour through the olive grove that's near our house. You'd be hard-pressed to go 2 minutes in any direction for an hour without walking through an olive grove! There are thousands of them everywhere. It was fascinating to walk by groups of people under the trees, sorting through the olives that they had beaten down off the trees. I was particularly struck by this one little old woman, dressed in layers of clothes and veiled. She had a single little stick in her hand and just kept beating and beating at the tree. Olives were falling down along with lots of leaves and small branches. She then plopped herself down on the ground and began sorting through the olives, separating out all the dirt, leaves, etc. When she's finished doing that, she will have a small sack full of olives which are inedible and must be taken to the olive press where they will be ground and made into oil. Next time you open a bottle of EVOO, remember the little old woman! No wonder that stuff costs so much! I believe there's a good sermon illustration in here somewhere:)