There I was, perched four or five metres up in the top of our pine tree hedge, removing the tops that had taken off for the sky and bringing them back, with the help of my trusty chainsaw, to hedge status.

Sitting on the newly severed main trunks as the length of the hedge is traversed does great wonders for the seat of old overalls. The gum turns into something akin to armour plating to protect one’s nether regions!

It is, however, at moments like this that one’s mind meanders to sons of one’s youth (the fruit of the loins as it were) and the fact they are not anywhere to be seen when their Dad could do with a help. Two are overseas, and two a good distance away from here.

A thought from days of old came to mind – and then the penny dropped. Psalm 127:4-5 (AV) says:

“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed.”

I always thought it meant that one of the responsibilities of children was to protect their elders. Alas, I was wrong, I missed the thought of the arrows in the quiver.

What the writer was saying was that when one needs a help, the arrows are deployed.

In other words, “Look for help from them, and the kids shoot through.” The global village was just the same in the Psalmist’s day!