“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Dear friends,
How does your garden grow? That will be our question over the coming summer months! On Pentecost Sunday, Christian Explorers planted their own herb garden in front of Jonathan House. Into the rich soil, little hands tucked in small shoots of basil and parsley, rosemary and lemon balm, lavender and chamomile. Mary Memmott helped to water the newly planted herbs. Then, in a circle around the raised bed planter, we said a prayer for sun and rain and healthy growing plants, and finished by firmly staking a brightly colored pinwheel in the dirt in celebration of arrival of the Holy Spirit!
In the coming weeks, we’ll be celebrating the gifts of the Spirit. As we tend our little garden, we’ll be exploring boundary breaking, creative, inspiring, restorative, transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our zoom and outdoor services. Like the sun, the wind and the soil, the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to flourish and grow abundantly.
This summer, we’ll also be tending the garden of our congregation. Paul sees the same thing as he writes to the church in Corinth. He’s encouraging the church community there to see itself as a garden, and God’s gifts as seeds…seeds of generosity, seeds of grace. He’s asking the Corinthians to be generous and give of themselves to help the poor and needy of the Church in Jerusalem. The folks in Jerusalem need the help of the Corinthians, and the Corinthians will also receive from their giving…from the act of giving, from the act of serving others.
Let the Spirit find us in the garden this summer, and lead us with the lovely and familiar words of St. Francis of Assisi….
Lord, make us instruments of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
from the garden,
Karen Nell