FROM THE PASTOR…
It seems like summer just started, and June is already over! I was working in my garden the other day, doing some transplanting of flowers and vegetable plants I had started in my green house a few weeks ago. Taking the outdoor soil and preparing a spot, carefully removing the seedling from the greenhouse pot, putting it in the new location, watering it in and hoping it grows well is a process that involves gentleness. Some of those plants were started in paper egg cartons, and the roots had interwoven into the fiber of the carton. It helped to get it wet to soften it up, then tearing the paper to open up the roots so they can dig deep into the new soil was somewhat tedious. If you tear too much, the roots get ripped up. If you don’t tear enough, the roots get bound up and don’t expand in the garden. Gentle handling and careful placement was needed.
God knows our spiritual lives are similar. Nurturing spiritual growth and doing inner work is a process that, at times, may seem like we’re being uprooted from the certainty we’ve known before. But if we are not challenged, stretched, or humbled, then we can get stifled and our lives miss out on the fullness of joy. Moving from the small pots of our little lives into the larger creativity of God’s garden we discover we are rooted and grounded in Christ. Faith is nourished through God’s loving grace, and we’re reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words that in Christ we are new creations!
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF SANDPOINT, IDAHO
July/August 2018
This summer, look for some creative outlets and notice some of the subtle complexities involved. Try not to judge them as good or bad, or critique your performance. Just hold the moments lightly and let God reveal deeper lessons. Maybe it’s gardening, or admiring the abundance of the Farmer’s Market as you slowly marvel at the fruits of other peoples’ labor, or painting, or photography, or just look out a window and quiet your mind to soak up the moment.
As I stood back and admired the small little seedlings in their new spots among a larger world, I was ready for them to be big so I could pick the veggies and fruit. But it just takes time. Some things cannot be rushed, and yet changes do come. In a few months those plants will have run their course and summer will sigh away. In the meantime, there are other lessons to learn as we experience God’s creative power, goodness, and love.
PS: Feel free to stop by sometime and see the garden. 156 Shiras Drive, just one mile west of town off Baldy Mountain Road.
