Springtime post

This is an excerpt from an email that went out to our community this Spring, I was reminded of it this morning and thought it worth posting.

John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener"

All metaphors about God break down eventually.
The Shepherd, Lover, Warrior, Vinedresser, on and on, Elohim is infinite.
I find myself oftentimes reaching for a couple of these within a single conversation, as I attempt (as we all do) to describe some aspect of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
When it comes to the will of God, I find describing His tending us as a Shepherd helpful.
When it comes to the crossfire we find ourselves in sometimes, the spiritual warfare, the picture of the Warrior/Avenger as in Ps. 18 speaks well.
When it comes to our desire to do the "good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them", being fruitful, the Vinedresser, or the Gardener sheds a lot of light.
When it comes to our unfulfilled longings and our desire to know and be known, the Lover is behind it all.
This short list doesn't even touch the many metaphors that speak to who we are, our experiences or the part we play.

As for our gatherings, mostly, I find the garden is my favorite picture.
With a garden, there is a preparation of the soil, building a fence, seeding, weeding and watering.

A gardener facilitates a safe place for growth. Tends to the life that is in the garden. Relies on greater, outside forces, in the Sun and the rains to give life what it needs to grow and produce. Understands the cycles of hard, dry ground (hardship) that produces certain strengths in the plants, and the soaking rains that refresh and give life. Is skillful in nurturing transplants from the greenhouse. Rejoices in the beauty of each seed bearing fruit of it's kind. And, of course, the honest gardener will never take credit for a tomato, a cucumber or sugar-snap peas.

This is where this particular metaphor breaks down: though we are all in the garden, we are also tending the garden as a community. Though we are the ones that are bearing fruit, we are tending and encouraging each others' health as well. Maybe we could say (as Daniel and Robin taught us last year) that certain plants help in each others growth, like basil in proximity to tomatoes.

We have been learning who we are as a community, as a family, and seeing certain values take shape and solidify. This is exciting.
I love that we are in no hurry (another aspect of gardening!).

So, what was so affecting for me on Thursday? We witnessed the priesthood of believers, a high value for the Curach. All of us stepped forward together. There was no one dominating voice, but a beautiful feast of voices.
Simplicity, (another high value) in that we simply facilitated a safe place, and each seed reached up a little more, spread their leaves out a little more, bloomed a little more. What a blast! We exercised the freedom to reach up in our own way.

It helps to know that we are not building something, but producing what God has put in us. Naturally.

Thanks to Daniel, Ian and Patrick, as they tended to us well, it was beautiful to witness the freedom they brought.

Thank you for the cornucopia everyone, and Happy Springtime!

Love always,
Chris

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.