Tonight at the Jackson Springs Community Club, we learned more about “God’s Garden.”
Churches in Montgomery, Richmond and surrounding counties have been coming together for many years to help feed the hungry. Nine different denominations and several individuals work together throughout the year planting, tilling and harvesting fresh produce for food banks, food pantries and hungry families in the surrounding area. The mission of “God’s Garden” is to offer homegrown, fresh seasonal vegetables to the hungry who often rely only on canned and jarred items.
“God’s Garden” began as a mission project for local retirees of the area to get together, socialize and give back to their community. In 2008, Mac Clark donated a piece of land off of Troy Candor Road and began planting the first seeds. Mac Clark’s son, David is now the head gardener, and chairs a newly formed Board of Directors. He shared information about how churches and organizations might “sponsor” a given crop and follow it through from planting to harvest. As more organizations and churches join the project expands, and the amount of produce increases!
There are now several “God’s Gardens” on different parcels of land, with the largest garden located in Norman.
Following Clark’s presentation we shared a poem “Gardening in God’s Way”:
Plant three rows of peace:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul
Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness
Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another
No garden without turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another
Water freely with patience
Cultivate with love.
There is much fruit in our garden.
Because we reap what we sow.
And we must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer
Giving thanks for opportunities to work with “God’s Garden,” for the grace to garden in “God’s Way,” and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
Jill Duffield, editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, offers a beautiful mid-Lenten prayer to bless our journey:
“The ashes on my forehead long gone, my Lenten discipline exposed as more good intentions than realized practice, the cold days of winter beginning to give way to warmer afternoons, the center of Lent feels like a mix of blooming daffodils and bare tree branches. Lord, I long for beauty even as the world languishes in the carnage of cyclones, war and revenge. I began this Lent determined to stay alert to the presence of the holy, awake to the in-breaking of the divine, on watch for how to serve the One who came to save the world. But, dear God, right here in the middle of the wilderness, I confess I am weary, weighed down with the urge to sleep until the suffering has passed and resurrection reigns.
What are 40 days in comparison to the expanse of Kairos time? I hear Jesus in the garden, disappointed and exhausted, asking me why I could not keep awake for even a little while. I know the story, Lord. I know your people do not remain in the wilderness forever. I know that even in deserts, wild flowers grow and you provide. Manna comes each day and we keep moving toward your promised future. Even so, Gracious God, I forget that you give all that is needed and then some. I forget, joy comes in the morning and the great waves of justice cannot be held back much longer.
Forgive my faithless stupor and in your mercy nudge me awake with glimpses of goodness, small acts of kindness and relentless beauty emerging from places long desolate. Do not let me ignore the angels who minister in wilderness places, the nourishment of daily bread or the gift of those on this journey with me. Patient God, guide me through these waning days of Lent, keep me alert to your presence, awake for your sake and on watch for your promised new creation. Amen.”
May these words of grace touch our hearts and give us new energy for continuing our Lenten journey through the wilderness, to the cross, and on to the joy of Easter morning. I give thanks for Jill’s words and for her life of faith and faithfulness to the ministry of Jesus Christ through the work of the Presbyterian Outlook, and the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Elizabeth
Yesterday’s lesson from the gospel of Luke was the parable of the fig tree. For three years the tree grew, and no fruit came, so the owner wanted to cut it down. After all, why should a fruitless tree take up precious space in the vineyard! But the gardener said, “Let’s wait a year, let me work with it, dig about it and fertilize it, and maybe it will begin to grow and have good fruit.” So the owner gave the tree another year.
This Lenten season speaks to us of the mercies of God extended beyond human logic and expectation, and at the same time, it reminds us that God will not continue forever to overlook our failure to live fruitful lives. Ultimately God will call us to account for the space we occupy in his vineyard. The truth is that God has the right to expect fruit from our lives!
The parable of the fig tree gives us the hope and assurance that God is with us always. God wishes for our lives to be cultivated and fertilized with the hope of our producing a life of faithfulness. We need a sense of purpose; we are not who we should be until we find God’s purpose for our lives. We must remember that we are God’s people in this time and place- God’s people called to bear kingdom fruit The fig tree had enjoyed the richness of the earth and the sky for years; it should have produced. What about you and me? .
It’s been said that God’s mercy is still talking to God’s judgment, and on that conversation hangs our salvation. There’s still time to be faithful, to respond, to experience second chances and new beginnings and bear kingdom fruit.
Lent is a time to take stock of our own hearts, souls and life in God; a time to acknowledge our need for God, a time to confess our sins, accept God’s forgiveness, and begin to bear fruit. Are we stingy with our love for others? Are we withholding forgiveness from old wrongs? Do we refuse to believe that we can be forgiven, and carry from year to year a growing burden of guilt? Are we so busy making a living that we’ve forgotten to make a life? What have we done, Jesus asks? What have we left undone? Who can tell out of what barren lives, out of which barren churches God shall yet bring fruit!
In this season of Lent, let us give thanks to One who gives us the gift of one more year, the gift of one more day; the One who patiently works in our lives and though our life experience, that we might grow to be fruitful, to have life, and have it abundantly.
Giving thanks for the richness of this Lenten journey, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth