Piloting Faith: So many upsides to gardening...

A Word for the Day...

I am lucky to have family that lives in the North Georgia mountains on land with a beautiful, wide creek that runs by their home. Beside the creek, they've created an incredible garden. They've been tending this garden for over 25 years, adding perennials, pulling weeds, planting vegetables, tilling the soil, repairing pathways, and plucking fresh cut flowers which they put by our bedside when we come to visit. Each season brings a particular set of tasks, and the wise gardener senses the needs of the plants as the seasons change.

We are now in the pruning season, as the flowers lay dormant and the branches, once alive and full with blooms, need trimming in order to grow fully in the coming season. Good gardeners know the different plants and what they need. They know what is vulnerable and needs extra care. They are patient and know that small things can become big with the right care.

People are the same. A "green thumb" friend, mentor, colleague, or parent is like a gifted gardener, loving each plant, knowing what is fragile and needs to be treated tenderly, what is valuable and what needs to be cut away. People grow and bloom with you when this is the case. You become for each other generative seeds of new possibility and strong supports against which you each might lean when needed.

I pray that you prune away anything that is holding you back so that you might bloom magnificently in the coming spring.

- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight

Prayer for the Week

Lord,

Blessed are those who hunger for justice.

In your mercy, Lord, remember those who are desperate, exhausted, beaten down, and forgotten today.

Remember those who are unfairly imprisoned.

Remember those who have limited opportunities, who see no chance to make things better.

Remember those born into failed families, neighborhoods, nations. Remember those growing up in broken circumstances of all kinds. Remember the widow and the orphan.

Remember those whose lives are torn apart by war, or racism, or religious persecution, or unfair laws that prevent them from building a life for themselves and their families.

In your sight, they are my mother and father, my sister and brother, and I am their keeper.

You have called them blessed. Help them to hear your surprising word today. Bless them. Provide for their deepest hunger. Show me my part in that provision, and help me to act on it, for your glory and the welfare of your people.

Amen.

(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema)