Gardens are on my mind this week. Mainly I feel glad that I’m not responsible for one. I have enjoyed gardening in the past and hope to garden more in the future, but right now Rainbow feels like garden enough.

Like a well-tended garden, the church…

• Nurtures a variety of plant/human life
• Discerns what nutrients are needed to sustain abundant life
• Needs tending especially if we don’t want weeds to take over
• Requires muscle and patience, and yes, this means we might feel sore at times
• Likewise, the church experiences set-backs and drought
• And yet we continue to plan, till, plant, weed, water, volunteer, pray, work together, and hope to share in the great harvest

I started thinking about this list last Sunday when I took some Kindergarten-5th graders  across the street to our Rainbow Garden. We took this little garden field trip because every time we celebrate communion (first Sunday of every month), I find a place outside to pour the leftover communion juice. I see this as an opportunity to give thanks for the land and all those who have stewarded it. We also use this as a time to pray for the peace of the people who work, play, and stand on it today.

I was moved by their concentration and the care in which they passed the cup and poured out the juice. Let’s just hope the broccoli likes our leftover juice. And let’s hope that we continue to make this Rainbow garden/community grow more and and more into the likeness of Christ, as we pray and hope for a great harvest of the Spirit.

Lastly, here are some photos of Aaron Barnhart (Happy 50th birthday Aaron!) mixing our prayer bowl prayers into our church compost pile.

As he worked his arm muscles some of us worked our vocal chords and sang “O healing river.” Stanza three goes like this:

Let the seed of freedom awake and flourish,  let the deep roots nourish, let the tall stalks rise. O healing river, send down your waters, O healing river, from out of the skies.

May it be so.