Dear Ones of St. C's,

I, sadly, am not a gardener.  I say sadly, because I am a believer in planting small seeds in my heart and the hearts of others with hopes those seeds will grow.  I am fully committed to tending to my own story, my own pains and disappointments, with the hopes that God’s love will break through and I will find healing.  I also love beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables. And I know so much of gardening is the physical act of experiencing all of these things.  I understand the love of gardening even if I can not relate to the actual gardener. 

I also believe that God is not only found inside our sanctuary, but in all that we do.  So I love how our grounds reflect this understanding of who God is.  We don’t just nurture our spiritual lives by praying and worshipping together on Sunday morning.  We nurture our spiritual lives by tending to our garden, taking care of the bees, putting food in the bird feeders, cleaning the bird baths, and allowing others to share our grounds to grow their own food.  I love how we use flowers from our garden to beautify our indoor worship space and that we provide fresh vegetables for our food bank.  Our grounds are alive with God’s creation, goodness, and abundance and I am so thankful. 

So while, I am not a gardener, I have come to the conclusion that all of us who participate in spiritual nurturing and openness to God’s love and healing in this world are called to have the heart of a gardener.  We arrive hopeful for all that could be - for all that we plant and all that could spring up for us to nurture that gives life to this world.  I hope you will join me this Sunday in tending to our garden beds after the 11am service this Sunday (May 7th).  The kids will plant in their own garden bed during their liturgy of the word on Sunday.  Kids are also welcome to join after the 11am service.  There will be other activities for the kids as well. 

with hope, 

Meghan