In our back yard is a beautiful hosta bed, with a variety of hostas of various sizes, colors and designs. Those were here when we arrived. Last year we sat back and watched what came up in the flower beds and played the game, "Flower or Weed?" Once we determined it to be a flower or plant that was supposed to be there, the next question was, "should it stay or should it go?" (here you can start singing the song from "The Clash.") So some plants had to go - the Lilly of the Valley are gone (an incredible root system), some pine bushes and the May Apples. The next step was resetting paving stones around the perimeter of the flower bed, which had become uneven and out of place over time.
Then came the mulch. I am on first name basis with the guys at Lowe's! We know that 20 bags of mulch WILL fit in the back of my vehicle. I know where the mulch I want is located in the side lot at the store. I know how much it will cost. I know my mulch.
Over the past couple of weeks I have learned some new techniques, including keeping the bags in my vehicle and placing them right into the wheel barrow instead of stacking and picking them up off the ground later (this I didn't learn right away). I also learned how to best cut the bags so the mulch was easily released. I devised a method of opening the gate at the right speed so I could get the wheel barrow through, and close the gate behind me before the dogs got out.
I have moved a lot of mulch.
I have heard many say, "Don't ask me to pray. I don't feel comfortable doing it." Maybe it's because we need more practice doing it. It becomes a habit - second nature if you will.
As I write this, we prepare for the memorial service of a true saint, Mike Pivarnik. Mike made worship and study a habit in his life. He was faithfully in worship every Sunday when he was physically able to be present. It was natural for him. He knew the flow, the pattern, the order of things. It became so much a habit for him, that when he was unable to be present, it upset him deeply. When I arrived at Epiphany a year and a half ago, Mike was starting to experience health issues that made it impossible to come to worship here in the front row, pulpit side at the 8 am service. And so we would take communion to him. Tears filled his eyes as he received the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ. Oh, how he wished to be in church. Oh how he missed being fed with Word and Sacrament. He longed for that nourishment, for he truly believed that these were what kept him going. It is what kept him connected, yoked if you will, to God.
In Matthew 11 Jesus says:
28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.29 Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.”
The promise
Jesus offers in these words are the promise that he will be yoked with us. In our burdens, and in our weariness, God
promises to walk with us, to bear the weight of the burden, and to lighten the
load. Weighed down with grief, we can be
assured that God is with us, to give us peace, comfort and the promises of life
and hope.
Worship, study and prayer are how we can be yoked to Christ. The more we do it, the more natural it becomes.
That being said, I am about ready to be done with mulch!
Peace,
Pastor Charlie
No comments:
Post a Comment