Green

So, even though Spring does not arrive officially for a couple more weeks, I can already smell it in the air.

And it’s clogging my sinuses.

But apart from that little problem, there are some wonderful signs of new life that I seek out and long for every March. Life is good when you catch the first gleaming branches of “yellow bells,” and the bright, straining heads of “buttercups” breaking forth from their winter sleep (that’s forsythia and daffodils for you un-country folks out there).

Since our move to Douglasville last summer, my family and I are blessed to have taken up occupancy in a great, new neighborhood close to the church. And, as much as I’m thankful to live there, there is one big drawback.

Apart from the ubiquitous willow oaks in our front yards (every house got one planted by the builder), we live in a mass of humanity where nothing green seems to grow. Such is often the way with new construction.

We all have our patch of front-yard Bermuda grass, clinging as best it can to the hard-pan clay that lies beneath it, and that’s about all there is. And even those little patches are brown right now.

Although it seems for all the world as though nothing is even considering a “bloom” anytime soon in our little piece of earth, I know that the potential is still there. Or, at least, I think it is.

I know that God’s creation has incredible power to grow, produce, flower and multiply. It happens all around us, all the time.

But then I remember the rich, loamy soil of the woods where green life seems to flourish with only God as the gardener. All that good stuff got scraped away when our neighborhood was made fit for human habitation last year. Admittedly, the brick-red modeling clay left behind in our back “yard” does push my faith toward its horticultural limit.

If I have any ability to understand agricultural metaphors of life and growth, the people of Jesus’ time surely possessed an infinitely deeper connection to the world and clearer understanding of life’s ebb and flow.

They understood the principles that cause a tree to grow and produce. They often times had to, if they wanted to eat and survive. On a daily basis, they lived, first-hand, creation’s cycle of life, growth, death and decay that leads to the possibility of new life.

Jesus once told them, ““A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

Often, as I’ve read that parable throughout the course of my lifetime, I’ve wondered whether God is the landowner with an axe, or the gardener ready to fertilize. Sometimes, it’s depended on the day, or my mood, as to which I’ve believed him to be.

Today, I’m feeling pretty sure he’s the gardener. We live in a world where it’s easy to “throw away.” Our first reaction to disappointment, often, is the elimination of that which has disappointed us. It’s not the norm in our world to take more time…to stick it out…to stay the course…to invest time and energy and faith in what might yet be.

Is it possible that Bible tells us that God is a farmer, spreading manure over the roots of an under-achieving tree?

Maybe so. Isn’t the Bible great?

Sacredspace.ie today reminds us that:

“…there are times of disagreeable growth. We can…feel the pain when our roots are struck by the spade. We feel useless, past our best, no good to anyone, a failure in the most important things we tried, whether marriage, vocation, rearing children, our job and career. Life loses its savor. We cannot pray. We sense that some people think the world would be better off without us.

St Ignatius called this state desolation; and he advised: remember that it will pass. Remain firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided you before the clouds gathered. Make use of the grace God gives you, and you will be able to withstand your enemies. In consolation, think about how you will conduct yourself in time of desolation. And insist more on prayer (SE 317 ff). Then you come to see – gradually – that this same ground, however stinking, is holy, and we can find God there. He is wielding the spade, spreading the dung.”

March is here. Easter is coming. The same ground that is brown today will be a healthy, deep shade of green…very, very soon. God is with us in this garden, and no matter how unseemly the task, he will give us what we need for growth. Remember.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

We celebrate with the Fountain and Davis families in the baptism of Cierra Fountain and Brina Davis this past Sunday. What a great moment in our worship!

RACK MINISTRY UPDATE: Our Random Acts of Christian Kindness ministry, made possible by a donor from Wesley UMC in Evans, GA got off to a great start this past Sunday. Each family was given an envelop with a RACK card and a $20 bill. The task is simple – have a face-to-face experience of giving and helping someone who is in need. We ask that you share your giving stories with us so that we can publish them in our blog, and in our newsletter. Here’s the first one from this week:

“Our RACK envelope was given to a fellow that we’ve been praying for in our church. He is a co-worker with me, the cutter operator in our plant. He has left his condition in God’s hands to direct the doctors for the cure that he knows will come. When I told him that there are 300 Christians at SOTH praying for him, he started to cry and he said thank you to all the people at SOTH. I told him to thank God for bringing this member into his prayer chain. He also told me that the cancer has reduced in size, and he stated that now he knows why this is happening.”

We look forward to hearing more stories. If you didn’t get a “leaded” envelope, we’ll do our best to have a few more available this weekend. There are “unleaded” envelopes with cards that you can put your own money in if you’d like to give again.

SOFTBALL NEWS: Congrats to our Co-ed softball team, off to a great start under the direction of Kristi Haffner. They defeated Pray’s Mill Baptist Church in their season opener, 14-10. Our Men’s Church League team will begin play on March 23 against West Metro.

BOOK STUDY: Seismic Shifts book study continues tonight, with two more installments, total. 7pm in our worship space.

IMPORTANT MEETINGS: This coming Monday, March 13th, our Douglas County Board of Commissioners will hold a town-hall style meeting at SOTH, 7pm. We are looking forward to hearing about all the great things happening in our community, and to getting more information about the proposed intersection realignment through our church property. We will follow this with a congregational meal and time of discussion, Wednesday night, March 15th.

GOOD TO GREAT: Our next worship series will bring together scripture and the best-selling business book, Good to Great by Jim Collins. We will stay with this book through the Lenten season and culminate on Easter Sunday. All church leaders and members of SOTH will be encouraged to attend an in-depth study of the book on Wednesday nights – 7pm, starting March 22nd. Copies of Good to Great will be on sale this Sunday for $16 each.

MILK MONEY: Our special Lenten offering, "Milk Money" will get underway this week. Look for a special milk bottle for "Grade A Giving," this Sunday during the children's moments. We will ask each household in our church to give $1 or $2 for each day of Lent, and return the bottles on Easter Sunday. We believe that we can raise at least $2000 through this effort, to be divided between various United Methodist ministries, including the UM Children's home in Decatur, Wesley Woods retirement facilities, and the Bishop's Initiative for Action Ministries. Thanks to the good folks at Cannon UMC for the great idea and doing all the legwork on the really cool milk bottles (you'll see this Sunday).