07.24.08
Gardens and Life and Lessons
We are now in a cycle of liturgical readings focused on seeds, weeds, planting, and harvest. I’ve learned over the years that the agricultural practices of First Century Middle East farmers is vastly different than our modern farming techniques and that those differences can effect our understanding of the parables. The presence of weeds that could choke out crops was life threatening in a world of subsistence farming. But I have also learned, from hands in the dirt experience, that the meaning of Jesus’ parables are far-reaching and universal.
Growing up in New York we always tended vegetables and fruit at home. My grandparents turned a New York City lot into a little bit of rural Italy with figs and grapes and peaches and chickens. Later, when my family moved to the suburbs, we planted corn and beans and other practical garden items. But it has only been after I was married and my wife turned me toward wildflowers and exotics that I’ve come to learn the lessons of the garden.
We share a patch of ground, little more than an alley, with a neighbor. After a few years of watching nothing grow in the patch, Laura and I approached our neighbor with a proposal to naturalize the area. Our neighbor was agreeable, so,
Hollyhock - Nature's Gift to Us
after hours of preparing soil and considerable expense in purchasing natural wildflower seed, we waited. In time a few of the wildflowers we planted came forth. But the surprise was an abundance of hollyhock. Our neighbor remembered that a long-gone former owner had cultivated rare, heirloom plants. Over the years they had been lost and forgotten. Now, with the soil upturned and refreshed, the beauty came forth.
Every year I attempt to grow a few tomato plants. Sometimes, if I’m lucky and the squirrels are kind, I will be able to harvest a few nice tomatoes, but far fewer than I’d like or that I expect. Three years ago I refreshed our wildflower patch with a few wheelbarrows of compost. The following summer the wildflower patch was filled with vines of tomatoes that had gone wild. There was an abundance of sweet, often oddly shaped, tomatoes everywhere. The wild tomatoes returned the next summer. This year they are gone.
My wife, Laura, rejoices in the abundance and uncertainty of the wildflowers we have planted. If we get “volunteers”, what some might call weeds, she rejoices in their beauty. I like a little more control over my garden. I claimed a small patch of ground where I carefully planned and planted a select variety of flowers. They grew as expected and are very nice. But my patch was also invaded by Queen Anne’s Lace. As I watch the “unwanted” plants (and therefore a weed) grow and bloom, I realize that it is far more beautiful and infinitely hardier than the flowers I wanted.
I’ve learned that patience is a necessity. I’ve learned that no amount of planning can overcome nature. I’ve learned just how little control we have over the course of life. I’ve learned that there is a wonderful beauty in surprise visitors. I’ve learned to be grateful for and to not take for granted the gifts given us.
We speak of Jesus as the “Master Teacher.” I’ve learned that the best teachers are those who open our eyes to the everyday lessons of life. Sowers who spread seeds abundantly (those who welcome everyone to the Word of God), farmers who let the weeds grow with the wheat (ministers who tend to the marginal and uncertain and difficult), growers who wait patiently for the harvest (hopefully, all of us) all show the way of the Kingdom. Patience, and gentleness, and generosity, and open hearts are the qualities we must learn if we are to thrive in the garden of the Lord.
07.14.08
What We Leave Behind
Della Simpson died last week. Della was a longtime member of Saint Anne; she had been a member more than nine years. I first met Della when she served as a catechist in the faith formation program; Della taught Second Graders. She loved preparing the children for First Communion. She often created frustration for some of the other catechists because Della didn’t always stay with lessons plans and there was always a degree of uncertainty about just what Della would present. But Della loved the Mass and Eucharist and she loved children and her love was infectious.
Della also loved to sing. She was an active and enthusiastic member of the choir. I’ve been told by other choir members that she didn’t have the greatest of voices, but Della never lacked joy and spirit. You couldn’t watch Della sing without joining in.
Whenever there was a project or activity that needed helping hands, Della seemed to be there. She’d take on anything asked of her. She worked with joy and a sense of wonder. In three years I never heard her speak badly about anyone. She was as positive and joyful as anyone I’ve ever met. I recall watching her deal with a couple of young boys who were misbehaving. When I offered to step in and assist, she observed that they didn’t need to be corrected but inspired; and she was right.
I’ll miss Della. But I know that she is not gone. She is present in the lives of the children she brought to Eucharist. She sings in the choir and the congregation. She is part of the living, loving community she helped build up. She goes on as a lesson and example of the Communion of Saints – ever present and ever connected with one another and with God.
07.11.08
What about burdens?
Life does bring burdens. Some can be avoided and others can not. Some should be avoided and others should not be avoided. Some are quite manageable and others take everything in us to survive. Some we get better at over time and others never get easy. Some bring the best out of us and others bring the worst out of us. Some we respond to on “auto pilot” and others we become creative and invent new responses and strategies.
Jesus understood that life’s journey brings it share of challenges. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…” (Matthew 11: 28-29) We heard those words in last Sunday’s Gospel. So what does our faith and journey of discipleship have to offer us in dealing with life’s burdens?
A yoke is not a very common part of our lives any more but it is the image Christ offers. A yoke is a wooden frame fitted across the necks of two oxen or other draft animals to join them together as they pull a plow or vehicle. It can also be a wooden bar shaped so that it rests across a person’s shoulders for carrying balanced loads suspended at each each end. It would seem that a yoke is about sharing the load, working together, and/or maintaining balance. Those are some very basic strategies or goals when dealing with burdens.
How do we take Christ’s yoke upon us and learn from Him? One way is to be very serious about discipleship, about growing with Christ to find balance and strength, about learning from him. The great news about His invitation is that Jesus wants to be yoked with us. Not everyone is willing to help with the burdens of others. Knowing to ask for help and who to ask for help are often the first steps in dealing with burdens. A disciple knows to ask Jesus for help, strength, courage, and wisdom.
The very first step in discipleship is prayer. Yes prayer with the community at Sunday Eucharist but also prayer each day alone or with those in your household or at work. It means sharing the joys and challenges of one’s life and also learning to listen to what Christ has to say. It means taking time to read and pray with Scripture – especially the Sunday readings.
A disciple is one who makes service an integral part of life. This can be at home or work or the parish or the community or the world. Greatness comes in serving others – especially the most in need. This is the ministry that Jesus began and invites disciples to continue.
A disciple is one who who is grateful and aware that all is from God and thus wants to give back to God in gratitude. There is so much one can give. What matters is to create the habits of giving. Giving time and sharing talents is important. Giving money to one’s church and for works of charity and justice is also essential. Often this can be an after thought or what is left over or done in response to a need. Serious discipleship challenges us to make a plan with our money, to give with some sacrifice, and to give first to God in gratitude.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…” (Matthew 11: 28-29) What is not to like about a promise of rest from life’s burdens. The challenge is in taking His yoke upon us!
07.01.08
New Beginnings
Today I enter the world of blogging – a new beginning for me – but very familiar to many. Ten years ago was a new beginning for St. Anne and for me. St. Anne was the first new parish founded in over 18 years in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. We were not able to move into our Parish Center until July 22nd so we met in homes of staff people and parishioners to prepare for our first mass on July 26, 1998. There was much we did not know then but we were convinced it was important to get the word out and tell people about a new Catholic Church community to serve the growing and often very young population moving into Kenosha County west of Hwy 31. In reality people have come from all parts of Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Racine, west of Interstate 94, and Illinois.
Our blog is one more way to tell our story in order to create and sustain relationships with people of faith – especially with those whose world is so influenced by technology, the internet, and/or blogging. Having just celebrated the Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul this past weekend and having just begun the “Year of St. Paul” as the church celebrates his 2,000th birthday, it seems appropriate to seek out new ways to spread the Good News and gather people of faith into a community for prayer, for ministry, for charity and justice, to learn about stewarship, and to strengthen our common discipleship to Jesus Christ.
I look forward to developing a regular habit to write and to enter a world I might have otherwise only heard others discussing.
