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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-07-14, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2005. PAGE 11. From the Minister’s Study Message looks at God as the gardener By the Rev. Tom Wilson, the Anglican Parish of Blyth & Brussels As a child. I remember this time of the year as the time when we started to get fresh vegetables from my Dad's garden, which was the passion of his life. The little seeds that he planted (with some inept help from me at times), some looking like what they would be when they grew, like beans; others almost too small to see. like the lettuce seeds. My father was a great gardener and I see now in his work in planning, preparing, and planting each year a profound gesture of hope: a vote of confidence in the orderly and predictable power of life. Put those little brown specks in the ground and add water, and you’ll get plants. Of course, they didn’t all make it. When they were a couple of inches high, Dad had to thin them out, so that the ones remaining had a better shot at the nutrients in the soil. The birds, who were watching him as he planted the seeds to see where he put them, did some of the thinning also. As well, the rabbits and squirrels ate more than they should have, so now he really didn’t have as many growing plants as he wished he had. The life force is strong, but a lot can happen along the way. Growth into fruit-bearing maturity is not a sure bet. The image of God as a gardener, puttering away growing things, is not an image we think of right away. The Old Testament of the Bible gives us images of God as a mighty ruler. God as a father. God as a judge. Those are images we’ve seen and heard a lot. But God as a gardener, investing love and labour in us, God placing us here in the garden, with everything we need in order to grow offers us an aspect of the divine we usually overlook. It gives us a glimpse of God as one who hopes for us. The God who hopes for our good. The God who longs for everything to go well with us. A very different image from the one many people have, that image of a God who rains down trouble on the bad, and prosperity on the good, from a distant heaven. This God of the garden is on our side, cheering us on, hoping that we will stretch and grow. God the gardener is invested in our growth and development. Do you remember when you were young? I do. at least somewhat. We remember all the hopes we had for ourselves — grand hopes, some of them: we would be famous movie stars or famous hockey players. We remember that it seemed nothing could get in the way of our hopes. Oh, we knew that people sometimes had reverses ot fortune, that people sometimes didn't see their dreams come true, but that was other people. That wouldn't happen to us. When we were young, we felt that almost everything was within our power. And now? What do we think now? By now. most of us will have found out that human hopes require continual adjustment. Most of us have experienced things in our lives that we would never have chosen. Most of us have found that the power to own the world, ot which we felt so certain in our youth, really wasn’t ours. We used to think we could do just about anything we wanted to do; now we know that there are many things beyond our control. We used to feel outraged if something didn’t go our way. now we are not surprised. Life is harder than we thought it would be when we were young. A lol can happen. Put in a few decades, and you come to understand that. And yet. we have also come to understand something else: it has been those times of trouble, those times when things decidedly did not go our way that we grew the most. We get strong from trouble — not from the trouble itself, but from surviving it. We learn and grow from being challenged. The thinning that goes on in our lives, the losses we sustain, the wrong turns: these things form us powerfully. We are rather like the plants: we grow from being thinned. Il's how we gel strong. We might never ha-ve chosen some of the things that have happened to us. but we cannot deny the growth we have known because of them. That’s just the way it is with people and plants: growth has a cost, and sometimes it’s a high cost. We may not be able to choose everything in our lives, but we can always choose whether or not to allow ourselves to grow from it. Il is that choice for which God the gardener hopes in sowing us here: “Let me put them out here on the earth, and let life happen to them, and let them find the path ol strength in their lives. It is there for them to find. I have endowed each of them with the means by which to find nourishment and growth.’’ And from God's open hand we spill forth, each of us landing somewhere in the garden. Ready to go. Ready to grow. Ready to begin growing. If we think of God as the gardener, rather than as the stern, far-removed dispenser of human joys and sorrows, have we lost anything? What would be different if we thought of God in this way? Prayer might seem different, for one thing. You may have had the experience of praying mightily for something you wanted very much. “Guess it's just not God's will." you may have said to yourself when things didn't work out as you had hoped, and you set about remaking your plans and dreams to accommodate the new reality. But what if God were not far off. deciding whether or not to grant your request'.’ What il God were right beside you. instead, watching your lile grow, helping you to respond with growth instead of bitterness to the setback you have had? Then your prayer would be different, wouldn't il? Il would be less desperate, more watchful, quieter: a prayer of willingness to be shown what pathway opens when another closes. We would not have unanswered prayer; we would see that there is no such thing. God the gardener. The farmer. The sower. Close to us. and full of hope for our good. When Jesus used this idea to help his listeners understand God's love. He spoke to people who knew all about planting things. It was the most natural concept in the world for an idea of God that was really quite new: in Jesus. God came close to us and shared our experience. And it is this hope that has remained with us, and/hclps the gardens that we call our lives to grow in faith and love to follow Jesus teachings as best as we can as Christians. Sunday, July 17 Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m. Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m. BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Pastor John Kuperus i 523-9233 accessible yA Hwy. 4, Blyth / \ Wheeichair i THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA t/w to cwte SUNDAY, JULY 17 Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. St. John's, Brussels 11:15 a.m. Obituaries MARIA VAN LOOVEREN Maria Van Looveren of RR3, Blyth and formerly of Belgium passed away suddenly at Wingham and District Hospital on Sunday, July 10, 2005. She was in her 65th year. She was the beloved wife of Willy Nauwelaerts and dear mother of Dirk Nauwelaerts and Nancy Vannueten, all of RR3, Blyth. She was the loving grandmother of Hanne and Lara Nauwelaerts. Ms. Van Looveren was predeceased by her grandson Sander Nauwelaerts. Visitation was held at the Blyth Visitation Centre of the Falconer Funeral Homes Ltd., 407 Queen St., Blyth on Tuesday from 7 - 9 p.m. Funeral mass was held at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church. Brussels on Wednesday, July 13 at 11 a.m. with Father John Johnson officiating. Parish prayers were held at the funeral home on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Cremation has taken place. Donations to St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy. The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273 tainunity Church "The Church is not a Building, It is People Touching People" Sunday 9:15 a.m. - Prayer Meeting 11:00 a.m. - Worship Service Phone 523-4875 308 Blyth Rd. E. ~ Pastor Les Cook 523-4590 HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Marilyn McIlroy, Missionary to Haiti Vacation Bible School July 18-22 atCRC 10:30 am July Location: Blyth Community Centre, Upstairs Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 523-4848 http://getlivingwater.org i d'Donation-based | PASTORAL COUNSELLING i 1 • Marriage L • Family • Budgeting BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, July 17 Ethel United Church 9:30 a.m. at Gary & Beth Earl's home (if rainy, go to the church) Brussels United Church 11:00 a.m. We welcome our neighbours from Melville Presbyterian Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS tAe mo-ntll o-f ‘fitly Knox Belgrave is worshiping with their friends at Knox United Church, Belgrave Melville Brussels is worshiping with their friends at Brussels United Church Services will resume at Melville on July 31st. We will be welcoming our friends from Brussels United who will continue to worship with us ’ for the month of August. Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 Sunday fin Wednesday T\ • Auburn - 526-1131 PASTOR DAVE WOOD 10:30 a.m.- Morning Worship Service For the month of August there will be special guest speakers NO Sunday School for July or August 7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship Service 7:00 p.m. 7:15 p.m. - Adult Bible Study - Adult & Youth Bible Study Blyth United Church Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Sunday, July 17 Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Minister: Rev. Robin McGauley Office: 523-4224 Blyth United Church is a welcoming community of faith. W? celebrate God's presence through worship and study, and through responding to the needs and gifts of each other. Sanctuary J