In Ephesians, Paul prays for his readers (who by extension include us, because we’ve just read it!) that we may be “strengthened in our inner beings…as we are being rooted and grounded in love.” What an incredible prayer! And I love to think that someone is praying that for you and me…praying we are inwardly strengthened and rooted and grounded in love!
It is a wonderful prayer, yet how could it possibly happen to us—this strengthening and rooting and grounding in love? Well, one way I know it is happening is through our children. These past few months have been a time when over and over again, it’s been our children who have strengthened, rooted and grounded us in love. They’re the ones with what we need.
We are reminded of this today as Tyler plays the saxophone and so freely and graciously shares with us his amazing talent for jazz improvisation.
We were reminded of this in April when Peter and Lucas, our rising rock musicians, so generously gave the proceeds of the sales of their CDs at St. James to enhance our outreach programs.
Then a few weeks ago Jake strengthened and grounded us in love
when he asked us, his home parish, for some help so he can spend next year as a teaching missionary at an Episcopal School in Honduras.
Jake will teach math to 9th and 10th graders in a country where a 6th grade education is the norm.
And I don’t know about you, but I am also strengthened and grounded
in God’s love whenever I look at Dorree’s paintings…such joy and generosity of spirit comes from this Little One among us who’s been our July Artist of the Month! And Dorree is the one who says she’d like to return someday to her native Tanzania, and become the Prime Minister, so she can “help all the poor people.”
On Friday night, I had the privilege of spending the evening with parishioners and their granddaughter Christy. Christy shared with us about the two-month mission trip she took to Ivory Coast. She told of the people, their simple life-style, their suffering, their joys, and their needs. Christy hopes to complete her B.S. in nursing next year then dedicate her life to doing medical missionary work wherever God sends her. Knowing about her call and commitment strengthens me in my inner being. She strengthens all of us, and roots us and grounds us in God’s love.
Finally, there’s Gideon’s Garden. Remember it started as a dream, just a kernel of an idea some of our youth had last December: “Wouldn’t it be nice to grow a vegetable garden and to give the food to hungry people?” Yesterday I was looking on our web page at the pictures of the day in early June when we blessed and planted Gideon’s Garden. There were about 30 people there, half youth and half adults. There were some tiny seeds and a lot of small plants. There was a third-acre of land that frankly looked like an awful lot of ground for us to garden. In those pictures, it seemed to me there was a lot more dirt than people or plants. But the youth had taken their dream, planted the seeds in the ground, dedicated the ground to God and asked for God’s blessing. They wanted to supply food for the Breaking Bread Kitchen, the Stockbridge Open Table, and the People’s Pantry. On that day in early June, I couldn’t imagine how we were ever going to raise enough food for all of that.
But I understand there’s already been at least one generous donation to the Pantry. And last Tuesday, as the rains came down, a handful of kids harvested an amazing amount and variety of food: Carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, onion, all kinds of lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers, Swiss chard and some tomatoes! Sally said her Prius was packed to the gills with vegetables. I also heard Darra’s car needed to be detailed after the muddy harvesting crew got home!
Then on Thursday night at Breaking Break Kitchen, seven of the youth came and joyfully served their harvest, along side our wonderful adult crew. Pennie introduced the Gideon’s Garden Gang to the diners, and they received a hearty round of applause. There was salad and cooked mixed vegetables for the 60 diners. Although I couldn’t be there, I heard it was, “Absolutely delicious because it was so fresh”. And, I might add, because it was so rooted and grounded in love!
After the meal, there were tables full of bags of fresh vegetables for everyone to take home. And there were salad and cooked vegetables for everyone to take home. There were even fresh vegetables for Margaret to take home to her chickens!
Jesus looked up at the crowd of 5,000 and asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip said, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” But then Andrew said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.” ‘Didn’t seem like much, but it was the child who had what they needed. So Jesus took the boy’s fishes and loves and blessed them. And the people ate and were satisfied. Then they gathered up the food that was left over. “They filled 12 baskets.” Amen.
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