Pastoral Thought--July 14

 I appreciate Emma and her gifts very much. She has gifts and skills that support and benefit our family in ways that amaze me at times with both their simplicity and their necessity. While JonMark is a great caregiver who has learned to sit and be still with someone, Emma uses a different approach to accomplish the same thing. She is hands-on in a way that many others are not in this world. For instance today I am thinking about her green thumb. . . 

I have a number of succulents and cacti in my office. She has bought me some of them and others were gifts. Perhaps out of laziness and ignorance, I have sought her help in taking these plants out of their store-bought homes and potting them in their permanent containers. 

I like to think that I needed her help because I do not know how to repot a plant, but the fact is that there are times when I don’t want to get dirt under my nails—and Emma likes it. So I call Emma from her root. She smirked as I hold out the plant that needs her loving attention. She takes it in her hands and cares for them. 

Each time I give her a plant to care for, she lovingly heads to the back porch to work her magic on my little green friends. Gently potting soil is placed in each cup or pot as needed. Kindly Emma trims the root systems so that they can grow well and not suffer from any root-rot that would limit their growth potential. With a gentle mixture of pressure and care, Emma sets them into their new home. 

She waters the plants a bit so that their roots can begin to grow—cacti don’t need much water. Then she presents them back to me with some instruction. She tells me how much to water them and how often to take them outside for sunlight. I pretend to listen because I know that when my plants need love and attention (which they have), Emma will care for them.

As I was reading the Philokalia, a classic of Orthodox Christian spirituality, I came across the words of St. Gregory of Sinai. In a section entitled “watchfulness,” Gregory says these words to the church: 

 “For plants which are frequently translated do not put down roots.” 

The section where this quotation resides talks about the necessity of choice in our relationship with God. We have the choice how we are going to work at experiencing and encountering God. But knowing this, we often do not choose to be deliberate or carful about how we engage God. Often we would rather squeeze God into a time slot when it works best for us, but that using Gregory’s metaphor, is just another time when we transplant our roots from the source of vibrancy and life. We need to find time, deliberate time, time where the caring nature of God can consistently care for us. 

I wonder what your devotional life looks like? Do you have a consistent time, consistent space, consistent way that you put your roots deeper into God’s word and God’s presence? If not, then perhaps creating that time might more life-giving then you initially thought. 

Blessings

Rev. Derek