Light in the Window - May 11, 2022
Dear Covenant Family,
For many years I have started seedlings in our upstairs laundry room at a west facing window. When the boys were little, they took turns watching and watering the dirt, and were fascinated by the tiny green shoots that popped up. I had more time at home then, so we planted lots of different seeds- pumpkins and sunflowers, squash and herbs, eggplant and peppers. As they grew older, the boys would challenge me on why I kept gardening when we could buy vegetables at the store. Which really was a question about why they had to keep weeding as one of their household chores. I’m not sure I ever gave them a satisfactory answer, because the truth was, I didn’t know myself. The deer and rabbits and groundhogs came every year, so the harvest was often sparse. I spent more on seeds and plants than I should have for the return. It was hot work sometimes that made my back hurt while weeding or hoeing. I think I kept doing it because I liked to see things grow and get my hands dirty touching the earth.
So every year I still start a few seeds. At first, they are covered and put on top of the refrigerator in trays because seeds don’t need light to sprout, they need the dark. And I’ve always wondered about the spiritual lesson in that part of God’s design. Sometimes a revelation happens amid the darkness of grief or hardship. We have a breakthrough, a sprouting, when we realize that God is there after all, that we are loved, that we are not alone. After that we need to apply the “water” of prayer and worship, the light of relationships with encouraging people and the joy of serving others, but God causes the growth.
A gardener friend recently told me I can put out my seedlings when the ground is warm enough to take off my shoes and stand barefoot on the earth. “When it’s warm enough for your toes”, he says, “then it’s warm enough for your hoes!” I always knew my garden was holy ground.
Peace,
Pastor Jessie
