. . . how your garden grows . . . .

 ana, ana, how does your garden grow . . . ana oversees the mesa verde gardens on the land currently known as the united methodist church of santa cruz without walls on the east side.  there, even in this drought, people are making their mark; planting and tending and weeding; they feed children and family members and neighbors.  and on sunday, we worshipped and blessed their efforts, giving thanks and praise; singing and praying and fellowshipping.
we have not been in community on this property on 17th avenue in a long time.  we were delighted to meeting the gardeners and the neighbors, and to celebrate the gifts of life -- to recognize the seeds that grow -- and they do grow, with loving care, diligent toil, and collaboration with others who share their wisdom, their insight, and their loving spirit.  this is truly a place to grow -- in grace, in understanding, and in love.

working with matthew 13 (the parables of the kin-dom) we explored with one another about what makes a weed -- often we judge plant life to be a weed or a flower based on perception.  we shared with one another our thoughts about what things we face that need to be planted, maintained, weeded, and harvested.
we explored with one another about what internal weed we'd like to get rid of in our own lives.  (sara lama das reminded us that "people who spend a great deal of time in their gardens attest to the natural mindfulness that gardening requires".  spiritual discernment takes time to cultivate and nurture and grow before either weeding or harvesting can occur.)
and we explored with one another the vision and the actual "doing" of how we would weed out an issue close to our heart in the world.  we're in a time in our lives when the world needs to come together to root out the weeds of destruction, war, hatred, dis-ease, abuse ... the list can seem endless; just pick one weed to work at terminating -- such action can mean the world might one day live in peace -- maybe not in our lifetime, but then again, the world isn't just about meeting our needs....

one of the challenges of being in ministry in two locations is that we get to created sacred space each time we plan an event ... so, many of us met early to gather items for transport; it is amazing what you can fit in a convertible -- especially when raindrops (so longed for!) were falling.  Ah, the harvest of grace!  how is your garden growing?