Saturday, March 15, 2008

potential

I spend the first part of today studying and discussing proposals that will come to our church's General Conference next month--suggestions of how to change the church for the good.  (Not all suggestions seem to think that the same changes would be good...)

And, this evening, I've been studying and scheming about which seeds to plant in my garden.  I've narrowed it to:
2 kinds of corn, 4 kinds of beans, 2 melons (even though I know my soil is mostly clay and they'd be happier in sand), 3 pumpkins, 2 kinds of zucchini, okra, 2 eggplants, leeks, turnips, chard, spinach, lettuce and some herbs.   (Did you know that you can grow a watermelon with ORANGE flesh?!?)


Perhaps seed packet descriptions and petitions to change the church aren't so different: hopeful descriptions of possibility that may or may not actually take root in beautiful ways.

(This is making me ponder, a little too deeply, what might be the church equivalent of the nasty little horned bugs that like to eat my plants.)

There are these very brief little "rationale" statements after General Conference petitions that have about the same depth as seed descriptions.  (That is, they tell you about the lovely orange flowers but not about the plants nasty habit of spreading itself all through your garden.  Or its susceptibility to powdery mildew.  Or its demand for a whole lot of water.)

So, here's hoping we'll have the wisdom to wade through all these pages of legislation and find what will grow the Kin-dom of God!  I'm sure thankful to have companions on this journey.

3 comments:

David said...

I know about the horned bugs, remind me to share sometime.
Great choices, and as always make sure the church stays as colorful as your garden.

Molly Vetter said...

Hey, thanks, David! And, thanks for the book quiz link... what fun.

karen said...

I vote for okra and inclusion!

Beautiful and rich -- soil enriched? -- weaving of metaphor and reality.

And, yes, I did know about the ORANGE flesh watermelon. I'm sorry to have held out on you. My grandmother, many years (decades) ago was excited by the same discovery. I wonder if HER favorite color was orange?!

Happy planting and harvesting in your garden and at general conference.