Good morning all! We made it to Tuesday!
Today’s scripture:
Isaiah 65:17-25
17 For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to garden food. For some reason, I get more and more delighted each year that I get to put plants in the ground and watch them grow. I remember as a little girl, my family decided to build a garden on our property. We picked the most perfect spot. Dad borrowed Grandpa’s rotertiller and we dug up a patch of grass. We mapped out the square and dreamed about what would go in it…..pumpkins of course and cucumbers….beans and corn….a watermelon plant over there….and then I couldn’t wait…an artichoke plant. I couldn’t believe that we could even TRY to grow such a thing! I thought they just magically appeared on the earth. So we planted this magical plant (in my little girl brain) and started to nurture all of the plants. I was out there cheering on the plants and we ended up getting all sorts of lovely things…including one glorious artichoke.
We didn’t do the garden every year but the moment that I could live in a house with a garden, I started it back up. I had a roommate who would put on her gardening outfit and we would head outside. While she enjoyed the outfit mainly (;)), I learned about complementary planting and I got to plant tomatoes (something off limits in my childhood home to plant).
When it came time to buy a house in McMinnville, the most important piece for me was garden space. At this time of year, I am already putting seeds into the ground and pulling out things I grew over the winter. I am looking at the soils to see what it might need and mapping out a plan for the season. (BTW…anyone want to split a load of mushroom compost this year?).
This is new creation happening right before our eyes. We can’t help but see things happening in ways we never imagined that the earth could produce. The world is renewing itself and growing new stuff that we couldn’t foresee happening. Sometimes we have to prune away to make room for the healthy newness. Sometimes we have to make sure that we see where newness is happening…but it IS happening. Isaiah reminds us in this passage that God is always creating a new creation. Isaiah outlines this gorgeous picture of just what that looks like and it is not just in the ground…but in relationships, dreams, joy and delight, building up and making space for a new thing. Ideally this is what this season of Lent (meaning Spring) is all about…this gorgeous vision of what will be and what could be.
What is beginning to bud in your life? What is starting to grow and transform? Where are you seeing new growth, transformed relationships, and new creation? Where are you tending those spaces and getting excited about the new plant? Something to think on today…
Peace,
C
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