The Deacon’s View:  “Carrot Planting Time”

Change is in the air.  The liturgical colors have swiftly gone from celebration white, to Epiphany green, and we now prepare for the purple of Lent.  The wonderful celebration of Donna’s time as our rector is past.  Rob is no longer singing in the choir or leading us in the prayers of the people.  There are new faces on the vestry, and the Search committee continues to meet.  All around us there  is evidence of endings, uncertainties and new beginnings.  Even our Sunday lessons (if we pay close attention)  remind us that endings and beginnings are always right up against each other, so tightly connected that nothing ever ends without something else beginning, or begins without something needing to end.  But, buried in this uncertainty of in-between time, lay the seeds of God’s coming provision.

In a way, interim time is a lot like planting carrot seeds.  Tiny seeds are placed under the soil, out of sight.  Our “seeds” are the trust that God really does know us and is quietly making provision for us here at St. Paul’s. Our spiritual challenge over the next months will be three-fold:
We need to trust that God is working with the seeds, and to be patient with the process that may at times seem way too slow.
Resist the temptation of the over-eager carrot planters who pull up the tiny green shoots “just to check on the carrots growth”.  So, hands off!  Just pray for the seed.
Finally, keep your eyes open, and look for the amazing provision that God is already giving—in our Sunday worship time, our Lenten Wednesday evening service and soup suppers, followed by “Questions of Faith “ discussion, etc.
New beginnings are already popping up in surprising ways.  GOD IS HERE.
        Your Deacon,
            Gay