From Soil to Soul

The fruitfulness of spring and summer is over, and the beautiful fall hues surrounding us color our streets, valley and lives, prelude to the white landscapes to come. After the harvest from the garden - bright red tomatoes, golden wheat baked into a brown communion loaf, green basil - comes a frigid rest, the first frosts and an early snow having already arrived in our valley. The Jerusalem Cross Garden lies barren and empty, necessitating a shift in the focus of these blog ramblings - from soil to soul.

The faces of a small group of faithful men spring to mind. We have been meeting every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. at our little church for about a year now. And first things are happening each time we gather. One, a new day begins with that vital cup of coffee (Fair Trade) and the friendly banter and fellowship of common purpose. Two, engaging the Word and the Three Simple Rules (do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God) we submit to the truth that life is not all about us.

The group is not the most handsome or holy. There is Wally and Jay from Ski Hill; Randy, Tony and Dale from down Icicle Road; Bruce from North Road; Charlie from up the Chumstick; and yours truly from here in town. And the gardening quality of persistence in their commitment to the cultivation of their own souls and those of the rest of the group, is yielding a harvest in each of us. We are all being fed. And truly, no loaf of bread from any garden, Jerusalem or otherwise, is proving to be so nourishing for life as him who is the Bread of Heaven.