JERUSALEM CROSS GARDENING...OF SOIL AND SOUL: Pentecost Looms and a Staff Waits to Guide Us

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Pentecost Looms and a Staff Waits to Guide Us

In slow progression, in step with the liturgical seasons - Christmas, epiphany, Lent, Easter, P

entecost - THE STORY unfolds for another year to help shape our hearts and common life.

And we enact this story in multiple ways. A tree decorated our celebration of Emmanuel, God with us, Him who was and is the Light of the World. That same tree on epiphany moved

out of the confines of the sanctuary into the Jerusalem Cross Garden, visible to the neighborhood, sign that the Light comes to shine a way in the darkness. Sited at the center of the Cross (click on photo, left, to enlarge), it reminded us that through regular practice of the four acts - devotion, worship, compassion and justice - God uses our light, Christ living in us, to draw all people to Him.

Now the Aldersgate Staff, made from the 09/1

0 Christmas tree, hangs on the CommonGround Gallery wall waiting to inspire us to step our way into a year of mission and service. Where will the same Holy Spirit that inspired John Wesley on Wednesday, May 22, 1738, in that chapel on Aldersgat e Street, London, lead us this year?

We'll wait for Pentecost to prayerfully make our choice. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will decide? Kingdomtide awaits, a season of summertime adventure in service to God and Gods' kingdom.

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About Jerusalem Cross Gardening

In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

(James 1: 21. The Message)

Jerusalem Cross Gardening...of Soil and Soul

...of Soil (Pleasure)

Cilantro. Basil. Mint. Garlic. Planted in the four little crosses of my raised-bed in my potager garden, these herbs will add flavor to family dishes - think picante sauce, pesto and hummus - bringing taste and pleasure to our meals.

...and of Soul (Purpose)

But there is more. The same four little crosses reminds us of the four acts that deepen faith - acts of devotion, worship, compassion and justice - flavoring the pleasures of life with divine intention.

Just as the herbs flavor our meals, regular engagement of the four acts help flavor our witness to the way of Christ in the world, bringing purpose (Bread of Heaven) to pleasure (bread of the earth) and a holy spice to lives God uses to "landscape" the world.

Jerusalem-Cross-Gardening for Small Groups:

To spice up your life, consider joining a weekly small group. Meet regularly with friends for contemplation, reading scripture, and fellowship. Allow the Word to landscape your life. Share how you have "witnessed to Jesus Christ in the world through the acts of devotion, worship, compassion and justice under the guidance of the Holy Spirit" each week as a way of mutually encouraging one another in your spiritual walk.

We're all invited to the divine dance. Join the journey. Jerusalem-Cross-Gardening-of-soil-and-soul invites us onto the "Trinity-mapped" playground of God where Christ plays in creation (Father), history (Jesus) and community (Holy Spirit). (Eugene Peterson).