building a cathedral

ok - i have been "offline" for a few weeks. Disconnected, disassociated, disinterested. Thank you to those of you who reminded me that this writing stuff isn't really just for me - getting out of myself.

well, today was a good day to start letting myself be re-introduced back into the blog sphere.

I ran across this illustration posted on the blog of Andrew Jones

anyway - the whole thing about planting a grove of oak trees made me think of two things directly related to my life in the past few weeks.

1) - the obvious, church planting. what I have done here, or have not done here, may not show up for many years - but I can at the very least, trust that the Holy Spirit is at work through me - and through the connections and relationships that are being built.

2) - last week I was in MN and I went to visit my grandma, who is living in the same homestead where she grew up - but now it belongs to my aunt and uncle. So as asked my aunt to show me around the yard and tell me what they have done, and what she has planted. (they have really created a beautiful space). At the very edge of the yard where the lawn and the grove and the field all meet, my aunt pointed out to me a small twig - the beginning of an oak tree.

I've been told that it is difficult (or ill-advised) to try to re-locate an oak, because of the long dorsal root that grows strait down into the earth. If you want an oak somewhere, you have to start it with an acorn! They also take a long time to grow and produce acorns

When I asked about who long it would take to grow, my aunt looked at me and said "We will never sit under the shade of this tree."

All this causes me to wonder about the wisdom of our culture. The Oak produces such a rich array of imagery and symbolism and strength. And we plant them - never being able to harvest the benefits - yet we plant trees.

I guess - like the promises given to Abraham, and Moses - we trust that the good seeds we sow into the earth will be a blessing to future generations.