This particular sage has been waiting for a few weeks, and luckily it survived in its little pot on my porch. I bought sage and a few other small plants a few weeks ago and did not get around to planting them until now. This is appropriate, as it turns out: the gardener’s milestone of Memorial Day has just passed, bringing more reliably warm weather and therefore ushering in planting time.
Working the soil to prepare the garden bed, I was aware of the connection and the similarity between myself and the soil: we are made of the same stuff. And I was aware of the difference: I will be around, in this bodily form, for a short time (a few decades longer perhaps), and the earth will continue after I’m gone. I tried to have a spirit of reverence and to remind myself, as we say before worship every Sunday, that this land, this garden, this property does not belong to me. I belong to the land.
With the coming of June, I embrace a new summer rhythm. The Fellowship has a summer schedule. I have study leave and General Assembly and a minister’s conference for the rest of the month, so I won’t be writing this weekly column again until July. A period of rest allows a person to integrate the lessons that have been learned during a busy period. May all of us find rest in the rhythm of the summer; may all of us deepen our knowing of the lessons the year has brought us.
PRAYER:
Spirit of the sage, plant of healing and cleansing, be with me now. Spirit of the grasses and trees, spirit of the living soil, be with me.
May I see the connection and one-ness of myself and the earthworm and the bird.
May the gentle season of June bring healing and rest, renewal and life, to this land and to all living beings who belong to it.
Blessed be. Amen.
Rev. Andrew Frantz
June 3, 2021