… a time to plant and a time to uproot. – A portion of Ecclesiastes 3
At a recent worship service, a passage from Ecclesiastes was read. The familiar counsel of how there is a “time for… and a time for…” made it tempting to tune out just a little bit, but then the list of opposites began to draw me in. There is a time to be born and to die. There is a time to mourn and a time to dance. Then, one spoke directly to my heart. There is a time to plant and a time to uproot.
A time to uproot.
In anticipation of my move to Philadelphia in a few weeks, I look out at my garden each morning with mixed emotions. Typically, April is an exhilarating time to watch new life unfold before me.
It has been a profound inner struggle to decide which plants to dig up and what will remain. It is the soul work of balancing the goodness of planting a garden that another will inherit, with the significance of carrying these precious treasures to the new house for my continued joy. This decision-making process has formed a different relationship to creation. This is particularly true following the visit of Brian Sellers-Petersen to St. David’s last weekend.
During his forum, the invitation was to consider how we steward the parts of creation entrusted to us as we live into the Easter hope of leading “resurrected lives.” Brian spoke praise for the remarkable ways we are stewarding the thirty-nine acres that make up the physical space we call St. David’s, Radnor. It has me thinking about how I am called to steward the tiny patch of God’s goodness I call home.
A move is undoubtedly a time to “uproot.” It is a physical and emotional uprooting that makes me wonder more deeply about how I might steward the spaces of my life for the greater glory of God and not from a self-interested vantage point. As children of God, we receive and let go, then receive again. Maybe stewarding is holding our corner of creation with tenderness and determination no matter what else is happening – even middle spaces. The holy unknown is supported by Jesus’ promise that new life is on the way.
During this season of life, I am uprooting, and yet I know that I must also plant. Transitions are not one or the other. It is the sacred “both/and.” I might be planting in pots, but I am still fostering beauty.
How are you tending your patch of God’s Dream? I encourage you to place a plant in the center of your life for the remainder of the 50 days of Easter as a sign of your call to live a resurrected life. Email me (egiven@stdavidschurch.org), a picture of what you are planting/tending/growing, and I will do the same. Let us share the beauty of now with one another – for the glory of God.
Peace and Love,
The Rev. Emily Given
Director of Christian Formation, Transitional Deacon
Note: You can view Brian’s sermon HERE and forum HERE.
Published: April 18, 2024