Note from Amy: Weber sent this reflection to me and I thought it was worth sharing more widely!
Image 1: My upgraded telework Internet connection, with newly installed and activated high-speed Internet wi-fi, made possible with the kind and capable assistance of our tech-savvy sister Kaitlin Conway, taken on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at my condo home office workstation.
Image 2: Turning leaf from ornamental pear tree, a hint of the autumn season to come, taken at Alcova Heights Park during a Wild Wonder Incarnation family worship service, on Sunday morning, August 30, 2020
Image 3: The woodland shelter that our Wild Wonder kids built at Alcova Heights Park under the guidance of our wilderness survival skills instructor Nadia Rowe, at the conclusion of our outdoor worship in the Park on that same Sunday, August 30, 2020
So there might be 3 important themes for our community of faith here, in each of these 3 images, regarding the many ways that God might supply everything we need, even in the most unpromising and difficult situations.
The first image symbolizes that vital network of spiritual and relational connections which not only enable us to flourish in accord with God’s design for us, but also just to survive, even in those moments when the walls of dire circumstances and bleak hopelessness seem to be closing in on us, as we fearfully shelter in place to wait out the crisis.
At the time that I spotted that single, brilliant orange-red ornamental pear tree leaf on the grass at Alcova Heights Park, on that hot, humid August morning, it stood out as a striking exclamation point of fiery color floating on a tranquil sea of green grass.
It seemed to be the only tree leaf visible at that time and place, which was forecasting the seasonal change which would soon announce to us that summer was over, that the autumn season of harvest, academic study and renewed commitment to daily work and vocation would soon begin. But it was also a wonderful reminder that God loves to surprise his children with unexpected gifts of beauty and joy, whether large or small.
As for the final image at the bottom, of the simple, child-sized woodland shelter that Nadia helped us to build during that Wild Wonder outdoor summer gathering, during the worst of our enforced separation and distancing from one another, trying to protect ourselves from the global pandemic for which there was still yet no certain medical treatment nor effective vaccine of any kind, well, that image probably doesn’t need much explaining at all.
For God was, and is, and always will be, our vital connection to community, our strong and faithful shepherd in the changing times and seasons of life, and our solid and sturdy shelter in any storm which might overtake us in this brief and uncertain span of mortal years.
He is our guide until the end. And he will be our source of love and light and joy, for which we have always longed, through the endless ages we will spend together, celebrating in Our Father’s House above.
AMEN.
- Weber Ivy
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