Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Gwen Shipley, Co-Director
Gal 4:19
“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…”
If there is a gift in this time of pandemic, it is a renewed awareness of time - a recalibrating of our communal pace. Recent societal evolution has resulted in soul-ravaging cultural norms intolerant of anything less than instantaneous. My granddaughter followed me toward town recently, then passed me with a wave. I was later chided with a wink for taking a few seconds too long to reach highway speed. We live in a hurry.
In my work with Spiritual Formation, the phrase “until Christ is formed in you” is never far from my thoughts. Terry, CFDM co-director, and I laugh about how often a song hook emerges in our conversation. Whether you prefer Phil Collins or The Supremes, "You Can't Hurry Love" springs to mind in this one. The pop classic ode to time, transports me to my garden where I have spent the lion's share of mine this summer, and reminds me that living into the likeness of Christ--which is to say, Love, takes time. Grace does not hurry.
In Ignatius' practice of "Examen," we ask ourselves, "What brings me life?" This year, it is living with the garden. For the record, I have grown several gardens, but no other has been a friend with whom I have enjoyed a long conversation. Rather, in previous relationships I functioned more like a drill sergeant issuing commands:
Ok… you’re planted. Now grow or you’re outta here.
You need water again…already?!
Wait until after vacation to ripen! Etc…
But this year is different. I have caught myself on countless occasions grinning at no one in particular, giddy at the sight of a surprise seedling or a baby Patty Pan squash. I have laughed out loud at the Delicata standing on its head between two tomato stalks and belly laughed all alone when I realized that I was staring full on into a frog’s face — from three inches away — and shrieked, scaring us both! I have rescued a rhodie, gasped at the delicate drama of gara, kniphofia and coleus, celebrated my husband’s triumph with a trumpet vine, and experimented with wormwood, penstemon, moonflower and more.
Mostly there was waiting. The nasturtiums weren't there yesterday…or the day before…or the day before that. For two weeks the dill seeds, once inanimate in my palm, and the near-dead foxglove rescue in the gallon pot, had me holding my breath. And I lamented hard when the wind blew the pink panicle heads off the Firelight hydrangea. It was quite the wind!
But the great joy is the shade garden becoming reality because an azalea deserved one more chance, even though after years, it still looked like a dead stick. What a rush as hints of green became barely visible. Life happened. It put down roots and took up nutrients. Its teeny leaves opened to the energy offered by perfect amounts of filtered sun. It was protected from the elements and the occasional misstep of our 110 pound Pyrenees. Conditions are finally right, caregivers are attentive (…now), and it has consistent nourishment. And time. All the time it needs. You can't hurry… Well, you just can't hurry.
Gardens don’t. They have so much to teach about process, about grace, about how we become the truest expression of our belovedness. It doesn't happen all at once and it doesn’t happen quickly. It takes time — sometimes a lot of it — to see evidence of this becoming. So much happens "underground" where roots are being established and nourishment is being received. It occurs by simply opening to that which is being given, trusting that we are seen, known and cared for, that The Master Gardener is always and has already been at work, with delight-- even during a pandemic. And the beauty that is being revealed because Christ is being formed in each of us will not be hurried.
What is your experience of God in this season of delay, disappointment, waiting?
What might God be giving you? Is there something more God desires for you?
What are some concrete ways you notice the love of God coming to you, to others?
You might want to pause and give thanks.
What books, media, activities are nurturing your heart, soul, mind, strength in this season as we are loving God and our neighbor as ourselves? Post in the comments below or hop on over to our Facebook page and share with one another.