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"The Tree of Life in the Peacable Kingdom" | Psalm 1 | January 19, 2003 |
We live between two gardens–the mythical Garden of Eden where all was perfect and the elusive Utopia where we believe all will be perfect again. But we never lived in Eden and we will never live in Utopia, and the question is put to all of us: how will we choose to live between the two gardens while we walk the garden of now?
The past couple of months we’ve been pondering ideas for the mural in Johnson Chapel, and recently happened upon the idea of a garden that brings together the past and the future into the present. The artist, Wendy Gresmer, has captured the essence of our life as a community of faith in the garden in which we live. Let me take you on a tour of our garden which becomes a symbol of our life and ministry at New England Church.
Central to the scene is a large, sturdy tree that has obviously withstood the test of time and many storms along the way. Like the tree in Psalm 1 it grows beside a stream of water, bears fruit in season, and provides shade because its leaf does not wither. And like the tree of Revelation it is the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Our tree is one that spans time and purpose; it reminds us that in our times of weariness and difficulty there is shade to protect from the scorching sun beside cool water. At the same time it calls us to be that tree providing shade for others and fruit to nourish them on their journey.
Under the tree of life in our garden is a lion and a lamb, the peaceable kingdom of Isaiah for which we strive but which always seem to elude us. As someone has said ‘the lion and the lamb may lie down together, but the lamb won’t get any sleep.’ It is something we will never experience but the visual image ever reminds us to give our heart and soul to live toward it. Peace is something like the happiness of the old man, not dependent on the arrangement of the world but the arrangement of our mind, our attitude, our actions, our words. It is dependent on the way we live, and the scene becomes a paradigm for living well between the two mythical perfect gardens in the present world of conflict and hatred.
Several weeks ago some of our youth were invited to participate in a peace project sponsored by the Kellogg Foundation of Michigan. The kids will meet with Nobel Peace Laureates Desmund Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, and the Dalai Lama to explore the things that make for peace in a world gone mad with war and prejudice, hatred and violence in the name of religion and ideology. It is a drop in the ocean, to be sure, but it is something, and it is significant for those whose lives will be changed toward peace and who will become peacemakers for the future. And a little child will lead them.....
In the distance of our garden is a small village with a New England-style church keeping in the forefront of our minds the immeasurable value of the community. We are a diverse congregation with many different faiths, many different lifestyles, many different philosophies that create tension at times but a creative tension that is the seedbed of a dynamic faith. In a homogeneous environment, faith faces the risk of becoming static. Though it is more complicated and less comfortable, our calling is to live on the edge of faith, always journeying to new vistas of understanding. The little village in our mural is an image of a diverse yet caring community of faith which, like any garden, requires constant tending if it is to grow.
On the bank overlooking the village is an empty bench. It is for you. Here you may sit to ponder the dilemmas of your life, here you may overlook the beauty that inspires us to our best, here you may invite another to join you for your mutual benefit and strength. In this church you have struggle with life, wrestle with God, express your anger and your delight, your disappointments and your joys, knowing you are loved as you are and challenged to arrange the furniture of your mind to create your own happiness.
Above it all, catching the current of the eternal, ubiquitous wind is the eagle of Isaiah who compels us to hope in God to renew our strength, rising up on wings as eagles. Wendy and I have agreed it is a bit too large for the mural, and in good New England Church fashion we just change it to suit our needs!! In the hope that springs eternal we may run and not grow weary, we may walk in the garden that is less than ideal and not faint from the wear and tear, the hustle and bustle, the endless toiling against the elements of discouragement and disappointment. We will find in each day something of beauty, something of strength for the journey of life, something of faith that will allow us to paint our own mental picture to create happiness and joy as our spirit ages and matures.
The mural as a collective image of Isaiah’s affirmation that we may go out in joy and be led forth in peace. Instead of the thornbush will grow pine trees and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. The mountains and the hills will break forth into singing, and the all the trees will clap their hands.
But as much as this beautiful scene captures our imagination for our own comfort and peace it is a more powerful paradigm for New England Church as we go into the future with a building that is more user-friendly and conducive to community-building. The gifts of life are not given for our enjoyment only. We are called at the very heart of our being for others. We exist to invite others to the parade, to be the tree that gives fruit and provides shade, to be for others a place of peace where the ferocious lions of inner demons and the leopards of shattered dreams can live peaceably with the lambs of best intentions and the goats of highest hopes. Here we can invite those who live in the margins and those society casts aside to sit with us on the bench, be a myrtle bush for those for whom the system has been a thorn in their side, include in the community those whose political views differ from ours and those whose orientation bids them partner with someone of their own kind, and those who are better off than we are and those who are worse off than we are. This is a picture of the community of faith struggling against the odds to live faithfully toward hope and peace in a garden that is less than a perfect Eden but a garden rich in beauty nonetheless.
The words of John O’Donohue are words of invitation and blessing as we live toward a peaceable kingdom by the tree of life:
May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul.
May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately
with the rhythm of the universe.
May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.
May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the
facade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.
May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment. (Anam Cara)
Amen.
–Gary L. McCann
Psalm 1
Blessed is the one who delights in the laws of God’s world, who meditates in day as well as in night. She is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, whose shade is a respite for all who pass by.
Isaiah 11
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of God will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will affirm the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling will live together, and a little child will lead them.
Tao Te Ching 64
translated by Stephen Mitchell
What is rooted is easy to nourish.
What is recent is easy to correct.
What is brittle is easy to break.
What is small is easy to scatter.
Prevent trouble before it arises.
Put things in order before they exist.
The giant pine tree grows
from a tiny sprout.
The journey of a thousand miles
starts from beneath your feet.
Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm
at the end as at the beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao [the Way].
Thus he can care for all things.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Force of Life from whom all blessings come to us, we would open our spirits to you this day that we may be mindful of the beauty around us. Infinity of goodness and peace, lift us up into a new faith and a new vision.
We see around us the beauty of nature, its symmetry and order, its harmony and color, its sometimes cruel way by our standards of maintaining balance, this we can see with our eyes. The virutes of human life at its best, the courage and honor of those who stand against the odds, the achievements of the human mind and character, the truth that science seeks, the beauty that art creates, this we can see with our eyes. The victories of love over hatred, where light has overpowered darkness, where peace has won out over war, this we see with our eyes.
But there are things we must see with our heart: those who live behind the facade of a smiling face but whose pain is killing them, those who haven’t the ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, those who need an advocate because they are unable to defend themselves. Open our hearts to see in new ways.
Keep us from selfish living in a dangerous time that cannot survive its follies without public-mindedness. Bring order out of the chaos of our confused thinking and living. Be a word of life to us today that we may have the grace to live amid questions and be peace amid conflict. For those waging war, we would seek an intervening presence of insight into the possibilities of a bloodless solution. For those who are readied to do battle by the world’s war machine, we would pray for courage and strength.
Be to all grieving, all facing new challenges, all struggling to exist at the basic level of life a spirit of hope. Be joy to all celebrating and stability to all who totter on the edge of despair.
Grant that as by many paths we have come to this place today and by paths so various go forth that only you can trace our divergent ways, we may see life through eyes of faith and live toward a new vision of love and joy. Amen
| Copyright © 2003 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved. |