From Pastor Pat Kriss: We Are the Seed
(Posted July 15, 2017)
Probably there is no better time of the year than now to contemplate the Symphony of life that Nature is. The trees are full. A new generation of birds and animals whistle and call from the woods around us. The fruit of the vine and the field are ready, or are about to be. Streams are full with the remnants of Summer storms stopping by just long enough to wet the grass, and to water the flowers we see everywhere. Are we fully appreciating what a gift this is to us?
No wonder that Jesus takes us this Sunday, down to the lake, and speaks to us while floating on a boat! It’s where we belong this time of year, pausing, resting and listening. This Sunday we get to listen while classical guitarist Levon Ofgang plays for us. On Sunday the 23rd, Pianist Ferdy Talon accompanies our prayers and song as well.
And here’s the thing. Jesus wants to speak to us about this symphony of the Kingdom of Heaven. As he often does, Jesus speaks in parables. Both this coming Sunday and next, these parables have to do with seed --- good seed which when falling on good soil, produces, and produces abundantly, even when challenged by the weeds nearby.
Now, if we’re listening, we will realize that WE, too, are the sprouted seed. What should we be concerned about? It turns out, not on how much our own yield amounts to each day, but what we in turn, sow.
Novelist Robert Lewis Stevenson gave us a focus. "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap,” he said, “but by the seeds that you plant." Truly, as we gather to listen to Levon and Ferdy, we will recognize that it was a good seed planted early in both of them that produces the symphony of talent we enjoy today. The seeds of this beauty continue to inspire youngsters coming after them. As it stands, Levon often takes his guitar in the warm weather and plays by Candlewood Lake. Jesus would approve.
So, it’s time to “…make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” The place where the rivers meet the lake, and joy flows like water. Come. Rest. Listen. Know God. -- Pastor Pat Kriss