PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND
April 23, 2023
NEW GROWTH
The Sunday school class I attend is between books to discussion. We finished the last one in March and did not want to start the new one until after Easter, April 9. In the breach between the two we used “An Easy Plan to Use The Upper Room in small groups” which was at the end of the March/April The Upper Room.
April 2 we used the plan for the devotion for March 22, “Resilience and Brokenness” by Sue Konkel from Wisconsin. The scripture text for the meditation was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, especially verse one, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” The heart of Sue’s meditation has to do with branches that are easily broken in the winter and in the spring sprout new growth. Brokenness is an important part of growth for the trees and shrubs Sue concludes that both resilience and brokenness are important parts of one’s faith journey.
The third question in the plan for March 22 was: When has brokenness in your life led you to new, beautiful growth? How did that experience affect your faith journey? The questions generated a discussion of brokenness that our church experienced several years. In preparing to some remolding to the church’s main building, it was discovered that there was a serious problem with the roof and it would be dangerous to continue worshipping in the building. At first services were held in the fellowship hall of the church’s educational building and then they were moved to a nearby United Church of Christ.
One of the blessings of worshipping at First UCC was that we got to know their congregation better. This Lenten season we had a joint Ash Wednesday service and a joint Maundy Thursday service. A combined choir sang at both services. We have supported each other’s fund drives and special appeals. When the pastor of one congregation is gone for a Sunday morning, the pastor from the other congregation has filled in. The flowers in the chancel area at Christmas and Easter were given by members of both the UCC and the UMM congregations.
If all goes well, we should be back in our own sanctuary for Christmas. Hopefully, the brokenness that the congregation experienced when we had to move from our sanctuary will be replaced by new growth, new relationships, and new possibilities. The focus needs to be not on what we lost but what we gained. How has the experience of the last several years helped the church to discern anew the movement of the spirit of God in the congregation and in the Plymouth community?
Sue ends her meditation with the following prayer: “Dear God, help us to welcome both resilience and brokenness. Create new growth in us so that we may reach our highest potential. Amen.” All of us experience brokenness in our lives. It is one of the normal seasons. Sue discovered when she looked at the branches which had been broken in the winter, spring brought new growth. So too when we experience brokenness, we should look for areas of new growth where God is working in our lives as we make our journey under the sun.