by Christine Sine
This season of autumn is phenomenal in its scope and the lessons it teaches us. Last week I commented that that this is the season of letting go, of harvest, but also of planting and sending down roots. Then I read an interesting article by Jeff Goins and realized there are other dimensions to autumn that I need to think about too. Jeff Goins commented:
Herbs are dying…. but I think of the second life these plants now extinguished, will know, how I will turn them into a spice blend and sprinkle their remains on the food that will get us through the winter.
So I spent the morning thinking about the many aspects of my garden that I am preparing for a second life. My dried tomatoes that will become olive tapenade and flavour omelettes and pasta dishes. Marinara sauce for warm winter stews and soups. My dried apples that will be added to winter cereal, cider that will warm us over the winter months, frozen apples that will make delicious pies and apple cakes. Even the tomato skins have been dried and will add rich flavour to soups over the winter. Herb blends, rosemary salt, dried basil and pesto frozen for later use, are all ready for a second life that will enrich our enjoyment of the coming season . Even the waste has a second life as the garden scraps go into the compost bin. By next year they will have become that most precious of garden fertilizers – compost.
What about my life I wonder? What has God been preparing for a “second life”? What has God been molding, processing, changing in me so that it will enrich my life and the lives of others in the coming year?
Sometimes I look at my life and can only see those things that still need to be changed. At other times I look at what I used to do and feel deflated because I am less active and maybe less effective than I once was. I read the Bible less. I rarely ask myself: “What has God been preparing for a “second life”?
At first nothing much came to mind. Then, as I looked back over my life, I realized that almost every aspect of my past life has a second life in who I am now. Nothing is wasted and nothing is lost. That is the way that God’s economy works. So continuing with my garden analogy and my processing of the abundance of produce I wonder what that looks like.
What has been processed?
Processing fruit and vegetables takes heat but the finished product is usually more flavourful and delicious. So I look back and wonder “Where did God apply heat in my life to give it second life?” At every major juncture I realize. The heat of study to become a doctor. The heat of moving from Australia to New Zealand as a young doctor and the then even more intense heat of my twelve years on board the Mercy Ship M/V Anastasis. Fiery hot heat was applied when I worked in the refugee camps on the Thai/Cambodian border. Six short weeks transformed my life and turned my theology upside down. It transformed my faith from a “What can God do for me?” perspective to a “What does God want me to do for others?” perspective.
This perspective grew as God applied heat at different times over the coming years. After my marriage to Tom, during my long years of struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome, God applied heat through the steady diet of books, especially those with an Anabaptist and contemplative focus, that continued to reshape my theology and practice. My concern for justice not just for the disadvantaged and disabled but also for God’s good creation, grew. That’s why I call myself a contemplative activist. Contemplation fuels my concerns but it must be paired with action to really have an impact.
God continues to apply heat to my life. A year ago Tom and I started going to the local Mennonite church and I am constantly challenged by their commitment to justice and change. each week at the beginning of the service we light a Just Peace lamp and pray “We long for a just peace, we pray for a just peace, we choose to live for a just peace.” It is a prayer that is being indelibly imprinted on my mind. Last year the church gave away a 2 million dollar property to an organization that works with those at the margins of our society, because their research showed how their acquisition of this property and its increase in value had been made easier because of the injustices done to those who once owned the land. They also introduced me to the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and my mind continues to be stretched as I absorb the implications of this understanding.
What Will Become Compost?
As we age, it is easy to look back and think “Why did I have to give that up?” However if we change our perspective and ask instead “What do I need to give up and allow to die so that it can fertilize the next stage of the cycle of life?” then we can look ahead with excitement rather than depression. Ministry becomes mentoring. Letting go of leadership becomes a way to empower the next generation. Slowing down becomes an opportunity for God to speak to us at a deeper and more intimate level. Letting go is probably one of the hardest aspects of life yet it is necessary in order to allow God’s kingdom work to proceed.
I encourage you today to spend time meditating on these two questions:
- “What has God been preparing for a “second life”?
- “What do I need to give up and allow to die so that it can fertilize the next stage of the cycle of life?”