The Pastor's Garden: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

What better time to begin plans for a garden than right now? In the dreary days of February, when the sun seldom shines, the gardener curls up in an easy chair, surrounded by seed catalogs and planning grids. She plots the garden. Spring bulbs here, poppies there. Perennials to last a long time. Bright, colorful flowers for joy. Calm ferns and foliage for rest. A path to walk, a bird feeder, and a watering can. Then comes the ordering. Find the plants, coordinate the colors. Make sure they are hardy and disease-resistant, attractive to butterflies and other creatures. Plan ahead. Order the stock. These are the gardener's tasks in February.

So it is with the church. Ash Wednesday has been and gone, and the Lenten season is upon us. We are preparing our hearts, planning our journey. Using planning calendars and the rituals of the seasons, we plot our spiritual travels. We plan celebrations of joy, times of quiet rest, and traditions that keep our spirits alert. We seek out ways to be hardy, and pray for disease-resistance and healing. We spruce up our insides and outsides, to be attractive to butterflies and all God's creatures.

As we move through the Lenten season and into the celebration of the resurrection, I invite you into the garden, not alone, but along with me, and with friends, so that we can travel the road together.

Pastors' Bookshelf

What do you need that someone else in the Presbytery has on their bookshelves standing idle? Each of us has bookshelves filled to varying degrees with wonderful, useful books and tools for ministry that we are not currently using. Some of us have discussed finding a way to share these materials. So I decided to attach this to my blog. So, tell us what you need, tell us what you want. We'll look at our shelves and see what we can share. Here's what we need from you, THE BORROWER: 1) the title, author OR subject matter of the resource you need. 2) your timeframe: Do you need it for a class you are teaching tomorrow? Is this future planning, and you need it, say, after the next Presbytery meeting? 3) how shall we get it to you? At the Presbytery meeting? leaving it at the Presbytery office for you to pick up the next time you are there? by mail (will you pay?) will you pick it up at the owner's church or home? do you want to meet in the middle to get the resource? 4) do you want a review of the material, or notes from how the owner has used the piece before? Here's what we need from the OWNER of the material: Listing that you have the material probably means you are ok with sharing it. So answer these questions: 1) the title of your book or material? 2) How fast can you loan it out, and when do you need it back? 3) While we all will be careful with each others' materials, some of us have special rules about our books or papers. Like, my daughter, Kate, will NOT allow anyone to break the spine on her paperbacks, while I fold my (emphasis on MY) own books in half to read them more comfortably. What are your rules? (No coffee spills is just a no-brainer) 4) How are you willing to get the materials to the borrower? (see #3 for borrowers) 5) Are you willing to review the materials for the borrower, or share notes or uses for the material? Email your needs to pastorsgarden@optonline.net, and I will get the word out to the Presbytery's pastors. I am willing to wager that we get a lot of use out of The Pastors' Bookshelf.