From Pastor Kevin’s Desk

It is tending time in the South once again. I am again reminded just how fast and tall grass will grow when left alone. It shouldn’t be a surprise to me anymore. I have lived here long enough to recognize the rhythm of seasons and know the patterns of growth that they bring. Still, I have decades of memory of two week intervals between mowing what little yard we had. Old patterns and habit change slowly...not like the grass.

 

So, as I learn to be more watchful and attentive to the grass that surrounds our home, I am also beginning to hear God tell me to extend this lesson to the other areas of life. The longer I live, the more obvious it becomes that life takes work. Life well lived demands our attention. Keeping bills paid, eating well, sleeping well, exercise, continual learning, improving relationships and so much more are all ingredients of life that take intentional effort.

 

I am also continuing to learn that painful consequences arise when we neglect or compromise our efforts in these areas. Things tend to either disintegrate or overwhelm quickly. The technical term for this inevitable decline is entropy and it can easily happen in our spiritual life. It happens when we compromise our attentiveness to God or neglect the disciplines that maintain a good relationship with God. Entropy set in when we stop praying, worshipping, and hoping.

 

And just like tending the lawn, we all experience seasons of decline and in attentiveness. Also, like tending the lawn, our overgrown and chaotic spiritual life can be cleared up and manicured in to order. Simply being attentive to the practices that encourage closeness to God will begin the reversal of entropy. For me it even happens while I am on the mower. With all the noise, I am certain that the only one who truly hears my conversation with God is God himself.

 

Imagine that, catching up on all of my tending, natural and spiritual all in the same season. Yep, its tending time in the South once again.

 

 

 

Pastor Kevin