THE FOREST GARDEN IN FREE FALL

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

We are falling quickly into autumn here in northern Massachusetts. The evenings get down into the 40s, but the days are still in the 70s. It’s that time of year when I fight with myself about whether or not to put on the heat at night. So far my frugal self is winning.

This morning I admit, I turned on one of the mobile heaters in the living room just until I didn’t need to wear a blanket in the house.

Today is my Sabbath so I have been trying to be mindful all day about my prayer time and about taking in the beauty of my surroundings.

The gardens are still full of beautiful fall flowers, like this stand of Maximillian sunflowers.

The nasturtiums are in flower. I have been adding the leaves and flowers to our salads these last few weeks.

The Japanese knotweed is absolutely beautiful right now too.

This St. John’s Wort is letting us know he is ready for what is to come.

The white and purple asters have been remarkable this year.

These tiny rose hips are already attracting the wild birds around the area. We are sure to be loaded with cardinals and bluejays this year through the winter. I hope we can get some good footage from Kristine’s camera.

While my daughter is not a fan of the goldenrod I love the brightness it brings to the season.

Today was not a big work in the yard day. I have been sitting out for my prayer sessions, but most of the day I have been in doing paperwork. Last week was yard work week. I got a lot of mint harvested and hung to dry.

I also mowed the whole yard…except the forest path. That I am afraid is looking pretty unkempt just now.

But Kristine got the chicken paddock moved. The chickens love it!

Well, all except for Partly Sunny. She escaped this morning through a hole in the fencing. We found her hiding in the bushes just behind the paddock. She complained when we put her back in the chicken yard, but I just checked on her and she seems resigned to her fate…at least for now. Kristine moved some of the fencing to deal with the hole and I am going layer some field stone around the bottom edges of the paddock to shore it up. All in all we are doing pretty well getting ready for winter.

WHAT DOES YOUR WORLD LOOK LIKE THIS FALL? OR IF YOU ARE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE WHAT DOES YOUR SPRING LOOK LIKE?

PASTORS AND POTLUCKS

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

I eat out a lot. I think all pastors do. In fact I would say that pastoring revolves around God, people, AND FOOD.

Photo by Chan Walrus on Pexels.com

Many of our leader meetings involve food. Some even have food as the agenda. Many times when I do visitation people have food waiting for me when I arrive at their homes. When I do pastoral meeting away from the church and away from my congregants’ homes I am usually at Starbuck’s or Sippin’ Serendipity or even the 99. Then, of course, there is the church potluck! I love a good potluck supper.

Today I had two potlucks back to back. I got up early this morning, and after morning prayer, I began preparing my offering for first luncheon, a macaroni salad.

I started with fresh dill from the garden,

and fresh eggs from our chickens.

I hard boiled the eggs along with the macaroni and some peas.

I cut up the dill and mixed it in with a little salt, pepper, mayonnaise and mustard.

Then I had plenty of time to chill the salad before the leadership luncheon hosted at one of our group leader’s home.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship, breaking bread around the tables.

There were conversations about family, friends and faith.

Cora was our mascot for the day. She was wonderful with the children.

This event was multigenerational.

My second potluck of the day was a funeral held at the local Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall. More and more people are opting not to hold large church funerals because of the cost. The last three funerals I have done have been celebrations of life held at people’s homes or in small halls.

I did this celebration of life, while people were gathered around the tables for a late luncheon. My position was next to the food table by the gatorade container. I called the service to order with two verses of Amazing Grace and a pastoral prayer for peace as people finished their baked ziti and salad.

I suppose some would say a service like this lacked reverence. I don’t think that way. I feel like these types of services create something very close to biblical koinonia (Christian communion particularly of the early church). People feel more connected to each other when there is food present. It’s one of the reasons I think food is present in so much pastoral ministry.

We sang. We read Scripture. We shared memories. I shared a devotional and a charge to embrace the faith. We held a moment of solemn silence. We prayed the Lord’s Prayer. I prayed a committal and a benediction. Then everyone had dessert and continued sharing around the tables. There were tears and there was a lot laughter.

I think God likes what sharing a meal does for people.