Beads, Creeds, and Growing Seeds.
You’ve gotta love spring, haven’t you? As you know, this is my second April in the Deep South and I’m loving it. I can take any amount of this warm weather and sunshine.
As a boy I used to watch the Masters golf tournament on TV from the chilly confines of England. There, early April is often cold and always damp. Staying up late to watch the gods of golf perform their miracles around Augusta National was magical, mystical. The golf was spellbinding but so was the flora. My eyes were mugged by azaleas and camellias 4,000 miles away.
For me in early April, magnolias and wisteria were just a dream, one that wouldn’t become reality until late May at the earliest. Georgia, I would think to myself, was so advanced, so beautiful. It was the opposite of Narnia. Instead of it always being winter and never Christmas, the Deep South seemed to be always the season of Resurrection and never the cross.
The Lord is risen. Christ is alive. Death has been swallowed up in victory. A new age has dawned and God calls us to live in it to the max.
If you heard my sermon on Easter Day you may remember that I puzzled over why Mark ended his Gospel abruptly and with the words ‘fear and bewilderment’. I hazarded a guess that he did this so that you and I could finish it. We are on the relay team and Mark hands us the baton. In a sense, the Gospel remains unfinished as long as we lock it tightly away where no one can hear it or see it in action. The Gospel is complete when it blossoms in our lives. Think about those flowering shrubs and tress in Augusta.
Today I’d like to unveil two initiatives that I believe can help us live the Gospel and to share it in word and action. Both are offered to you in the belief that they will enrich your prayer life and deepen your walk with God. Here they are…
- The Labyrinth Guild. Our beautiful labyrinth adjacent to Madison Avenue is a rich and vital resource, which is very underused. I’m delighted to tell you that Emmi Harrell and I have been talking about her vision to re-create the Labyrinth Guild to oversee and promote this transforming ministry. The Guild will do this by providing St John’s members with education and organized opportunities to enjoy the labyrinth. The Guild will also create relationships throughout the wider Montgomery community with the goal of planning and hosting labyrinth walks. If you’d like to serve the Guild in this exciting new ministry please contact Emmi at 334-467-6214 or labyrinthlady1@gmail.com.
- Prayer Beads. Over the last year I’ve been thrilled to see so many burning candles at our new prayer station at the foot of the bell tower. Now, I’d like to announce a further step in our never-ending journey towards deeper and richer prayer. Anglican Prayer Beads. Volunteers will meet form time-to-time to make a batch of beads, and then our Lay Eucharistic Visitors will give them to sick or infirm members of the parish when they take them communion. As well as being a great aid to personal prayer, they will serve as tangible signs of God’s love and St John’s support for members who can’t get to church. We will officially launch this ministry in September, but in the meantime, if you are interested in joining a group that will make the beads please let me know.
It’s the season Easter. As of today there are still 25 days left of it! Let us use this time of Resurrection to bloom like camellias and blossom like cherry trees. Let us endeavor to grow in our walk with God and in our living the Gospel.
~ Duncan
