Is that a Potato
“Is that a potato?” our facilitator at our Vision Retreat asked me as she glanced at the table where I sat. “Yes it is,” I replied. “Is there a story about it?” she asked.
We had been asked to each bring an object which told something about who we are and our vision for the church.
I brought a small potato I had recently dug from my community garden. I explained to the group this is a feral potato. Last summer, as usual, I had planted potatoes but when we harvested them, I was disappointed. I think I had planted more pounds of potatoes than we harvested.
After I planted the garden this spring, and before those seeds spouted, up came a few wild potatoes scattered throughout the garden. They were not the potatoes I planted this year. Instead, they came from potatoes I had missed harvesting last year. Left in the ground over the winter, they came up this spring. I left them to grow for a time but dug them up when I thought they might be big enough to use. Sure enough, I harvested a dozen or two small potatoes. We’ve eaten most of them by now, but a few are left.
Like those potatoes, I see life in the church. Sometimes it springs up where I did not intend for it to come. It may sprout from something I tried in the past and had either given up on or forgotten all about. It may arise from sources whose origins I do not know. It can feel wild and untamed, growing where it does not really belong, or at least where I did anticipate it. At the same time, it comes with potential and promise. Potatoes, for all their reputation as junk food, contain potassium, Vitamin C and lots of fiber, among other nutrients. The untamed growth that happens in the church brings us spiritual nutrition we need.
Life is happening in so many ways here at Mill Plain. People are spontaneously organizing activities: Let’s Have Lunch now meets once a month at a restaurant, a reprise of the former Good Timer’s Group; the Paddle and Picnic event at Lacamas Lake to celebrate the Summer Solstice gathered a multi-generational group who had a lot of fun together and built some relationships; yet to come is Berry Picking and Olympics Viewing parties.
Like my garden, much of the time we need to plan out programs and organize them with care. We need to calendar in advance and strategize when, how, and why things will happen. And like the feral potatoes, sometimes life happens on its own. The Holy Spirit is moving among us in exciting ways.!