The Garden

A ministry cultivating hope each season of life

belonging to God, creation, and our neighbors

The Garden Blog

  • hope found in collaboration

    • April 30, 2012
    veggie garden

    Today it is a privilege to bring you a guest post from a woman who has been an inspiration to The Garden ministry: Sharon Shaw, the dreamer, leader and organizer behind the Sandy Ridge Community Garden located at Doylestown Mennonite Church.  Below she shares her thoughts on the second growing season of the Community Garden and the hope found in collaboration and diversity. Enjoy! ——————————————- Our garden is a place where many plants have to survive together. There are tomatoes and lettuce, peas and corn, sunflower and beans. Each needs different things; specific minerals, more water or less, cool weather or warm. They also face threats from weeds and deer. At first glance it seems like these plants cannot co-operate — in the garden only the...

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  • Pain and Resurrection

    • April 12, 2012
    snow flowers

    post from: KrisAnne Today I offer a poem that I found in a book of liturgy published by Upper Room Books called A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants. The imagery is especially meaningful in early springtime. The poem speaks of lasting pain and our longing for things to get better quickly, with the melting snow and springing flowers. And while we are promised resurrection life, there is a paradox in the spiritual journey. Peace and joy are ours, but at the same time we experience certain suffering and pain. The key to this paradox: Pain can be redemptive; it can be gift. This has been true in my life. My most painful relationships have often taught me the most about God and myself,...

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  • Self-forgetful hope

    • April 4, 2012
    people-in-line

    I heard someone say, several years ago, that for him the sum total of Christianity is this: The freedom to forget about myself and focus on somebody else.  It took me a while to understand what he said, because my immediate reaction was, “But what about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Church?” Then it sunk in. He was saying something God and Jesus and what God has done through Jesus. For him, Christianity is faith expressed through imitation. Eugene Peterson says it this way: ‘Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think...

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