Thyme’s Vigil

Poetry Party #15 at

The Abbey of the Arts

                                                   

For ages she

has kept vigil,

collecting bits of

wisdom and

lore that are

worth remembering.

                                   

For generations she has

kept watch,

resting her pen

from thyme to

thyme,

reading instead

of writing,

sharing the bits

of wisdom and

lore to any who

will listen.

                                         

Today, the lichen

and moss, the chips

and cracks

add testimony

to the truth

of her words.

 “They withstand the test

of thyme and life.”

                                    

Tomorrow, she will

still be here,

with or without pen

in motion,

reflecting the

Holy Presence

in our lives.

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It’s Still About Thyme

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Pine Island Presbyterian Church

It still seems to be about thyme.  Pine Island’s beginnings go back only thirteen years, when a group of folk gathered for prayer and study to discern if there was a call and need for a congregation in the Mattawan area.  The core group met faithfully for many years.  Three years ago the “Pine Island Fellowship” was charted as an official congregation.  And today another important milestone took place: the congregation called its first Installed Pastor.  That’s Presbyterian lingo for permanent, regular.  It was a strong, joyful, unanimous affirmative vote.  Evelyn has been the Designated Pastor, serving the congregation half-time for two years.  Now she will serve two-thirds time, another encouraging move forward.  It’s taken thirteen years to arrive at this day.  It’s all about living in God’s thyme, and about in whom we put our faith more than how much faith we have.

Our congregation is offering prayers of deep gratitude and thanks for this milestone in our life together and for the gift of our own “Installed” and appreciated pastor.

May you have your own reason, however big or small, to offer a prayer of thanks this week.

 

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Thyme and Trust

 

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Pine Island Presbyterian Church

 

It was on Croyden Ave, in front of the apartments, while NPR was telling that General Musharraf had made a decision about general elections, as I was driving to Ann’s where I would get a ride to worship, that this thought just washed through and around me and I felt at peace:   things   take   thyme, their own thyme, and they do so for reasons we may never understand.  I’ve been here before  but this thyme there was a deep, deep acceptance.  Look back in history – humanity can take a long thyme to make significant changes.  Forty years of wandering in the wilderness.  Two thousand years and we’re still trying to grasp the essence of Jesus’ life and words.  The many years it can take for a single family, congregation or community to make healthy changes.

                                              

Then in worship, we hear of the prophet Haggai, in the context of the temple having been destroyed, trying to bring some good news to the people, saying on behalf of the Lord, “Once again, in a little while…”  In a little while in the eyes of the Creator can be a very, very, long thyme in the life of humanity.  Things take thyme.

                       

So, I give myself permission to slow down some more.  Rest some more.  Let go some more.  Trust some more.  Wondering if I’ll slow down so much I will come to a complete stop.  If I’ll then puddle up in the recliner.  And then to trust yet again, that in God’s thyme, new life will arise from the puddle.

               

“Faith is mostly about trust and knowing who to trust.”  These were the words of hope I carried with me from Sunday.  Like the unfinished building on the Worship Arts Table, life is a process, and, thank goodness, we’re not in charge.  We can make choices, we can seek wholeness and healing, but ultimately it is God who provides the growth.  In God’s good thyme.

                           

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Thyme…

My Thyme Garden in the summer of 2005:

 

My Thyme Garden in the autumn of 2007:

 

Some things in life just take thyme, and occasional weeding.

                               

Is there something in your

life that needs its own sense of thyme

in order to flourish?

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Returning…

 

I am returning, this time by train and my parents’ car (and leaving the driving to someone else), to a place of healing.

                              

It is a thyme of rest, 

of listening to the water,

 

and of sitting with the trees.

                                        

 I have been given the gift of retreat at my favorite place,

with the love and care of the ones who brought me into the world,

yet space for solitude and refreshment.

  

It may be a season of laying fallow:  it has been very dry at home and the grass has stopped growing, missing the Worship Arts Table at worship, very little movement in the housing market, an invitation to rest deeply.  It may be a season of renewal: the last burst of growth of the summer season, water outside the front door for swimming, lots of space for emptying and filling.

               

Blessings to you on these last days of summer, whether they bring rest or renewal…

 

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And what lies between us…

Situated between the house and the barn, sitting closer to the house and within clear view from the kitchen window, is my Thyme Garden.  Planted within the wooden frame are several different species of the Thyme plant:  English Thyme, Wooly Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Varigated Thyme, Golden Thyme, and Creeping Thyme.  Some of the plants are like ground cover, others are 4″ – 6″ tall, some foliage is dark green, other is light green with white edges.  All have the similar fragrance of, you guessed it, thyme.

A culinary cook I am not, so I didn’t plant all these for cooking purposes.  I planted my Thyme Garden to remind myself, and anyone else who wants to look in, that our thyme is not God’s thyme.  That more often than not we want events to be in fast thyme, and that’s when God is about Creeping Thyme.  That when we want quick and easy answers, God offers Varigated Thyme with layers and levels of meaning.  That when we are about to give up, God offers Golden Thyme, the wisdom that comes with age and experience.  That God continually invites us to live and move and have our being in Kairos thyme rather Chronos thyme.  We so easily live by chronos thyme ~ all our chronological day planners, clocks, and appointments.  Yet the One who created all that is invites us to live by kairos thyme ~ God’s good thyme, by the seasons of the heart, in the fullness of thyme. 

So my Thyme Garden sits in the backyard, with the figure of a hand in the center of it, reminding me that, day in and day out, our thyme is in our Creator’s hand.  

May your all thyme and your seasons be held with love and grace!

(P.S. Speaking of thyme – I have worked on this post 3 different thymes and haven’t been able to get the photos in – I’ve had quite a thyme of it!!)

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