A New Season
So here we are, autumn, ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’ Summer has been and gone, the virus is still here, and it’s time for a reset. What drains us? What fills us with energy? How can we be fruitful in the mi(d)st of a global pandemic?
The storm
In stormy weather we hunker down, but we can’t just wait for the Covid storm to pass if we are not just to survive, but to thrive. Acts 27:18 struck me as being particularly apt: ‘We took a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.’ ‘Throwing off everything which hinders’ (Hebrews 12:1) and focussing on what is important will be different for each of us. I challenge you to spend ten minutes considering what drains you and what fills you with light, and use this as an opportunity to recalibrate as this Coronaseason shifts gear yet again.
We are trying to normalise all that is happening, and this is tiring: I alternate between curling up with a hot coffee and my notebook, and wanting to ‘get out’ into any glimmers of autumn sunshine we are afforded to meet friends and colleagues in person, as both restore my energy in different ways. Let’s be kind to ourselves and to others, and do away with ‘expectations’: full disclosure- we are seven months into lockdown and I still haven’t dismantled my vacuum cleaner to clean the filter… but I have written blogs, taken geranium cuttings, planted violas and written cards and letters to friends.
The Oak
‘They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour’ (Isaiah 61:3). If you’ve been able to enjoy a walk in the park, you’ll no doubt have appreciated the beautiful autumn colours, and may have come across some majestic oaks. We might not feel like a strong oak, more a sapling tied to a post and clinging on for dear life in the strong wind, but if we look at the oak we can be reminded of God’s steadfastness and glory. As we feed on Him and His Word, our roots can draw deep from His living water for the emotional energy we need. At a staff retreat I was challenged to be a ‘visible likeness of an invisible God’; this is the oak in all its autumnal splendour. How can I reflect His glory in this season?
The vine
I’ve been getting the feeling that God doesn’t want me to become too comfortable. He is gently moving me on, step by step, in my journey of faith, but in order to keep my balance and to flourish, I have to stay grafted to Him, like the branches on a vine. I am being called to a deeper daily level of dependence, like we are when in a crisis- and let’s be honest, we are in living in a Global crisis. I liken this to being in critical care, that kind of ‘can’t-get-through-this-day-without-you’ dependence. The vine also brings to mind fruitfulness, and to consider the opportunities we can capitalise on to be fruitful in this Harvest season - although in Gods’ calendar, every season is harvest season!
We need to be creative in how we can stay connected to others. Like the tree whose job it is to drop seeds, let’s find opportunities to drop seeds of faith and shine His light as the days draw in - literally and metaphorically. I read the following in a newspaper article recently:
It’s not enough simply to survive this current climate. We need to reset the way we live, using it to highlight and accelerate transformation where it’s most needed. The best way to start is to initiate positive changes. The pandemic could be a portal between one world and another, an invitation for humans to imagine a better place.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for resilience and creativity as we step out in faith with our packet of seeds (or, as Caroline reminded us in her ‘connecting’ sermon recently, a life-changing vaccine) in our pocket, armed not so much with a breastplate, sword and helmet, more with our lifejacket to stay afloat in stormy waters and torch to see through the mist and shine His light of love and hope.
Nicole Barnard