Kensington staff was recently led through some teaching practices to help enrich our spiritual growth. Bette Dickenson, artist and teacher from Traverse City campus, led us through four sessions which stretched us to explore God in ways that may not be typical for us. Our final session which has been swirling around in my mind!
In our final session, we went through Numbers 13:1-2; 17-33. The Israelites had finally reached the promised land, but before entering, they sent a few people ahead to check out the “fruit of the land.” Those people came back and reported that the land does indeed “flow with milk and honey” and great fruit. But, they reported that the people in the land were powerful like giants, and the Israelites were like grasshoppers.
Bette then challenged us to an exercise that engaged more of the right brain – creativity, imagination, images. Immediately I felt inferior and intimidated, as I typically process and express things more from the left brain – reasoning, language, logic. But, I went ahead and grabbed the blank sheet of white paper and a few colored pencils and committed to giving it a try.
We were encouraged to draw something that represented our hope for the future of our church community– the fruits, the milk and honey, the promised land. And we were also asked to draw the giants; those things that bring a feeling of fear or defeat.
As I quieted my mind, I instantly had an image of sweet corn in my imagination. So, I took a green pencil and started to draw some lines that would represent stalks. This is a very familiar image for me, growing up raising acres and acres of sweet corn. Then I added some yellow tassels on top, which made me think of my little brother and how his eyes would get all puffy when we were out in the corn fields and the pollen would sprinkle down from the tassels and irritate his allergies. Next, I added green leaves that filled in the spaces between the stalks, and finally I added the cobs of corn that sprout randomly from the stalks.
I was pleased! The drawing actually looked a bit like a small field of corn and it looked inviting and brought back many childhood memories.
Corn produces a sweet, satisfying harvest. Not only is corn enjoyed by most everyone (especially fresh corn on the cob with butter and salt – come on!), but corn is also used as a base for many of the foods we produce and even for fuel. But it needs to be planted correctly to thrive. You cannot grow just a few stalks or it will not produce. It needs to be cross pollinated. When you first plant a field of corn and it starts to sprout up, you can see the neat rows. But, as it grows, it fills in and it becomes hard to even walk through because of the full leaves reaching out and overlapping. Looking at a field of healthy corn, it’s difficult to see where one plant stops and another starts. It’s one big field.
This image of a field is what I hope for the future of our community: flourishing, fruitful, unified, together, beautiful.
But the fears and giants? Those were actually harder for me to draw. I could identify weeds, insects, animals, poor weather conditions. There are ways to combat some of these by plowing up the ground to uproot weeds, spraying the stalks with a pest deterrent, irrigating, etc.
But the real giant for me was a question:
How?
How do I get from an empty field to a flourishing crop of bright green stalks bearing plump ears of sweet, tender, corn? What is the process? How will I learn it? Who will teach, lead or inspire me?
We grew over 40 acres of sweet corn and harvested it all by hand. I helped mostly with the harvesting and selling. But my Dad had learned how to prepare the soil, when to till it and when to let it rest, what kind of seed variety, how to plant the seeds, how deep and how much space between, how to nurture the seeds (water, fertilizer), how to uproot weeds without uprooting the plants that are sprouting. All of that had to be understood before the plant could be expected to flourish and bear fruit.
I have a cousin who grew up farming with us. A few years ago, he started taking over some of the fields that my Dad had stopped farming. He made the decision to get sober and to start a new way of life. He needed new activities to replace some of the destructive habits. He started learning. He had watched and learned from my Dad and his own dad. Now he finds incredible purpose in the entire process of preparing the land, planting, caring for the crops, and sharing the fruit of his labor with others. He doesn’t do it to make money. He piles up his truck bed with corn and delivers it to people in the community – just to share the fruit of his labor. (I didn’t mention that my family has a reputation for growing the BEST sweet corn you’ll ever taste. So, everyone is excited to receive his sweet gift).
My cousin was the last person to see my Dad alive. On a mild November day two years ago, he was coming by to check on something in the fields and he saw my Dad stopping to take a breather from picking up leaves in his yard. They had a short chat before parting ways. My Dads heart stopped shortly after. I think about how my cousin is carrying on my Dad’s legacy. He was passionate about his land and his sweet corn. I love that he was able to pass that along to the next generation in such a tangible way.
So, what does all of this mean when it comes to our church?
I’m not sure! But I really appreciate being pushed to use my imagination and to hear from God in a different way.
For me, I can imagine our community as that full, fruitful field.
I imagine that none of us can really produce fruit on our own, we need each other.
I imagine how beautiful it looks to gaze at a field and not be able to see where one stalk ends and another begins, but the whole field is unified in one purpose.
I imagine God’s desire for us to flourish and enjoy the fruits of His spirit as a community, giving it away freely to the world, not for our own gain but because it’s SO GOOD!
I imagine how wonderful it feels to taste the fruit ourselves and to freely share it with everyone.
I imagine the importance of learning and growing in our own understanding and wisdom so that we can continually produce and share a better crop.
I imagine us sharing all that we learn with others so that everything we have experienced is shared with future generations.
Then I think of the “giants.” How do we combat the external threats like weeds, insects, bad weather? How do we know what and how to plant? How do we know how much to focus on the process and our own effort, and how much is out of our hands?
And then I’m reminded that God is delighted when we seek Him for guidance, direction and wisdom (Numbers 14:8). He promises to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promises us if we seek we will find (Matthew 7:7). He promises us His Holy Spirit to guide us (John 16:13). We can go to Him with all of our “how” questions and He promises wisdom (James 1:5).
In Michigan it is harvest time, and I’m glad I have this image of hope for our church community tucked away in my imagination.
Join me in looking forward to seeing how our church will grow to full, robust, plants that appear to merge into one big field of green. And when the intimating “how giants” lurk, we can turn to God and be certain that we are not growing our community of faith on our own, but we have the promise of wisdom and guidance from our eternal creator God and that is all we need!
