Beware the Thoughts You Sow in the Garden of Your Mind --- Rev. Peter Heinrichs, June 2, 2019
(John 17:20-23)
I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are--
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. MSG Version
I was working in our vegetable garden a few days ago, turning the garden over, planning and planting. At the same time, I thought about my family, my extended family, four generations of my family who have been gathering around my 93 year old father who is now in hospice care. I am not used to so much family all at one time. It is a lovely thing to see, this gathering of the clan to celebrate and honor my father. I find the whole experience opens me up: hugs and tears, old stories stirred up and new ones arriving, people being people, unanticipated pleasures and petty annoyances, and a sense of something passing, the last time this family will hang together in this particular form.
It occurred to me as I turned over the soil with my shovel that my own family (and perhaps any family) is a bit like a vegetable garden. Every garden is unique in its soil, its sunlight, its size and plant selection. Yet every garden or family has its familiar characters. There are the old reliable family members who show up like asparagus in pretty much the same spot at the expected time every year, delivering meals one always looks forward to. There are the jalapeno and habanero pepper family members one tends to handle with garden gloves. Need I say more? There are also in every family the volunteer seedlings that surely have grown from your own family compost but you never know exactly where and when they are going to show up in the garden. Moreover, in the garden plot of most families there are the summer squash folks who are certainly fruitful but by the end of the season you don’t know quite what to do with them. Yes? Thank God for the onion folks and the carrot folks that take their time arriving, but they’re good right into frost season. And bless the tomato folks, they have their own brief spectacular moment in the sun gracing every salad and sandwich, and you can’t wait to see them again next year. In any family, of course, certain vegetables compete for space. In my family garden, my wife Susan prefers to plant Swiss chard and I prefer to plant kale. Fortunately, however, we agree on planting basil, from which, in the fall, we make Italian pesto which, when frozen, is like preserving summer sunshine deep into the winter. Of all such things are families made.
I was aware as I was finishing a bed of soil (ready for planting) that a garden and a family require thought and care. A garden is perhaps a bit more straightforward. You’re pretty sure that when you plant carrot seeds you’re going to get carrots and by experience you know what types of tomatoes work best in your soil. Human beings in a family system are less predictable. Among the seeds I have found I must be most diligent to sow are seeds of forgiveness, willingness to be surprised, and wisdom in the use of the thoughts of my heart and the words of my mouth. Add to that a generous heap of well composted self-honesty and I do pretty well in the garden of my family, most seasons.
The truth is, as I looked out over my garden of seeded beds and seedlings late that afternoon, underneath we are all one family of beings however individualized we may seem. My own ideas about members of my family are heavily weighted by my own old experience and memory. Do I really need to convince my brothers on matters of politics and religion? That’s on me. Do I really need affirmation or validation of my role and history and life choices from my relations? That’s on me also.
Not only are we all one, but we all do the best we can while we are here to balance out the application of love and fear in our lives. Nobody gets it all right. Yet, still, one must choose. When I plant a thought of fear in the garden of my mind, what comes up is suspicion, comparison, resentment and a sense that I am somehow a victim of circumstances. When I plant instead an awareness of what love can do, what comes up is curiosity, a capacity to listen and be surprised, and a sense that whatever appears in my life can be handled.
Beware then, the thoughts you sow in the garden of your mind. It’s not just a matter of family, but of the picture of the world you create and live in.
Choose well the thought you sow. Let it be more of love than of fear. Listen to Jesus when he prays for us. He prays that we might all be one in heart and mind. He prays that we will practice and mature in this oneness. He prays that we will give evidence to a world that believes only in its own separation and suffering that we are all family and all are welcome and all acceptable at the family harvest.
Choose well. Let your thought be a prayer for all families, for we are all – One.
Amen
(John 17:20-23)
I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are--
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. MSG Version
I was working in our vegetable garden a few days ago, turning the garden over, planning and planting. At the same time, I thought about my family, my extended family, four generations of my family who have been gathering around my 93 year old father who is now in hospice care. I am not used to so much family all at one time. It is a lovely thing to see, this gathering of the clan to celebrate and honor my father. I find the whole experience opens me up: hugs and tears, old stories stirred up and new ones arriving, people being people, unanticipated pleasures and petty annoyances, and a sense of something passing, the last time this family will hang together in this particular form.
It occurred to me as I turned over the soil with my shovel that my own family (and perhaps any family) is a bit like a vegetable garden. Every garden is unique in its soil, its sunlight, its size and plant selection. Yet every garden or family has its familiar characters. There are the old reliable family members who show up like asparagus in pretty much the same spot at the expected time every year, delivering meals one always looks forward to. There are the jalapeno and habanero pepper family members one tends to handle with garden gloves. Need I say more? There are also in every family the volunteer seedlings that surely have grown from your own family compost but you never know exactly where and when they are going to show up in the garden. Moreover, in the garden plot of most families there are the summer squash folks who are certainly fruitful but by the end of the season you don’t know quite what to do with them. Yes? Thank God for the onion folks and the carrot folks that take their time arriving, but they’re good right into frost season. And bless the tomato folks, they have their own brief spectacular moment in the sun gracing every salad and sandwich, and you can’t wait to see them again next year. In any family, of course, certain vegetables compete for space. In my family garden, my wife Susan prefers to plant Swiss chard and I prefer to plant kale. Fortunately, however, we agree on planting basil, from which, in the fall, we make Italian pesto which, when frozen, is like preserving summer sunshine deep into the winter. Of all such things are families made.
I was aware as I was finishing a bed of soil (ready for planting) that a garden and a family require thought and care. A garden is perhaps a bit more straightforward. You’re pretty sure that when you plant carrot seeds you’re going to get carrots and by experience you know what types of tomatoes work best in your soil. Human beings in a family system are less predictable. Among the seeds I have found I must be most diligent to sow are seeds of forgiveness, willingness to be surprised, and wisdom in the use of the thoughts of my heart and the words of my mouth. Add to that a generous heap of well composted self-honesty and I do pretty well in the garden of my family, most seasons.
The truth is, as I looked out over my garden of seeded beds and seedlings late that afternoon, underneath we are all one family of beings however individualized we may seem. My own ideas about members of my family are heavily weighted by my own old experience and memory. Do I really need to convince my brothers on matters of politics and religion? That’s on me. Do I really need affirmation or validation of my role and history and life choices from my relations? That’s on me also.
Not only are we all one, but we all do the best we can while we are here to balance out the application of love and fear in our lives. Nobody gets it all right. Yet, still, one must choose. When I plant a thought of fear in the garden of my mind, what comes up is suspicion, comparison, resentment and a sense that I am somehow a victim of circumstances. When I plant instead an awareness of what love can do, what comes up is curiosity, a capacity to listen and be surprised, and a sense that whatever appears in my life can be handled.
Beware then, the thoughts you sow in the garden of your mind. It’s not just a matter of family, but of the picture of the world you create and live in.
Choose well the thought you sow. Let it be more of love than of fear. Listen to Jesus when he prays for us. He prays that we might all be one in heart and mind. He prays that we will practice and mature in this oneness. He prays that we will give evidence to a world that believes only in its own separation and suffering that we are all family and all are welcome and all acceptable at the family harvest.
Choose well. Let your thought be a prayer for all families, for we are all – One.
Amen