Holy Ground

Where two rivers meet.
"Over there is sacred ground,
unfortunately we stopped in Kansas."

I’ve been interested lately in the concept of a “theology of place.” In Hinduism there is a strong attachment of the sacred to places where two rivers meet (I guess Kansas City and St. Louis are holy places). The Navajo orient themselves based upon the four holy mountains that surround their homeland from the north, south, east and west. As Christians we gravitate around churches and we travel to pilgrimage sites around the world. We hold onto certain places as holy, going so far as to name them “The Eternal City” and the “Holy Land.”

In Matthew 25 Jesus states that we will be judged by how we treat people who are suffering and he says (without reservation) that we should give food and drink to those who don't have them and that we should welcome strangers, and visit people who are sick or imprisoned. We have made this difficult to accomplish because of where we choose to live and whom we choose to associate with.

Generally speaking it is not about a lack of desire to do live out what Jesus asks us to, but more because it’s generally not right in front of us and there isn’t a Lazarus on our doorstep. In the words of Shane Claiborne “The great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor.” Our cities and suburbs are set up where we can be isolated from many of these opportunities to do what Jesus tells us to do.

I’ve found that like most of our experiments in living as a Christian we sometimes do what we are supposed to do and sometimes we don’t. When I lived in Nepal poverty and suffering was in my face all the time. There were ample opportunities to either do what Jesus told us we should do or choose to ignore those who were starving or didn’t have clothing. Sometimes I did and sometimes, well, I had to ask for forgiveness.

We often place ourselves outside of where the poor and marginalized are. These are the places where God resides and wants us to go to. It's going to the other side of Troost (a street in Kansas City that street that is a racial and economic dividing line or north of Highway 40 for those familiar with St. Louis) to be with those who hunger and thirst. It's about reaching out to new immigrants to welcome them, it's getting to know a child or an elderly person through sponsorship organizations like Christian Foundation for Children and Aging that give us better opportunities to more closely follow Jesus. 

Waiting Patiently

The last two years I’ve grown most of my garden from seed or slip (in the case of my beloved sweet potatoes). I think what I enjoy about planting seeds, as opposed to buying seedlings from the local nursery,* is that I get to see the miracle of life happen right in front of my eyes. I derive a great deal of excitement seeing a seedling emerge from the dirt and then helping them along as they do what they were created to do. In this process you have to practice a great deal of patience.

Not quite the work of human hands,
but definitely the fruit of the vine.

When we came back from a five-day visit to St. Louis to see my parents and younger sister I was treated to a nice surprise of several of my rattlesnake snap beans ready for harvest. I planted them in early June, put some bamboo poles next to where I planted the seeds and I waited patiently for them to grow and bear fruit.

I use the phrase “waited patiently” because the song “40” by U2 popped into my head as I was picking the beans from their vines. The song comes from Psalm 40 and many of the lyrics are lifted straight from the Psalm and waiting patiently

is what gardeners often have to do.

Waiting patiently is hard for me to practice! I have multiple task lists. In my haste and desire to “do” I forget to “be.” Just being and waiting patiently give us the space for God to enter into our lives. I know that I miss moments of joy with my wife, children, friends, coworkers, garden, nature, and God because of my impatience and my desire to do. Remembering to spend that time allowing for those moments to happen is what can make the difference in how much joy is in my life.

Jesus, our brother,

Help us to be patient.

Help us to be present to others, to You.

Help us to simply be. Amen.

* I have nothing against buying from a nursery, especially when you are talking about plants like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. They generally have great plants that can be well worth the money without the investment of time and mess of planting seeds, but really, nothing beats growing from seed!