From the Community Lay Director
I have spent the past week hiking through the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, marveling at the diversity of God’s Creation. Thinking about Creation got me to thinking about my garden. I would not ever claim to be a good gardener. I hope that I will have tomatoes, cucumbers and okra to eat for a few meals. That enough decorative pumpkins will grow to supply my wife’s Fall outdoor decorations. That bees and butterflies will find the flowers and other plants that I planted for them. Thinking about my garden got me to thinking about farmers. If ever an occupation depended upon hope and faith, it is farmers. So many things can go wrong farming.
Thinking about my garden some more got me to thinking about Emmaus Walks and Flights. There are many parallels between gardening and Emmaus Walks and Flights.
· Planning what to plant and where to plant it in the garden = bringing together a group of people and developing them into a team.
· Planting seeds and transplants in the garden = drawing together Walk pilgrims and Flight caterpillars in the conference room.
· Fertilizing, watering and weeding the garden = helping new ideas and new awareness of God’s love and grace to develop in the pilgrims and caterpillars over the course of the weekend.
· Harvesting from the garden and taking the harvest home to enjoy the fruits of labor = hearing the testimonies of pilgrims and caterpillars become butterflies at Closing as they prepare to venture into the rest of their lives.
But there, the parallels end. The garden is finished after the harvest until next Spring. The Fourth Days of pilgrims and butterflies continue on. That is when the hope really kicks in for me. I hope that pilgrims and butterflies will flourish in their Fourth Days. I hope they will become more involved in their church. I hope that the additional involvement will make God’s grace and love more apparent to them and those around them each day. I hope that they will be encouraged by their sponsors, their church, by coming to Gatherings, by becoming part of a reunion group, or by becoming part of a Walk or Flight team. I hope these things happen because I know the blessings that have come to me.
Looking forward to seeing you on June 5 for Gathering. I’ll be sharing a bit of my Emmaus story as the Fourth Day talk for the Gathering.
DeColores!!
Michael Watts
Community Lay Director
Lexington Emmaus Community
Mission Statement
Renewing Christian Disciples
Strengthening Local Churches
Rejoice, Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice!