death...is never the end

Ministry and faith are always about seasons...letting something fall to the ground, and die requires a profound faith. Something inside screams ownership, calling you to clutch it...it belongs to you. It never really does, ministry is like seeds of the Kingdom, sown in mysterious faith...knowing something well beyond you waters, and nurtures it. We merely plant. The plot, the fruit, even the season are all His. We are faithful servants, workers, builders of His kingdom.

Faith tells us, death is never the end. Another season will come. The death of a ministry calls us to fervent prayer, to be mindful, to recall faithful stories of the past, to deepen roots of faith. It means being alert, and aware of what sprouts out of the dead seed may be different from the earlier ministry. It will start small. It will need to be nurtured with many hands. It will need to be cultivated with abundant grace, love and patience. It will grow...death is never the end.

As a seed which has bore abundant fruit on the streets of Victoria is laid down tonight. Do not fret. Rejoice and celebrate the great season of compassion, mercy, grace, hospitality and love it was. It is all laid down with great faith and expectation...that what sprouts from death will produce many more seeds.

Death...is never the end.

This poem for all my friends whom I've got to know through CARTS...who we are called to be.

Who are we called to be?
The Father’s family –
greatest is least.
Sisters and brothers, pray
for bread and peace today,
and for the poor that they
share in the feast.

Who are we called to be?
The Son’s community –
song, salt and light.
Become what Christ became,
witness to Yahweh’s reign,
go set the world aflame –
God’s dynamite!

Who are we called to be?
The Spirit’s colony –
exiles and clowns.
Live as the dispossessed,
free of the fear of death,
heal hate with tenderness –
world upside-down!

Kim Fabricius

Comments

[Al]

Thanks, Ron. Sage words indeed.

I wonder how much greatness we miss out on just because we are trying our hardest to maintain the status quo.

For those of us who believe that God inspires/leads us to do specific things, it's hard to let go of them. Often there is a sense of misplaced loyalty--we think we are honoring God by continuing to keep the old ship afloat, but sometimes we are missing out on the next stage of the journey.

Thanks for your wisdom.

[Sabio Lantz]

Ouch. That poem touch images I don't enjoy: dynamite, YHWH. Trust in the afterlife may be comforting, but it often stings people later depending how they use it.