Causation or correlation

Sometimes, we recognise the sequential effect of things: cold weather means we get out our mittens.
Sometimes, we recognise the complete disconnect of things that just happen to occur at a similar time: there’s ice in my freezer; there’s ice on my deck.
And sometimes, things that seem to be disconnected do actually have a correlation: snow fell; my puzzle table came out. (Unless you knew that my jigsaw habit is usually a winter pastime, those two things would seem incongruous – yet the snow has fallen, and the puzzling has begun!)

When we consider our spiritual actions and realities, it’s helpful to consider the reasoning behind them, to ponder on any connections – or just coincidences.

For many who attend services, the practice becomes habitual – while also being intentional.
Yes, we get up early on Sundays, we know the ups and downs (ah, the Anglican aerobics!), the acronyms make sense to us (mostly) - we enjoy the experience: the worship, the community, the connection. It fills us, inspires us, encourages us.

For some, the daily meditation and prayer times serve as the continuity of faith, of the communication with the divine in a more personal setting. It may include specific setting, maybe a candle or icon for visual or scent stimulus. It may have its own ritual or physical component (my “Friday latte” pottery bowl is a morning prayer regular; for others prayer beads or the feel of a well-known Bible initiates that conversation with God).

For some, however, the concept of worship does not carry with it such positive or edifying connections; it becomes a transactional event. For some, the concept of faith is as a deterrent from “bad behaviour” or a fear against eternal rejection come judgement day. If the only reason to show up at a church is attempting to increase the chances of being heaven-bound, this is not faith; if the contribution to the community’s offerings is an attempt to pay for sin, the effort is not a faithful one. Such a mentality, I fear, is unhelpful and unhealthy to living an authentic faith here and now.

So as I puzzle, I invite us all to puzzle over why we do what we do: why do we pray? Why do we attend worship in community? How might we be inspired to serve, and surprised by joy? How is God acting in our lives in ways that make sense, that build up the heavenly kin-dom, that encourage us to acts that reflect the deep desires of our hearts?

So much to ponder…

 

The Spiritual Growth of Tomatoes?

There’s nothing that teaches us patience quite like… green tomatoes.

It’s that time of year when many of us have some accumulation of green tomatoes resting somewhere near a window. The stragglers on the vines that weren’t quite ready to pick when the first frost came… and so they linger, in boxes or on baking sheets or (in my kitchen) on the dehydrator trays).

For a few days, the sheer volume of table-tomatoes prevented me from sitting down to a proper meal; though to be fair, many of my meals are eaten elsewhere (sometimes while batch cooking, sometimes while the game is on, whatever!)

So while I could wax poetic about “there is a time for everything”, I won’t; instead I share that I can appreciate the way that the tomatoes are ripening. Some are slow, some were fast (and tasty!), some of the green tomatoes ended up in last weekend’s crockpot chili. Some days I had one or two tomatoes ready to eat, other days they were overabundant (with extras landing in the fridge).

The notion that stayed with me this week, was the way that the tomatoes progressed. In their own time, not influenced by their neighbours. Some went from green to a bright orangey-red; others shifted to that rosy hue, eventually making it to an almost burgundy. The changes are not, to my assessment, something that can be easily measured or anticipated – they simply change to what they were meant to be, at their own pace.

Our spiritual growth is not unlike the ripening of these ubiquitous tomatoes. It’s not something that anyone, ourselves included, can anticipate: as we will be formed and informed by whatever life gives us. In some times, we may have rapid growth, and that’s fine. In others, we may appear to be staying the same, appreciating that a time of rest can be appropriate, and also that there may be change happening deep within that we just don’t see yet.

Wherever we are in our spiritual journey, it’s good to remember that it is a journey. And we’ll get to where we need to be – so long as we keep ripening.