In the bleak midwinter,
frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like
a stone;
(Christmas hymn, Evangelical
Lutheran Worship, #294)
In the bleak
midwinter, breath exhaled as fog,
herald of spring appears, the seed catalog.
Okay, I should leave the classic hymns alone. However, in the post office box this week, among
the last minute advertising that assures me the perfect Christmas gift awaits
and is even now on sale, has come the seed catalog; a word of hope and promise
in the bleak midwinter. Such is the
nature of the seed. What a blessing.
In the Commons plans are underway for the spring. In recent weeks letters have gone out
soliciting from community partners names of people who might want to participate
in the work of the community garden.
After the first of the year we will gather to put dates to tasks and
details to turning the church lawn into garden.
We also have gained another community partner: IMPACT. The children in this Mulberry, Indiana after
school program will be invited to help plant, tend and harvest at Katie’s Commons. They will be an important link in the chain
of our community’s food security, plus it will be a chance to play in the dirt
(win-win). And finally as I dream by the
fire, grant applications are being prepared.
While Katie’s Commons is sponsored by Gloria Dei Church and is given the
use of land, water and storage facilities we look to the community and friends
for the financial support and the additional resources necessary to be successful. Grants will be an important part of that mix.
In short (to mix a couple of poetic references) in the
bleak midwinter, we in the Commons are trying to make perfect our will, taking
no thought of the harvest but only of proper sowing. (Choruses from The Rock, T.S. Eliot)
I wish all who read these words a blessed Advent, a merry
Christmas and a very happy New Year.
