From the Pastor's Pen

I am sitting under the portico this morning enjoying the beautiful day and our beautiful church grounds as a I work this morning.  It is Tuesday morning and this is the day for drop by visits at the church.  what a beautiful place to work!

While I was looking around the grounds, I decided to take a closer look at the painted heart at our front entrance.  Lots of businesses and gathering places in Elkhart have painted hearts adorning their grounds.  I really like ours.  I wonder if someone among you can share the history of how we obtained this heart and who painted it???

In case you haven’t looked closely at our heart… there is a large tree painted on it.  Because it is painted on both sides, each side being different, you have the impression you are looking at a complete tree.  The tree has small yellow flowers surrounding it.  This seems appropriate to me, given the great work our gardening crew does, that there are flowers around the tree.  The tree appears to be home to several children of different races.  Each child is relaxed, content and generous.  Several are reading which fits with our church’s love of learning.  One has befriended some butterflies which reminds me that we are a church of the resurrection and new life.  One seems to be offering a piece of fruit – maybe an apple or a tomato.  Another is sharing a book with a friend.  On the cover of the book is the title which reads, “My Life.”  She seems quite willing to offer the story of her life to her friend in the tree.  What an interesting heart on our lawn!

I don’t know what the original artist had in mind when painting this heart, but let me suggest what it means to me.  The tree, to me, is Christ.  It dominates the heart and is the center of everything.  The tree offers an abundance of life as evidence by the green branches everywhere and is a shelter and comfort for people of all races and ethnicities.  In the shelter of the tree live the children of God.  The child on the lowest branch seems to have just discovered the joy of faith found in the resurrection.  She is enamored with her butterflies.  Higher up in the tree, the children of God are being nurtured in the faith.  They learn and grow as they read and study their books, offer what gifts they have as seen in the offered fruit and share their lives with one another as evidenced in the child offering her book with the story of her live. 

I believe if we be this sort of church, depicted in all the lovely detail of this tree and its sheltered children, we will bring joy to our Lord and contribute to God’s work in our world.

Peace,

Pr. Sally