Isaiah’s acre is what one ox can plow in a day
This planted measure of 4046 square meters
can feed a total of eight people for an entire year
Our parish’s little community garden can humbly
provide fresh produce for only a third of a person’s needs
Skeptics might say that it is a waste of time and space
Faith would say, it might multiply to feed 5000 souls
Ah… our ministry’s earthly miracle proves the belief
that God creates ripples from Christ like human toil
adding bits and pieces of land from outside our soil
Our collection table fills with vegetables and more
gathered from the bounty of the entire community
This story becomes larger still as donated food grows
beyond from other planted acres of mustard seeds
The seed planting’s ripple reaches out from parishes
Again and again, from willing hearts, food multiplied
Jesse’s roots depth unconstrained by time not measurable
As what is in the sacred ground rises to touch loves center
Mysteries unwind, self lets go, moments of delight arrive
Trinity’s presence diffuses graces in the fertile richness
Conversations swirl to mingle in both human and divine
God has a greater gift still, as human dots connect to His holiness
Worldliness disappears as the water mixes with the wine
The Word, becomes alive uniting spirit and the physical
The tiny seed past fruiting, its senescence becomes sure
It knows it has arrived, ready to touch the edge of Kingdom’s shore
I envisioned a garden in the middle a field in the back of our parish buildings in prayer one day. At that moment, I knew it had to become real. It all came together quite easily with the harvested food going to the local food pantry. Over the years, there has been a ripple effect as people supply food from their own gardens. In truth, there has been an even more significant effect of this little garden. Its holy ground helps conversations seeds of fiath to mature, flower and age touching the edge of heaven.
Blooms