CHRISTMAS GREENERY

colleagues liked to say, “The trees have died, but the forest is becoming young again.”

I found that one of the most “pastoral” gifts that I could give to locals and visitors was the challenge to “look for the green.” It was so easy to be overwhelmed with grief for the forest-that-was. The ugly orange-brown trees dominated the landscape, making it impossible to ignore or forget what had been lost. But while accepting and acknowledging and mourning that truth, we would also encourage people to look down. Notice the multitude of small green trees emerging from the earth. In the short decade or so that I was there, these tiny seedlings grew to be head-high and more. It will be a long time, if ever, before the forest is the same as it was before. Nevertheless, it has become young again and there is joy and hope and fascination in watching the new growth mature along with all the other living things that come with it.

A grove of lodgepole pines

We are all now going through another time of upheaval. Life as we knew it has changed, possibly forever. The “forest” doesn’t look anything like it did a year ago and we find ourselves sad, and angry, and sometimes fearful. Even as we grieve what we have lost and even as we decry the ugliness of some of what is in this present time, let us remember to “look for the green.” There are blessings in this time (you can read our Covid devotions booklet to discover some of them). Where do you see new life emerging? How have you grown? How can we help good, healthy, Spirit-filled disciplines, habits, relationships, programs, and policies take root and flourish? How can we live into a reality where “the trees have died, but the forest has become young again?”

Nicole Seiferth, Parish Administrator

If you would like to sponsor one (or more) of the wreaths that adorn Good Shepherd at Christmas in memory of or thanksgiving for your loved ones, please contact Nicole in the church office at (423) 821-1583 or nicole@gslookout.com . You can also contribute toward the greening of the church in your loved one’s honor.