“Most of the clergy at our meeting would be able to tell you of some moment in time when they felt God’s call in their lives,” said Al. “Our experience back in the coffee house reminded me how easy it is to lose touch with the power of that sense of call.”
Carla stooped to smell some flowers near the path. “I can think better in metaphors,” she said. “When you look at these Daffodils, what happens for you?”
Al bent beside her and touched the petals gently. “I know it’s selfish, but my first impulse is to pick some of them and take them home with me to stay in the presence of their beauty.”
“And what happens if you do that,” asked Carla?
“Yeah, I know. If I pick them, I get to use them for my benefit but they also die quicker.”
“I’ve always believed that God didn’t create plants just to be used by humans for food. Rather, God created some plants to expand our souls and fill us with a sense of awe and glory.”
“So how does that relate to . . .Oh, I get it.” said Al. “Like the flowers, many people like to use immigrants and their work to better our lives, but then we toss them aside like wilted flowers.”
“Even cut flowers are placed in a vase with water and nutrients,” said Carla.
“That’s beautiful, Carla, but how do we convey that image to pastors whose congregations are more aware of the laws that are broken by immigrants than by any beauty they bring to the world?”
“This park is protected by laws,” said Carla, “and it is important to acknowledge the way that our boarders and the laws that define them are necessary, but we also need to remember that real humans, children of the same God who touched us, are involved.”
“To be called by God to love a person we fear is quite a balancing act.”
“And I need to remember,” said Carla,” that some of those neighbors I’m called to love are the clergy that will resist my message.”
Over supper with much laughter and storytelling, they developed a strategy for the next day’s presbytery meeting.
