Perspectives by Rev. Norine Gullons

Spring

Spring is a great time of year! I have been watching the crocus begin to bloom and the lilac bush is already starting to sprout buds. ! A time of renewal!

Many people are re-evaluating and looking at changes in their personal lives, their communities, their work, and their faith communities.  

They are essentially asking the question:  Does something need to grow and develop or does something need to actually die and allow new life to spring forth?

Simple changes, such as learning or developing a skill or implementing new ideas don’t require that anything needs to die. We simply build on the understanding, information and expertise that we already have.

Transformation on the other hand requires that something dies so that new life can be created. If we want to transform our communities, faith communities or organizations then we need to learn to become experts of allowing things to die and we need to learn to become midwives to the new life that is coming into being.

Transformation happens when a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. The “grain” needs to die so that it will ultimately survive and then a thriving and sustaining plant life is created.

What dies in a grain of wheat when it falls into the ground is its temporal form so that its life-giving essence can be released into a new temporal form. When helping things to die, we need to pay attention to what actually needs to die and what needs to be allowed to blossom forth with new life.

We find metaphors for the Christian life in plants springing from the ground, being drawn outward toward the light, and bearing fruit according to their nature. 

Jesus uses the dead seed coming to life and bearing fruit as a metaphor for his own crucifixion and being raised up on our behalf. Think of the weird conversations he had with a variety of people. These conversations were not about change ~ they were about transforming defeat to a new way of being!

May God bless you in transforming your life this spring! 

Rev. Norine Gullons

South Dundas Evangelical

Lutheran Parish

Morrisburg/Williamsburg