Welcome to Wondering Wednesday. You are encouraged to use this as personal devotion and reflection. You are encouraged to hop on the church Facebook page or Instagram page and wonder with others.
Wonder … “[The gardener] replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.”  (Luke 13:8)What might it mean to let it alone for one more year?Now go ahead and read the complete scriptures:(click link to read): Isaiah 55:1-9 & Luke 13:6-9Take a look at this image and then read the reflection below(written by the Artist | Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman):How often does society wish us to feel like we are wasting soil?The whole capitalist system lurches forward, powered by our collective sense of unworthiness and our searching for worth based on what we produce. This parable upends the notion that we are what we produce, and speaks truth: you are worthy. You deserve rest and care simply for existing. What a gift!In this image, I wanted the fig tree to look unremarkable, surrounded by the hands of the Gardener reaching down to lovingly massage the soil. The sleeves contain patterning of simplified visual references to everything a plant needs to not only survive, but to thrive. Starting close to the roots and moving upward, the patterns include water, air, sunlight, nutrients, and space. The emphasis in this image is on what is happening below the surface, in the depths of the dirt. The roots stretch toward the hands of the Gardener as the specks of dirt seem to also image the stars of the vast universe. Within us, despite what we produce, despite what can be seen at the surface, we contain multitudes. We bear the image of God, and our mere existence makes us worthy of Sabbath and the loving arms of the Gardener reaching out to provide us with everything we need.On a personal note, the Full to the Brim theme keeps bringing me back to the image of resting while God reaches to embrace us. Lately I’ve spent so much time and energy fighting so hard to get some kind of tangible grasp of God, all the while feeling so empty. I’m realizing that I need to practice surrender, allowing God to find me where I am, and to receive God’s care and love, filling me to the brim so I can then be full to pour out once again.Pray Breathe deeply as you gaze upon the image above again.Imagine placing yourself in this scene.What do you see?How do you feel?Get quiet and still,offering a silentor spoken prayerto God. 
Adapted from Copyright © Sanctified Art Full To The Brim Lenten Devotional. 
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