God the Gardener

I love that in this story of the fig tree that bears no fruit for three whole years, the gardener (who seems to represent God) is the one who says to the owner (representing a part of ourselves), "Sir, let it alone for one more year" (see Luke 13: 6-9).

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In this story, God calls us "Sir" or "Madam" a cultural sign of respect - respect for us! More so, in this story (as in the person of Jesus), God takes on an amazing humility (humus) - an earthiness - an attribute, a face - an image of GodSelf that is often sadly lost - especially in church pomp, fanfare and festivals (buried perhaps beneath birettas, lost in the sleeves of surplices, caught up in the lace of some cotta).

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But in this story, God the Gardener lives close to the ground. In apartheid South Africa, God would have been "the Boy" - a term many coloured and white families would use to refer to a mature black man working in their gardens. But wouldn't it be cool if we celebrated from time to time, the Feast of God the Gardener or the Feast of the Christ who Fell (more than once)?

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In this story God is the patient, risk-taking one - but more so, God is the one willing to get God's hands manure dirty for something - or someone - or some situation bearing very little promise.

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Wouldn't it be cool if we also celebrated the Feast of God who Gets God's Hands Dirty (for us)?