Mulch on the Way

In spite of the polar vortex that will be sweeping across the Northeast this May weekend, the weather earlier in the week was perfect for yard work. As Darrell and I stood on the parsonage deck and wondered how to go about obtaining enough woodchips to spread on the flower beds, low and behold, Larry McNamee arrived in his loaded pickup truck, and Ron Penrose joined him with a wheelbarrow and shovel. Before I could even say, “thanks for the free mulch delivery,” the fellows had let down the tailgate and emptied out the vehicle. Amazing!

Because I’m spoiled, the guys did the heavy lifting, but I joined in with a rake and pushed some of the mulch around, evening it out to a three-inch depth. As I did so, up from my memory popped the recollection of a day spent at Mt. Morris, the Moravian Camp and Conference Center located in central Wisconsin. Darrell and I were on the premises along with a dozen or so young teens—students in the confirmation class we were leading that year. We were practicing discipleship through service, and the task at hand required chipping and shredding vast amounts of pine branches and using the mulch to line the camp’s footpaths. The camp had only recently added a new cluster of cabins, and the trampled ground between buildings had become a bit treacherous.

Working together on the project turned out to be a great bonding experience, and the visible progress we were able to make left us feeling satisfied. At some point—after all, this was a confirmation class—we used the experience to discuss what Jesus might have meant when he talked about being the way, the road, the path to that comfortable place where God welcomes us eternally. “ How is Jesus like a pathway,” I asked them.

Out there in the deep pine forest, the kids had plenty of answers. One offered, “The ground here is really puddly when it rains. The mulch on the trail keeps us above the mess. Maybe Jesus is like that—keeping us above the mess.” Another said, “Last summer when I was here for church camp, it was hard to tell the deer trails from the people trails and I got confused coming back from the lodge one night. I feel like when there’s a clearer trail, it’s not so easy to get lost. So, I guess that means Jesus, like, helps us to not get lost when things are confusing.” Such wisdom!

Back to the present, this pandemic period we’re living in is both puddly and confusing! If only there were a clearly marked, freshly mulched trail we could follow that would lead us out of the woods.

Maybe there is.

Christ Jesus has known the experience of dark days and confounding times. Overpowering that, though, Christ Jesus has known how to rise above it. He doesn’t keep the solution a secret. He shares it freely. The key is to step closely in his footsteps for his footsteps ARE the path that whisks us not only from the camp lodge to the camp cabin, but from ultimate fear to ultimate hope. From certain death to certain resurrection. From being shut out of life to being welcomed into eternity. To step in his footsteps is to have confidence.

When this is our starting point, this knowledge that we are eternally connected to God no matter the parameters of this earth-bound life, then we can be bold enough to step where Jesus shows us to step, be as Jesus shows us to be. Crisis or not, we know where to put our feet.

Besides the Masked Mulchers, some other College Hill folks followed in Christ Jesus’ footsteps this week and carried out other volunteer ministries as well. (I just don’t have any photos to post!) In small teams, gloved and masked and distanced and all that, some took the path to William Penn Elementary School to drop off packed bags of food to be distributed to the K-5 kids who struggle with food insecurity, perhaps even more so now that the school building is closed.  Some took the path to East Hills to cook for the Freezer Ministry of the Bethlehem Area Moravians—food that will also be distributed to hungry people across our community. Though adjustments have been made to how we carry out the work, the path really hasn’t changed much. It’s just been re-mulched! 

People of God—stay on the path. No matter how puddly or confusing, we know how to navigate.

Step by step,

Pastor Chris