Story: Root & Branch
Themes of peace, Veterans Day, racial justice and white privilege through the lens of the olive tree and the olive branch. Taste & See worship series
JCC 111019 – Root & Branch from architect on Vimeo.
Reflections on olive trees and peace: themes from Taste & See series. How are olive trees symbols of peace, resilience and hope?
Peace puts forth her olive everywhere. — Shakespeare
Like a twisted olive tree in its 500th year, giving then its finest fruit, is man. How can he give forth wisdom until he has been crushed and turned in the Hand of God. — Rabbi Akiva
It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees. ― Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
High on the stern Aeneas his stand,
And held a branch of olive in his hand,
… This message bear: The Trojans and their chief
Bring holy peace, and beg the king’s relief.
— Virgil, Aeneid Some uses of the olive branch and olive tree in music. There’s something for almost every musical preference:
- Olive Tree by Basia (video link)
- Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen (video link)
- The Olive Tree, a Mormon hymn about Christ: (video link)
- Just Like Noah’s Ark by Elton John (video link)
- Color Me America by Dolly Parton (video link)
- Kindness Is the New Rock and Roll by Peace (video link)
Questions to consider about olive trees and peace work. Note that people have literally won Nobel Peace Prizes for planting trees, such as Wangari Maathai. Meanwhile, Desmond Tutu writes that “PEACE WITHIN … described as “inner peace” … is concerned with peace on a personal level, dealing with both the spiritual as well as the emotional/psychological dimensions. PEACE BETWEEN … focuses on an individual and their relationships with their family, friends and the community around them … a dialogue between individuals and/or groups of individuals, helping … to learn forgiveness and reconciliation methods with which to prevent and overcome conflict … to recognize and celebrate our differences, and … look at people who do not look like us, believe as we do, or come from where we come from with the anticipation of something positive instead of the apprehension of something negative. PEACE AMONG … learn what is happening in the world, and about conflicts and violence in particular … how [conflicts] are being addressed and what role [people] can play in helping resolve these conflicts peacefully … facilitating discussions and incorporating voices of people from across the planet … to better recognize our common humanity and work together to make this world a better place.”
- How would you work on Peace Within, Peace Between, and Peace Among? Which versions of peace do you already cultivate well? Which ones do you want or need to strengthen for balance and opportunities to make change in your life and in the world?
- What in your life has longevity, like olive trees that are thousands of years old, growing in the land of spiritual ancestors? To what or whom do you feel connected, a presence that goes back decades or centuries, connecting you to history, but also connecting you to hope and the promise that it will be present in the future?
- How does the the olive tree, whether it’s the image of the leafing branch carried by the dove, or the presence of groves of ancient trees rooted deep in the land, resonate in your life? What are your own spiritual symbols of peace and resilience and hope?
Reference: Some scripture selections from Genesis 8, Deuteronomy 8, Psalm 52, Isaiah 41, John 15 and Romans 11.
Saturday Morning, 10 AM (excerpt) — Jan Richardson
Justice and Peace meet at the café, sit together,
hands folded around steaming cups, heads bent over the paper.
They are not taking in the news of the world
with sorrowing eyes and the clucking of tongues.
They are instead planning their itinerary, plotting their map,
looking for the places where they might slip in …Dance Me to the End of Love(excerpt) — Leonard Cohen lyricsDance me to your beauty with a burning violinDance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of loveDance me to the end of love The Olive Tree (excerpt) — Basia
One day … My good friend said I should hug an olive tree,
She claimed that dreams come true when you do, but
Can a plant be in any way that beneficial to me?
Though I’m a famous skeptic, feet on the ground,
This time I wanted this to be true …
So when … you’ve got dreams, Look for some … olive trees …
Some olive branch must have heard my desperate heart
’cause I wear the crown (the olive crown,
I wear the olive crown) And so do you
Amazing Peace (excerpt) — Maya Angelou
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
… We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.
We, Angels and Mortal’s, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.
Peace, My Brother. Peace, My Sister. Peace, My Soul. Of Olive Trees: Temple of Life
If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them, Their Oil would become Tears. — Mahmoud Darwish
The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven. I can scarcely expect bread. — Thomas Jefferson
The groves were God’s first temples. — William C. Bryant
If you deconstruct Greece, you will in the end see an olive tree, a grapevine, and a boat remain. That is, with as much, you reconstruct her. — Odysseas ElytisScience of Olive Trees (Disease & Cure) — Charles Eisenstein (full article link)
A new disease called Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS) is ravaging olive groves that date back to Roman times and before, some with 2000-year-old trees. Leaves wither as is scorched by fire, twigs and branches die back, and the trees quickly die …
The Xylella theory names insects such as the meadow spittlebug as the transmission vectors for the bacteria; accordingly, authorities are pushing for the elimination of all ground vegetation around the olive trees to deprive the insects of habitat, as well as the heavy use of insecticides. The model is a monoculture of olive trees on bare soil. Maybe a few of the majestic 2000-year-old trees can be preserved for tourism …
A second theory has been advanced by Marghertia Ciervo of the University of Foggia, among other researchers. It says that Xylella infection is a symptom, and not a cause, of OQDS, and that it may not even be an exogenous species. It opportunistically breaks out in the presence of what these researchers name as the deeper causes: primarily, the degradation of soil due to poor agricultural practices. For example … growers in recent years have made heavy use of glyphosate and other herbicides to remove ground-cover to allow easier harvesting. …
The solutions implemented by local organic growers, such as mineral supplementation, microbiome restoration, proper pruning, and the maintenance of biodiverse plant and animal ecosystems in olive groves, have in common a glaring problem. They are economically inefficient in the context of the global market. Farmers using these methods will never be able to compete in conventional commodity markets against industrial plantations …
Where the conventional perspective on the olive tree deaths is that a killer bacteria is attacking them, we might view it differently: as the cry of the land, calling our attention to its suffering. Shall we listen to that cry? Or shall we continue to add to its suffering?
It is quite affecting to observe how much the olive tree is to the country people. Its fruit supplies them with food, medicine and light; its leaves, winter fodder for the goats and sheep; it is their shelter from the heat and its branches and roots supply them with firewood. The olive tree is the peasant’s all-in-all. — Fredrika Bremer
Look at the tree. [It] is a wonderful thing, a tree. A tree is very beautiful. A tree to me is as beautiful as a cathedral, even more beautiful. I look[ed] into the tree and I saw the whole cosmos in it. I saw the sunshine in the tree. Can you see the sunshine in the tree? Yes, because without the sunshine, no tree can grow. I see a cloud in the tree. Can you see? Without a cloud, there can be no rain, no tree. I see the earth in the tree. I see everything in the tree. So the tree is where everything in the cosmos comes into, and the cosmos reveals itself to me through a tree. Therefore, a tree to me is a cathedral, and I can take refuge in the tree and I can get nourished by the tree… I can get in touch with the tree only if I go back to the present moment, because the tree can only be found in the present moment. — Thich Nhat Hanh
Olive trees carry more than an economic significance … They are not just like any another trees, they are symbolic of … attachment to … land. Because the trees are draught-resistant and grow under poor soil conditions, they represent … resistance and resilience. The fact that olive trees live and bear fruit for thousands of years is parallel to … history and continuity on the land. … oldest olive trees, dating back to 4,000 years … trees that have been passed down … for generations and the olive harvest season … bears a socio-cultural meaning where families come together to harvest olive trees bearing in mind that their
forefathers and mothers had tended to the same trees several years ago. — Olive Tree Facts, Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples … — John Muir
For years I study. I look long at olive trees, all gray and silver, and watch the sunlight. Ah, yes, I am ver’ lazy, but I see after I look long that it is perspective that give it this quality. Perspective, and absolute faith to the subject. — Ugo Mochi
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine! — Alfred Lord Tennyson
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. — William Shakespeare
In this way, his unhappy soul struggled with its anguish. Eighteen hundred years before this unfortunate man, the mysterious Being, in whom all the sanctities and all the sufferings of humanity come together, He too, while the olive trees trembled in the fierce breath of the Infinite, had brushed away the fearful cup that appeared before him, streaming with shadow and running over with darkness, in the star-filled depths. — Victor Hugo
When a man’s pride is subdued it’s like the sides of Mount Aetna. It was terrible during the eruption, but when that is over and the lava is turned into soil, there are vineyards and olive trees which grow up to the top. — Henry Ward BeecherOlive Branch as a
Symbol of Peace
[W]ar is a question, under our constitution, not of Executive, but of Legislative cognizance. It belongs to Congress to say whether the Nation shall of choice dismiss the olive branch and unfurl the banners of War. — Alexander Hamilton
We are all familiar with the dove carrying an olive branch as a peace offering. … I’ve created … tribute both to the messenger’s noble mission and gardens as a refuge of peace and tranquility. — Paloma Picasso
The olive branch has been consecrated to peace, palm branches to victory, the laurel to conquest and poetry, the myrtle to love and pleasure, the cypress to mourning, and the willow to despondency. — Dorothea Dix
Liberals would prefer it if the bald eagle on the Great Seal was holding olive branches in both talons, or, better, an olive branch in one, and maybe a soft cushion in the other, to entice our enemies to lie down and snooze. — Mike Gallagher
I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter’s gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. — Yasser Arafat
I know more about wheat and olive trees than I do about politics. — Ariel Sharon
Humility has such power. Apologies can disarm arguments. Contrition can defuse rage. Olive branches do more good than battle axes ever will. — Max Lucado
In war the olive branch of peace is of use. [Lat., Adjuvat in bello pacatae ramus olivae.] — Ovid
Who we are really shows up between extending the olive branch and waiting to see if it is received. — Bonnie Lyn Smith
Information is a beacon, a cudgel, an olive branch, a deterrent–all depending on who wields it and how. — Steven Levitt
[Noah’s dove] announced to the world the assuagement of divine wrath, when she had been sent out of the ark and returned with the olive branch … [Holy Spirit] bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens. — Tertullian
Perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch (oleae ramusculo) which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark. — St AugustinePEACE WORKER QUOTATIONS
We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. — 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? — Dorothy Day, Catholic Workers Movement founder
In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute. — Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice
We aren’t passengers on Spaceship Earth. We’re the crew. We aren’t residents on this planet. We’re citizens. The difference in both cases is responsibility. — Apollo Astronaut Rusty SchweickartPeace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. — President John F. Kennedy
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. — Nelson Mandela, Apartheid Activist & President of So Africa
I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. – Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolent activist and leader of Indian independence movement
Work for what you believe in, but pick your battles, and don’t burn your bridges. Don’t be afraid to take charge, think about what you want,then do the work, but then enjoy what makes you happy, bring along your crew, have a sense of humor.— Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. — St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
We have to be in the present time, because only the present is real, only in the present can we be alive. We do not practice for the sake of the future, to be reborn in a paradise, but to be peace, to be compassion, to be joy right now. ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist Monk & Peace Activist
I raise my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.― Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise
that every human life is of inestimable value. — Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
We all share one planet and are one humanity; there is no escaping this reality. ― Wangari Maathai
When you have a conflict, that means that there are truths that have to be addressed on each side of the conflict. And when you have a conflict, then it’s an educational process to try to resolve the conflict. And to resolve that, you have to get people on both sides of the conflict involved so that they can dialogue.— Dolores Huerta, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and co-founder of National Farm Workers Association
Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. — Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader & Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have
and all that they are. — Hafsat Abiola, Nigerian Human Rights Activist
We gave thanks for the story, for all parts of the story because it was by the light of those challenges we knew ourselves— We asked for forgiveness. We laid down our burdens next to each other. — Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (excerpt), Poet Laureate & Mysoke Nation Poet
Meditations on figs and vines in scripture: themes from Taste & See that show up as images of peace, abundance, mercy, hope and justice.
We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond. — Gwendolyn Brooks
The result will be fruit that blesses the world and reveals us as … a community of love. Together, we are so much more powerful than any of us can be on our own. However, this “together” isn’t out there, on our own even as a community, because our life force flows from the vine with which we are one. — Kathryn Matthews
Joy and happiness, by definition, are the … fruits of wholesome actions. — Dalai Lama
Questions to consider when thinking about the use of vines and figs as images and references in scripture:
- ‘Under vines and fig trees’ is a frequent image embodying peace and abundance, as a blessing from God, in Hebrew scriptures. (Ex: Deuteronomy 8:7-10 and 1 Maccabees 14:11-12). What landscape, site, or place symbolizes spiritual peace and wellbeing to you? Is it wild or cultivated? What would you do (or not do) there? How would it taste, smell and sound? What would it look like? How would it feel to your touch? Would you be alone or with other people? What gifts would such a site or place offer to you?
- Vines and fig trees can be long-lived, and also imply interdependence (see John 15: 1-17). They may require patience and time and skill to cultivate (see Luke 13: 6-9). In what ways do you need to adopt a long-term, even multi-generational, and interconnected view of life and the world? In what ways do you already live out such a spiritual practice?
- Gardening, herding, tending vineyards and orchards, fishing and farming have all been used as a Biblical metaphors for caring for self, community and world. What contemporary metaphor or story would you use to describe the role of caring for yourself, other people and/or the environment?
- Which spiritual fruit (list from Galatians 5) — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — do you believe you have received? Which ones do you wish you had? Which ones are you trying to grow? What isn’t on this list of spiritual fruits, that you would add?
Time and the Garden (excerpt) — Yvor Winters
The spring has darkened with activity.
The future gathers in vine, bush, and tree:
Persimmon, walnut, loquat, fig, and grape,
Degrees and kinds of color, taste, and shape.
These will advance in their due series, space
The season like a tranquil dwelling-place.
And yet excitement swells me, vein by vein:
I long to crowd the little garden, gain
Its sweetness in my hand and crush it small
And taste it in a moment, time and all!
These trees, whose slow growth measures off my years …
The Worm’s Waking — Rumi
This is how a human being can change:
there’s a worm addicted to eating grape leaves.
Suddenly he wakes up, call it grace, whatever,
something wakes him, and he’s no longer a worm.
He’s the entire vineyard, and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy that doesn’t need to devour.
What The Figtree Said (excerpt)— Denise Levertov
… I was at hand,
a metaphor for their failure to bring forth
what is within them (as figs
were not within me). They who had walked
in His sunlight presence,
they could have ripened,
could have perceived His thirst and hunger,
His innocent appetite;
they could have offered
human fruits—compassion, comprehension—
without being asked,
without being told of need.
My absent fruit
stood for their barren hearts. He cursed
not me, not them, but
(ears that hear not, eyes that see not)
their dullness, that withholds
gifts unimagined.
Of Figs & Vines
Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a
fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must
be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. — Epictetus
We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes
honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of
the grapes it has borne. — Marcus Aurelius
Eat figs! If I would say a certain type of fruit was sent down to us from the heavens I would say it’s a fig … — hadith of Prophet Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him)
Here it is in a nutshell: Old vines yield more concentrated fruit, resulting in richer wines with more sumptuous balance … Deep roots are a big asset too … — Beppi Crosario
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants – while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. — George Washington
Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. — Benjamin Franklin
I swear by the fig and the olive. — Surah At-Tīn (the fig), Qur’an
Today I begin a new life. Today I shed my old skin which hath, too long, suffered the bruises of failure ans the wounds of mediocrity. Today I am born anew and my birthplace is a vineyard where there is fruit for all. — Og Mandino
A great fig should look like it’s just about to burst its skin. When squeezed lightly it should give a little and not spring back. It must be almost unctuously sweet, soft and wet. — Yotam Ottolenghi
Probably the most revered tree in the world is Ficus religiosa, the sacred Bodhi, also known as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo) of Burma, Ceylon and India. Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, achieves enlightenment, or Bodhi, beneath this tree. It is said he sat under its shade for six years while he developed his philosophy of the meaning of existence. The term “Bodhi tree” is widely applied to existing trees, particularly the sacred fig growing at the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in the Indian State of Bihar. — W.P. Armstrong
The fig tree appears repeatedly in both the Old and New Testament of the Bible … but it has been cultivated for much longer. Sumerian stone tablets dating back to 2500 B.C. record culinary use of figs, and remains of fig trees were found during excavations of Neolithic sites from 5000 B.C. Some historians consider it the first of the domesticated crops. Figs hold a position of symbolism in many world religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism, representing fertility, peace, and prosperity. Ancient Olympians earned figs for their athletic prowess, and Pliny the Elder extolled the fruit’s restorative powers. The prophet Mohammed reportedly identified the fig as the one fruit he would most wish to see in paradise.— Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
However, there is also a communal response. In the garden of our universe there is a fig tree we call planet Earth, Mother Earth, Home. … Now, the owner comes to us and warns us with messages such as the pending global warming reality or the gradual water shortage that Earth’s death is coming soon. The answer must now be a shift in our understanding of the place of the human within the community of all beings rather than in a dominating position. We are all one. How willing are we … to cultivate and fertilize this new way of understanding? … connecting with others to work together for “the fig tree’s one more year of life.” … means showing what it looks like to have a consciousness of the universal connectedness of all life in our everyday activities. The gardener knows there is something more that can be done in cultivating and fertilizing the tree … If that can happen, the tree will get another chance to bear fruit. Today, we are the gardeners (with) … a window of opportunity to take action for the life of this one place we call home. Individually, we may not think we can make a difference but collectively there is no question we can and we must take the actions we know are needed to transform our lifestyle from one of perhaps unconscious consumption and violent exploitation into one of reverence and nonviolence … taking action as individuals and more effectively as groups on the systemic level. — Mary Elizabeth Clark
Although commonly referred to as a fruit, the fig is actually the … scion of the tree, known as a false fruit or multiple fruit, in which the flowers and seeds are borne. It is a hollow-ended stem containing many flowers. — Jennifer, Vision & Thoughts blogger
Christian Commentary on Figs & Vines
The biblical quote “each man under his own vine and fig tree” has been used to denote peace and prosperity. — Jennifer, Thoughts & Visionsblogger
I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. “And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.” I still believe that We Shall overcome! — Martin Luther King
I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple, pear or anything else. — Yotam Ottolenghi
Some biblical scholars think the fig, and not the apple, was the forbidden fruit picked by Eve in the Garden of Eden. — W.P. Armstrong
The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes. — Freda Adler
It is with good reason that God commanded Moses that the vineyard and harvest were not to be gleaned to the last grape or grain; but something to be left for the poor. For covetousness is never to be satisfied; the more it has, the more it wants. Such insatiable ones injure themselves, and transform God’s blessings into evil. — Martin Luther
In [Luke] the landowner has waited three years for fruit that didn’t appear, and still the gardener is willing and able to care for the [fig] tree and to intercede with the landowner to save it … Mercy is still possible. — Sarah Dylan Breuer
No one – but no one – plants a fig tree in their vineyard. A fig tree would consume too much ground water, the canopy would produce too much shade, and the fig tree would attract birds that would eat the grapes. So when you hear this story about a fig tree in a vineyard, you should be alert to the possibility that this story might have to do with something other than figs and grapes. Yet there is also grace entwined in the figs and vines … the grace that Jesus talks of come when we least expect it, in places we least expect, and from people we least expect. If you keep reading this section of Luke beyond what is presented today, you will hear Jesus telling stories about how God’s grace springs forth … at unexpected times … or in unexpected places, like this fig tree growing where it does not belong, in a vineyard. Give grace a chance, Jesus says. Let it grow. You never know where you will find it. — James Richardson
So I can relate to the poor fig tree in our parable … The fig tree that for whatever reason cannot produce. I feel like that not infrequently, maybe you do too. Unable to produce. … Maybe we are all fig trees in a way … — Nadia Bolz-Weber
We might imagine that Jesus had many human faults. He failed most humanly, in my reckoning, when he killed the fig tree just because it didn’t bear any figs for his breakfast; that was a disgraceful, bad-tempered thing to do, and to try and make a virtue of it by saying it was a demonstration of faith only made things worse. — Michael Leunig
Our Lord never condemned the fig tree because it brought forth so much fruit that some fell to the ground and spoiled. He only cursed it when it was barren. — Edwin Louis Cole
Charism is the fig tree that blooms in every season; it is the fireworks of the fourth of July of grace and God and Jesus! … the gifts of the life of Jesus, we’re told in 1st Corinthians, remain, nevertheless, because the spirit gives them now to us as carriers of these religious traditions and also to you as bearers of them anew. — Joan Chittister
Knowing that our God does give us another chance, do we respond by producing spiritual fruit that is pleasing to God? Do we live our lives with usefulness, working towards God’s intended purpose for us, working together as one body to achieve equality for all of God’s children? — Sally Herlong
Given Luke’s consistent picture of God’s reaction … perhaps the gardener is God, the one who consistently raises a contrary voice to suggest that the ultimate answer … isn’t punishment – not even in the name of justice – but rather mercy, reconciliation, and new life. — David Lose
Looking closely, we see the many entwined branches, winding their way around one another in intricate patterns of tight curls that make it impossible to tell where one branch starts or another one ends. This is not just intricate; it’s intimate, and the vine shares with its branches the nutrients that sustain it, the life force of the whole plant … this vine is one with the branches … we find the best grapes close in to the vine, “where the nutrients are the most concentrated.” … This kind of abiding … showers us with “shalom, which speaks of wholeness, completeness, and health.” Here, close to the vine, immersed in shalom, we find not only nourishment but also hope and joy. — Kathryn Matthews
THIS WEEK at Jackson Community Church and Around Town: TUE, Oct 15 – SUN, Oct 20
| EVENTS with JCC: Clergy Lunch, Multi-Church Bible Study (Making Sense of the Bible by Adam Hamilton), Deacons, Fitness with Laurie McAleer, Council Meeting, Yoga with Anjali Rose, Way Station shifts, AA, Pastor’s Hours, NH UCC Annual Meeting (Concord), Interfaith @ Gazebo, Sunday Worship. AROUND TOWN: Toddler Storytime, Critical Hours book lecture, Environmental Trivia, Fall Mushroom Exploration. Ongoing Library Event: PIONEERING VOICES October Portrait Installation at Jackson Public Library. Pioneering Voices: Portraits of Transgender People comes to us courtesy of the Family Diversity Project by way of the Jackson Community Church, who introduced us. MON, Oct 14: Columbus Day Holiday TUE, Oct 15 CLERGY LUNCHEON 12:30pm • Center Conway, NH Clergy gathering. DEACONS TEAM MEETING 4pm • Jackson Community Church, 2nd Floor Review of worship programs and community care concerns. Multi-Church Event: MAKING SENSE of the BIBLE STUDY GROUP 6:30pm • North Conway Community Center Bring your copy of Adam Hamilton’s Making Sense of the Bible and your own study Bible. Facilitated by Revs Sue Davidson, Gail Doktor, Ruth Shaver. WED, Oct 16 TUNE UP FITNESS with Laurie McAleer 9am • Parish House. Fitness class. Free; open to public. Stretching and fitness workouts with certified fitness coach Laurie McAleer. Exercises can be adjusted to individual needs. COUNCIL MEETING 7pm • Jackson Community Church, 2nd Floor. Church officers and team and community representatives meet to review church mission, program, finances and make governance decisions. This meeting is open to anyone who wants to attend. THURS, Oct 17 YOGA with Anjali Rose 9am • 1st Floor, Parish House / Jackson Community Church. Community Service: WAY STATION HOURS 9am & 5pm • Way Station, 15 Grove St, No Conway Volunteers from JCC work “adult hour” shifts at Way Station. To indicate interest in becoming a volunteer with this program, please contact the Way Station. Community Event TODDLER STORYTIME 10:30pm • Jackson Public Library Community Event: CRITICAL HOURS with SANDY STOTT 7pm • Tin Mountain Conservation Center, Albany, NH A misread map, a sudden storm, or forgotten headlamp can all turn a leisurely hike into a treacherous endeavor. Sandy Stott, writer and editor for AMC’s Appalachia, delivers a history and celebration of the search and rescue workers who battle the elements to save lives in his book Critical Hours; Search and Rescue in the White Mountains. Suggested donation $3/pp or $5/family; TMCC free. FRI, Oct 18 PASTOR’s DROP-IN J-TOWN HOURS 7-9am • J-Town Deli, Jackson Come by for caffeine and breakfast, or just a chat. Or arrange a separate time to meet and talk and walk with Rev Gail by calling/texting her cell (978.273.0308) or emailing. PASTOR’S OFFICE HOURS 9:30-11am • Jackson Community Church Community Event: ENVIRONMENTAL TRIVIA 6:30pm • Tuckerman Brewing, Conway Join Tin Mountain Conservation Center at Tuckerman Brewing Co. for a fun evening of environmental trivia, food, beer, & prizes! Come with a team or join one when you arrive. $5 donation per participant. SAT, Oct 19 UCC Event: NH CONFERENCE of UCC ANNUAL MEETING 8am-Registration/9am-Program • Grappone Center, Concord, NH Deacon and Council Member Tom Pizor and Rev Gail Doktor attend. Event info. Community Event: FALL MUSHROOM EXPLORATION 9am • Nature Learning Center, Albany What’s popped up this fall on the Rockwell Sanctuary? Rick Van de Pol, Ecosystems Management Consultants, introduces us to the world of fungi and takes us on an exploration. Bring a hand lens (or borrow ours) and a snack. Call 603-447-6991 for reservations. SUN, Oct 20 INTERFAITH GATHERING 8am • Gazebo by Historical Society Come for poetry, prayer and conversation. FIGS & VINES YOUTH & FAMILY PROGRAM 9am • Youth & family faith formation. Explore scripture and ethical & environmental implications of our role as stewards of creation. RSVP to Rev Gail if planning to attend. WORSHIP – Taste and See Series: Figs & Vines 10:30am • Jackson Community Church * Reflections: Rev Gail Pomeroy Doktor * Accompanist: Alan Labrie |
Reflections on fish, and their connection to our call to be stewards of creation & fishers of people: themes from Taste & See
… a fish is the movement of water embodied, given shape … — Doris Lessing
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. — Henry David Thoreau
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast;
in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish. — Ovid
Even if you’ve never felt the charge of a rapid, or a nimble trout as it slides through your fingers, you’re still connected to the rivers and streams that flow nearby—we all are. — Americanrivers.org
Some scriptural references for this week’s fish theme:
- Genesis 1:26
- Psalm 8
- Jonah 1:17 and Matthew 12:40-42
- Matthew 7:9-11
- Matthew 13:47-48
- Luke 5: 1-11 and John 21: 1-14
- Mark 6: 33-40
- Mark 6: 45-51
Some questions to consider:
- Why do meals shared with common people such as fisherfolk, tax collectors, widows, and other marginalized people create community?
- In what ways is water important in your everyday life?
- In what ways is environmental imbalance or injustice showing up through fish or water in your everyday life?
- Do you know anyone who doesn’t have access to clean or drinkable water?
- As stewards of creation, what can we do in our local communities to restore and preserve balance in our waterways?
A Thirsty Fish (excerpt) — Rumi
I don’t get tired of you. Don’t grow weary
of being compassionate toward me!
All this thirst equipment
must surely be tired of me,
the waterjar, the water carrier.
I have a thirsty fish in me
that can never find enough
of what it’s thirsty for!
Show me the way to the ocean!
Break these half-measures,
these small containers.
All this fantasy and grief.
Let my house be drowned in the wave
that rose last night in the courtyard
hidden in the center of my chest …
Matins — John O’Donohue
1
Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn.
The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to colour.
2
I arise today
In the name of Silence, Womb of the Word,
In the name of Stillness, Home of Belonging,
In the name of the Solitude, of the Soul and the Earth.
I arise today
Blessed by all things, Wings of breath,
Delight of eyes, Wonder of whisper,
Intimacy of touch, Eternity of soul,
Urgency of thought, Miracle of health,
Embrace of God.
May I live this day Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word, Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought, Generous in love.
Learn more about:
- Wild and scenic rivers, including the Wildcat: Americanrivers.org. Link: https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/protecting-rivers/map-wild-scenic-rivers/
- Some fish facts from National Geographic. Link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/
- Fish and the environment in Europe: fish forward. Link: https://www.fishforward.eu/en/topics/environment/
- Fish and environment in North America: NOAA Fisheries. Link: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/environment
- How to Eat Fish and Save the Earth: GQ. Link: https://www.gq.com/story/guide-to-eating-sustainable-fish
- Fishing Practices and Environmental Impact: Environmental Science. Link:
https://www.environmentalscience.org/environmental-consequences-fishing-practices
Of Fishermen
The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. — Vincent Van Gogh
Christianity began as a religion of the poor and dispossessed – farmers, fishermen, Bedouin shepherds. There’s a great lure to that kind of simplicity and rigor – the discipline, the call to action. — Camille Paglia
If I were not African, I wonder whether it would be clear to me that Africa is a place where the people do not need limp gifts of fish but sturdy fishing rods and fair access to the pond. I wonder whether I would realize that while African nations have a failure of leadership, they also have dynamic people with agency and voices. — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. — Attributed to Maimonides
Fishermen own the fish they catch, but they do not own the ocean. — Etienne Schneider
God’s desire for the wholeness and healing of all creation was inaugurated in a world changing way in the life of Jesus and it continues through you … Your hands are what God has to work with here. Hands that, no matter what your story is, have as much to receive as they have to give. Just by merit of being here, you’ve been conscripted into this beautiful, redemptive story of God’s love for all of humanity along with smelly fishermen, demoniacs and sick old ladies and the rest of Jesus dream team. — Nadia Biolz-Weber
Chefs are at the end of a long chain of individuals who work hard to feed people. Farmers, beekeepers, bakers, scientists, fishermen, grocers, we are all part of that chain, all food people, all dedicated to feeding the world. — Jose Andres
I love to watch the movement of light on water, and I love to play in rivers and lakes, swimming or canoeing. I am fascinated by people who work with water – fishermen, boatmen – and by a way of life that is dominated by water. — Berlie Doherty
What did Christ really do? He hung out with hard-drinking fishermen. — Iggy Pop
There are very few fishermen left today. — Paul Watson
In the past, when I shot films about fishermen and hunters, I always had to admire their ability to perceive time in its entirety. The present was always temporary. — Lennart Meri
Culturally, I have always been part of the proletariat. I lived side by side with the sons of glassblowers, fishermen and smugglers. The stories they told were shaper satires about the hypocrisy of authority and the middle classes, the two-facedness of teachers and lawyers and politicians. I was born politicized. — Dario Fo
Environmentalists aren’t nearly sensitive enough to the fact that they are messing around with struggling people and their livelihoods. They forget that the fishermen are the people with the most immediate vested interest in having a healthy sea. — Mark Kurlansky
Fish as Environmental Messengers
What is a fish without a river? What is a bird without a tree to nest in? What is an Endangered Species Act without any enforcement mechanism to ensure their habitat is protected? It is nothing. — Jay Inslee
Every fish in the ocean is in danger. — Paul Watson
People still do not understand that a live fish is more valuable than a dead one, and that destructive fishing techniques are taking a wrecking ball to biodiversity. — Sylvia Earle
There’s a great metaphor that one of my doctors uses: If a fish is swimming in a dirty tank and it gets sick, do you take it to the vet and amputate the fin? No, you clean the water. So, I cleaned up my system. — Kris Carr
I can stand in a crystal stream without another human around me and cast all day long, and if I never catch a single fish, I can come home and still feel like I had a wonderful time. It’s the being there that’s important. — Norman Schwarzkopf
Sustainable fishing results in a tremendous recovery of fish stocks and their habitats. Furthermore, healthy fish stocks and a healthy ocean environment are crucial for the livelihoods of coastal communities. Millions depend on fisheries as a source of food and income. Empty seas cause both empty stomachs and empty pockets. Buying sustainable seafood thus helps fish, the environment and people who depend on it. — Fish Forward
What is a fish without a river? What is a bird without a tree to nest in? What is an Endangered Species Act without any enforcement mechanism to ensure their habitat is protected? It is nothing. — Jay Inslee
Up to 80 percent of the fish that we catch spend at least part of their lives in estuaries. — Jim Gerlach
The ocean is the lifeblood of our world. If we were to lose our fish that we appreciate so much by overfishing; or if we were to lose some of our favorite beaches to overbuilding and pollution, then how would we feel? It’s become a case of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone. — Aaron Peirsol
Ten percent of the big fish still remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill in Antarctica. There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape, a jeweled belt around the middle of the planet. There’s still time, but not a lot, to turn things around. — Sylvia Earle
Our fish, our recreation, our irrigation and all our uses of the … River are threatened if the drought continues and the Corps of Engineers decisions aren’t changed. — Mike Rounds
We are being choked to death by the amount of plastic that we throw away. It’s killing our oceans. It’s entering into our bodies in the fish we eat. — Kevin Bacon
Light doesn’t penetrate beneath the surface of the water, so ocean creatures like whales and dolphins and even 800 species of fish communicate by sound. And a North Atlantic right whale can transmit across hundreds of miles. — Rose George
The sun is the most important thing in everybody’s life, whether you’re a plant, an animal or a fish, and we take it for granted. — Danny Boyle
Cheap fish has usually been caught in careless ways. — Mark Kurlansky
One fifth of human kind depend on fish to live. Today now 70 percent of the fish stock are over-exploited. According to FAO if we don’t change our system of fishing the main sea resources will be gone in 2050. We don’t want to believe what we know. — Yann Arthus-Bertrand
You know how fighting fish do it? They blow bubbles and in each one of those bubbles is an egg and they float the egg up to the surface. They keep this whole heavy nest of eggs floating, and they’re constantly repairing it. It’s as if they live in both elements. — Audre Lorde
Fish as Sustenance
Eating together is the most intimate form of kinship. By scripting a work where we share the same kind of food with fish, I’m scripting our interrelationship with them. — Natalie Jeremijenko
Never be a food snob. Learn from everyone you meet – the fish guy at your market, the lady at the local diner, farmers, cheese makers. Ask questions, try everything and eat up! — Rachael Ray
I may be only a fish and chip shop lady, but some of these economists need to get their heads out of the textbooks and get a job in the real world. I would not even let one of them handle my grocery shopping. — Pauline Hanson
Saturday night is your big night. Everybody used to fry up fish and have one hell of a time. Find me playing till sunrise for 50 cents and a sandwich. And be glad of it. And they really liked the low-down blues. — Muddy Waters
80 percent of our global fish stocks are fully exploited, overly exploited or have collapsed. Two billion people rely on the oceans for their primary source of protein. — Barton Seaver
To be able to serve and to eat a whole fish, especially a trout, is part of civilized dining. — Julia Child
An Asian way of eating and living may help prevent and even reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, prostate cancer and breast cancer. Incorporate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products and fish in your diet. Eat at home more with your family and friends. — Dean Ornish
I don’t eat fish because there is no such thing as sustainable fishing in the world right now. — Paul Watson
Seventy percent of the fish we eat is black market, fished in violation of international laws. Our ignorance makes us unwilling partners in crime. Rogue economics is turning the global market into our worst nightmare. — Loretta Napoleoni
There is no need for an end to fish, or to fishing for that matter. But there is an urgent need for governments to free themselves from the fishing-industrial complex … — Daniel Pauly
For me, food is all about balance. If you eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and an appropriate amount of poultry, fish, and red meat that are sourced from good places, you’re doing well. — Curtis Stone
Fishing in sustainable ways means fewer fish, higher quality, better price at the market. That is a formula that is good for the environment and the fisherman but bad for the consumer. — Mark Kurlansky
Whenever possible, buy a fish whole. — Nobu Matsuhisa
I respected it. I submerged myself into it. So on a lot of days off I would go and fish with the fishermen and the families that ran the boats. I would go work the fields with farmers. I would go and talk with farmers about growing particular products for me. — Emeril Lagasse
Comprehensive climate legislation must be passed so that we can ensure a world where this and future generations can experience the bliss of breathing clean crisp air, while fishing in the Adirondacks… and being able to eat the fish afterwards. — Gloria Reuben
Fish as Teachers & Fishing as Spiritual Practice
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish. — John Ruskin
Memory is a net: one finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook, but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Smell was our first sense. It is even possible that being able to smell was the stimulus that took a primitive fish and turned a small lump of olfactory tissue on its nerve cord into a brain. We think because we smelled. — Lyall Watson
My grandfather, Jesse Bowman, was of Abenaki Indian descent. He could barely read and write, but I remember him as one of the kindest people I ever knew. I followed him everywhere. He showed me how to walk quietly in the woods and how to fish. — Joseph Bruchac
Do not despise the fish because they are absolutely unable to speak or to reason, but fear lest you may be even more unreasonable than they by resisting the command of the Creator. Listen to the fish, who through their actions all but utter this word: ‘We set out on this long journey for the perpetuation of our species.’ — Saint Basil
When I fish, I stop thinking about anything else. But truth be told, if you want to declare victories, I can tell you the fish have won a lot more than I have. It’s interesting that something with a brain the size of a fish’s can outsmart us humans, who think we are el supremo. — Norman Schwarzkopf
Fish die belly upward, and rise to the surface. Its their way of falling. — Andre Gide
Don’t bottom fish. — Peter Lynch
Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish. — Mark Twain
What law, what reason can deny that gift so sweet, so natural that God has given a stream, a fish, a beast, a bird? — Pedro Calderon de la Barca
A fishnet is made up of a lot more holes than strings, but you can’t therefore argue that the net doesn’t exist. Just ask the fish. — Jeffrey Kluger
I dreamed: I am the fish whose flesh is eaten, and because I am fat, it is good. — Philip K. Dick
The day-to-day microaggressions that we all face, yeah, you have to let some stuff slide, or you go, ‘I gotta keep moving; there’s bigger fish to fry.’ It’s something that I still deal with. But I’ve tried to have the audacity of equality and to follow my heart in those moments where I feel like something is wrong. — Hasan Minhaj
The one thing that a fish can never find is water; and the one thing that man can never find is God. — Eric Butterworth
I think humans have to learn a new way of dwelling on this earth. A way of living with their companions: animals, plants and fish. — John Burnside
When you see a fish you don’t think of its scales, do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water… If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement, give a pattern or shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit. — Constantin Brancusi
When you cook, you take a life. When you eat fish, or meat, you take a life. And you must be very respectful of the ingredients and that is very important. — Joel Robuchon
We may know, for example, that something (a craving, or a grudge) is an obstacle for our happiness, that it brings us anxiety and fear. We know this thing is not worth the sleep we’re losing over it. But still we go on spending our time and energy obsessing about it. We’re like a fish who has been caught once before and knows there’s a hook inside the bait; if the fish makes use of that insight, he won’t bite, because he knows he’ll get caught by the hook. Often, we just bite onto our craving or grudge, and let the hook take us. We get caught and attached to these situations that are not worthy of our concern. If mindfulness and concentration are there, then insight will be there and we can make use of it to swim away, free. — Thich Nhat Hanh