Projects

Sarah looked in my direction and said, ‘Joel, how is the garden growing? Would you be interested in giving the committee a report on your progress at an upcoming meeting?’ Her question shook me out of the hibernation I had entered into during the elongated watershed and infrastructure presentation.

 

‘Of course!’ I answered, while asking myself, ‘how did I, a Pastor of a not-yet-built-church, get a seat on this city committee?

 

The answer to my pondering started years  before I ever became a part of Harmony Springs. It started when this courageous group of people hammered a for-sale sign  on a downtown church building and purchased land in this growing Akron-suburb of Green.

 

The answer to my question continued when we hosted day-camp activities at East Liberty Park and marched in the city’s memorial day parade. It continued when a group of women hosted a young mom who wanted to fill backpacks of food for hungry children in the city who were getting lost amidst the affluence.

It continued when harmony springs voted to seed a new community garden project, and when we collect candy to give out to sugar-starved-costumed-children at the trick-or-treat trail.

 

The truth is the answer to our questions about how we got where we are lie in what we DID more than what we said. Isn’t that how it is in life? Our actions are what matter in the end. Our actions demonstrate what and who we value. Our values show up when we pull out the hammer, when we line up to fill backpacks, when we pull weeds in the hot sun, and when we sort and organize candy.

 

After all, what we do is what matters in the end.