Experiencing the Harvest
By Jeannie McCabe
Jeannie currently serves as Director of Family Ministries at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Russellville, Arkansas, USA. After twenty-plus years as youth minister and as a staff, volunteer, and community service agency board member, children and youth continue to be the focus of her passion for ministry.

As a component of a confirmation curriculum, at the end of July, five youth from All Saints' Church in Russellville made a nine-day spiritual pilgrimage to the southwest part of the United States. We visited historical religious sites including Chimayo, one of the oldest established missions in the southwest which is legendary for its healing dirt. We visited Acoma or Sky City, which is a currently inhabited pueblo community believed to date back as early as 1150 A.D. This place was later visited by Francisco Vaques de Coronado's army in 1540 which led to the establishment of a Roman Catholic mission on the site.

We also toured the Cathedral of St. Francis and the Lorretto Chapel in Santa Fe. Insight into the lives of the people of the area was established through visits to the Museum for Indian Arts and Culture and the Museum for International Folk Art, both in Santa Fe. The spectacular majesty in God's creation was profoundly displayed in the Painted Desert with the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon. Housing for the group was provided by the Episcopal churches along the travel route, including: St. Paul's in Clinton, Oklahoma, St. Bede's in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Epiphany in Flagstaff, Arizona. These churches gave us a broad experience of the Episcopal Church at large and offered participants an opportunity to make new friends in other parts of the country.

In addition to visiting special sites, accompanying activities enhanced the experience. We walked the labyrinth and went on a silent hike up the Hill of Martyrs in Santa Fe, had a special prayer time in the mission in Chimayo, and held a sunrise service at the Grand Canyon.

I have shared all of this information to provide the framework that afforded me the opportunity to experience a "harvesting" in the Kingdom of God. Living "in the world" but not "being of the world" leaves a person to wonder just how that other-worldness is perceived. Visiting (with youth) the wonders of God's creation and man's attempt to capture some of the essence of God's presence in Holy sites, did reveal just how that very thing might occur. As I stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon, it is hard to imagine how any other explanation could stand except that it is God's creation. I know there are many scientific aspects to its formation, but standing in the awesome BIGNESS opened a window of experiencing God's presence in ways that are inexpressible.

God touches each life very personally and specifically. None of us can ever know fully the experience of another. We are privileged if we get to share in someone else's joy and are entrusted if we are present in another's sorrow and/or hardship. Our journeys are our own, yet they will be very dry if we fail to connect and share with others along the way. It is, I believe, purely by God's grace that we are given the opportunity to enjoy living in the Kingdom of God. We enter by responding to that incredible Love Song hummed into our soul. By grace, we begin that journey of life into eternity beginning today. As we walk through each day, carrying that Divine Presence within us, we are connected to others possessing that same Presence.

"Harvesting" is about making the presence of God known in its fullness in a rich, vibrant, confident crop. I can think of no greater joy than to witness the opening of a soul to reflect the work the Gardener has done. That reflection touches my own soul in affirmation and confirmation in such a way that says, "Yes, we live in the world yet not of the world."

Thanks be to God.

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