When we look at the Kingdom of God as described in Luke 13:18-21 we see Jesus talking about the kingdom (or as my colleague, Justin Zeigler puts it-the feast of God) in allegory.  Jesus describes this feast as a mustard seed that grows into a life-sustaining tree.  Later, Luke's account describes God as a baker-woman and the kingdom as the yeast that is added to make a huge amount of bread.  And in Luke 15.3-10, the author uses the parable of God as a shepherd finding the one lost sheep to bring it back to the other 99 and then, God as a poor widowed woman who loses a coin and then searches tirelessly to find it.  Both of these parables speak to the love and desire that God has for us to be in healthy relationships with God, with one another and with ourselves.

The other day I got home just in time as a thunderous downpour of rain and wind assailed the neighborhood.  My fiancé, Caitlin, and I have plants on our back patio ledge and as soon as I got home, I went to pull them away from the edge.  I got the five pots pulled a safe distance out of the bad weather and went to grab for the sixth-our basil.  To my dismay, the plant had been blown from our balcony to the now-lagoon-like back yard, four stories below.  I was disappointed but figured I could salvage the already-bloomed leaves later, after the storm died down.  Caitlin got home soon after and when I told her that the basil plant was burst at its seams, in the flooding yard, she got a look of panic in her eyes, rushed downstairs and ran out into the rain and lightening to retrieve our basil.  She clutched it brought it in where she could re-pot it.  Then she gently clipped some of the damaged stems and caringly re-arranged the plant so that it would grow back better than ever.  She even proceeded to make an amazing pesto and we thanked God for the safety of the rest of the plant.

It may be a stretch, but this story immediately struck me of being steeped in the Feast of God that Jesus was talking about.  Caitlin cared for the plant, nursed it back to health and made something new, wonderful and nourishing out of an otherwise loss.  Maybe it's just that we really love pesto and caprese salads, but I feel like what Caitlin did for that plant is what God does for us and calls us to do for one another-to take care of each other, to risk our comfort for the sake of others' wellbeing and to help make something wonderful from what could otherwise be a mess or a loss.  And, yes, I guess we are called to share in the gifts God has blessed us with, so if anyone wants some basil, you know who to ask.