I want to be completely authentic with you. How I feel about organized religion is irrelevant,…read morewhen it comes to a simple principle of, "You'll know them by their fruits." This is a simple hook, a truthful look, into why this Family has been so good to my earthly father.
First, let us observe a stone fruit. It is one of the most popular and distributed fruits. They contain some of the most nutrient dense fruit on the planet. Inside of them, is a near rock hard pit. It looks like a heart, or brain. They are Super Fruit!
My earthly father, lost my earthly mother, within a three year span of losing his own earthly parents. I use earthly, because, yes they were blood, but they were spirit too. They were lovers of culture, art, music, and soul; that is, all the things that are required to survive the motion of grief.
I call dad, my best friend. He is twice the man I could ever be. While it broke my heart to lose family, it was worse watching my best friend struggle with a brokenness I could never mend. This titan, to me, suffered in a way that could not be comforted by me.
Then this Family, in the category of Stone Fruit, found him in a way that can only be excused as an answer to prayer. He finds love here, hugs here, and purpose, here. He takes their call to "Be Here", seriously, because they have blessed him abundantly with acceptance. He loves being a part of every corner he can with this Family, and I can testify that is the first I've known him to feel that way about a church.
Their fruit has taken root in their community. The leadership sit in a round table, all disciples 12 in spirit. They allow their soul (identity) to be shaped and pruned into a tree of life; that is, they have faith that shapes them into YHWH honoring Stone Fruits. These men, Pastor Malcom to be specific, checks on my best friend, as a brother. Every heavy movement in the calendar, my dad has a pastor that lives up to his name (disciple/St/monk).
So the next time you see a cherry, peach, or plum, remember that they are a super fruit, and the sum of a pure heart.
Thank you to everyone at Stones Church (Family), for blessing one of my favorite humans. To me, you deserve all the goodness in the world, and if YHWH would let me give it to you, you know I would.
Shalom
