"Mine is the church where everybody’s welcome, I know it’s true ’cause I got through the door….."
                        from A Dazzling Bouquet by Bret Hesla

Saturday morning was glorious….not only was the weather beautiful but I was privileged to watch an employee of Minneapolis Floral do a presentation on creating floral bouquets. He was the speaker for the United Methodist Women’s spring gathering. Peter brought a variety of different sizes and shapes of vases and an array of flowers and greens. He held his audience captive as he created bouquet after bouquet, each unique and interesting. We all "oohed" and "ahhed" as this ‘magician’ threw out tips for creating the same kinds of beauty in our own homes.

I was particularly interested because as Peter was explaining how these arrangements were made, he confirmed what I’ve believed for a long time: Creating a bouquet of flowers is a wonderful metaphor for what it means to be community.

Tip number one: Find a ‘center point’ in the vase. Begin putting the flowers in from opposite directions….left and then right, bringing them together at the ‘center point’. This action provides balance. Tip number two Variety….begin with greens and then add flowers of varying sizes, shapes, colors, textures, to bring about the fullness of the bouquet. The interplay of the diversity brings about a beauty that each individual flower cannot achieve on its own. Tip number three: There is no right or wrong. You take the flowers available to you and you begin to build the bouquet, piece by piece until it works. Tip four: Floral work is messy……the floor around Peter’s feet was littered with stems, leaves, thorns, the ‘stuff’ cut away.Tip five: Have fun…….what more do I need to say? The act of creating a floral bouquet has to, in the end, be about enjoyment, fun,love.

Isn’t this what it means to be community, to be church? We find our ‘Center Point’. We bring together people of all shapes, sizes, textures, theologies, worldviews,social,racial, ecomonic backgrounds and we try to create some balance as we intersect that "Center Point". In choosing to do this, we must experiment, negotiate, compromise, give up control sometimes, putting together the pieces until it works.

Messy? You bet! Choosing to live together, to be church together, is messy work. The gift comes from knowing that if we listen deeply, pray generously, trust graciously, we each come to know the Holy in a fuller way because we’ve decided to ‘jump in the vase’ with many others who bring their own worldview,their own life experiences, their own expressions of the Divine. Added to ours, the expression of the kindom becomes more than our own, more than we could have imagined.

Fun? I pray so. The church that laughs together is a holy place. Laughter shows compassion, spirit, love for all the ways in which we are human. Laughter allows us to remember who we are……fallible beings who make mistakes, do reallysilly ,sometimes hurtful things, find forgiveness, and yet, hopefully, bring delight to our Creator.

What kind of flower are you today? Are you feeling like a tall, straight purple iris? Or do you feel more like a floppy, hot pink orchid? How about a twisting,turning curly willow or a simple sunflower? Every bouquet needs a single, majestic rose and the sweetness of baby’s breath.

Care to join us in the vase? Meet you at the ‘Center Point’.