Pastor Tari here and I'm going to offer some devotions until Advent when it will be your turn. Some will be random thoughts and some will be sections from a systematic theology I'm working on. I'm not sure you'll be able to tell the difference.
Let's start with dead man's fingers. I don't know what the technicial term is, but I bet Scott knows. It is my favorite fungus. I find them beautiful and terrifying - the thought of dead men's fingers and the actual appearance.
I think of the dead fingers reaching up from the ground and it's strangely beautiful because in some ways they do. Those who have gone before us are the ground we walk upon; they are the reason I am who I am and where I am. Their hands have encouraged and shaped the person I am and there is beauty in having that presence erupt from the ground and know I'm not self-made. Take a moment and give thanks for someone who has gone before.
I think of the dead fingers reaching and it's also terrifying. There are the obvious creepy reasons, but there's also terror in recognizing those who have gone before can create webs and systems that trap us. People have the capacity for great harm for many generations and it takes intense work, grace, and awareness to break some of the systems. Take a moment and think of some of the patterns that hold you or your family in those dead fingers.
"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:38
I love Jesus and one of the things that strikes me is how much time he spends identifying the things that can bind us (family, disease, social identity, possession, wealth, fear, death, sin) and then proclaims a life where we are free from the terrifying bondage to then be able to see the beauty of these things.
Thank you Jesus for the beautiful and terrifying. May we be set free from bondage so then we can live in wonder and trust. Amen.