Medway Methodist Circuit

One Church-One People

April 2011

It looked just like it does in the movies! As we travelled down from the Grand Canyon to our destination in Phoenix, the landscape changed dramatically, from the snow-clad tops of the high dessert plains, into the barrenness of the low dessert, and almost by magic, we rounded a corner on the road, and before as was miles and miles of dessert landscape only broken up by an abundance of cacti standing tall, green, and if you had a fertile imagination they could look like people standing with arms aloft.

It was not until a few days later that I learnt that these spiky, unwelcoming plants could provide everything that the native Indians required to survive in the heat of the dessert. I knew of the capacity of the plant to contain water, but did not know that it could hold almost 1500 gallons of water. I discovered that these cacti held within it the means of survival, from flesh that could be ground into flour for bread, pulp boiled to make soup, various components of the plant used for medicine, to the scarring on the flesh that provided hard wood used for utensils. Every element of the plants from root to spike could be used to provide all a family needed to survive.

I wondered how many of the early settlers passed them by, desperate for nourishment in a barren land. If only they knew what the natives already knew!

As we approach the season of Easter, the story of the cactus seems to be something of a parable in itself, that we who know the love and forgiveness of God in Christ have all that we need to survive. Indeed Jesus said not just to survive but to flourish, when he pronounced ―I am come that you should have life in all its abundance‖ (John10;10)

Melvyn

Office Address:

Medway Methodist Circuit Office

100 Third Avenue

Gillingham

Kent

ME7 2LU