Lichen

A lichen can look very unimpressive. It might look like a bit of old paint pealing off the wall, except for

the fact that it is clinging to a piece of granite. In the Meaford area, it might be loosely attached to a bit of dolostone - a piece of the escarpment - in which case it might look like last year’s burnt egg still hanging onto existence by the virtue of it’s leathery texture. Or it may look like a miniature forest, carpeting some flat stone near Parry Sound. It can even look like tentacles reaching out from a bit of an old cedar rail.

But the impressive thing about lichen is that it consists of 2 plants: a green Algae that produces food and a fungus that absorbs and stores water. Between the two of them they manage to anchor themselves to the most inhospitable mircroenvironments. And, together they help each other grow. Neither can exist apart from the other (a most definite pointer towards creationist thinking!).

I think that a lichen has a lot to say to a church -  work together, gathering God's blessings, and help each other grow. Each needs the other - as God has clearly told us in the Bible (Romans 12:12-32)

Cliff  7/16/2000