2026 08 09 青栗

復活の丘の栗の木に、青いイガ栗が実り始めました。

秋になると私たちがよく知る「おいしい栗」ですが、今はまだ青く小さな実。栗の木は初夏に花を咲かせ、夏の日差しを浴びながら、少しずつ秋の実りへと育っていきます。

「栗」が秋の収穫や味覚を思わせるのに対して、「青栗」は「これから実るもの」という期待を感じさせる、夏の季語です。

この「これから実るもの」という言葉から、今年80周年を迎えた復興教会の「成長」について思いを巡らしました。

教会の成長は、礼拝に集う人が増えたり、活動が大きくなったりすることだけではなくて。

一人ひとりが神さまの愛を知り、主への信頼を深めていくこと。悲しみの中にいる人に寄り添えるようになること。園児や教会学校で育った子どもたちの心に、教会で過ごした愛の記憶が残っていくこと。そして、互いの賜物を生かし、支え合っていくこと。

そんな目には見えない一つひとつも、教会の大切な成長なのだと思います。

青栗が、まだ見えないところで秋の実りへと育っているように、教会もまた、祈りや愛の積み重ねの中で育っています。そしていつか、その実りが誰かの心を養い、誰かの人生を支えるものとなる幸いを目にすることができるのでは？

「種を蒔き、水を注ぎ、祈り、愛すること。」

青栗が秋を急がないように、私たちも焦ることなく、神さまの時の中で歩んでいきたいと思います。まだ青く小さな栗の中にも、これからの実りが始まっています。

育ててくださるのは、主。

復活の丘の青栗、これからの実りを楽しみに、今日できる小さなことを大切にしていきたいと思います

Green Chestnuts 

The chestnut tree on Resurrection Hill has begun to bear young, green chestnuts in their prickly husks.

In autumn, these will become the delicious chestnuts we know and love. But for now, they are still small and green. The chestnut tree blooms in early summer, and under the summer sun, its fruit slowly grows toward the harvest of autumn.

While the word “chestnut” brings to mind the harvest and flavors of autumn, “green chestnut” is a summer seasonal word in Japanese, expressing the hope and promise of “something that is yet to come to fruition.”

This idea of “something that is yet to come to fruition” made me reflect on the growth of Kyoto Fukkou Church as we celebrate our 80th anniversary this year.

The growth of a church is not simply about having more people gather for worship or expanding our activities.

It is also seen when each person comes to know God’s love and grows in trust in the Lord; when we learn to gently walk alongside those who are grieving; when the children who have grown up in our kindergarten and Sunday School carry with them precious memories of God’s love and their time at church; and when we use our different gifts to support and encourage one another.

These quiet, unseen things are also an important part of the growth of a church.

Just as the green chestnuts are quietly growing toward the harvest of autumn, even when we cannot see what is happening inside, the church is also growing through prayer, love, and all the small acts of faithfulness.

And perhaps, one day, we will have the joy of seeing that fruit nourish someone’s heart and become a source of strength in someone’s life.

“To plant, to water, to pray, and to love.”

Just as the green chestnuts do not hurry toward autumn, may we also walk patiently in God’s time, without rushing.

Even within these small, green chestnuts, the promise of the coming harvest has already begun.

It is the Lord who gives the growth.

As we look at the green chestnuts on Resurrection Hill, we look forward to the harvest yet to come and want to cherish the small things we can do today.