The theme for this month was “planning and sowing” as the first of the season’s reflections on “The Garden.”
Mighty God,
to you belong the mysteries of the universe.
You transform shepherds into kings,
the smallest seeds into magnificent trees,
and hardened hearts into loving ones.
Bless us with your life-giving Spirit,
re-create us in your image,
and shape us to your purposes,
through Jesus Christ. Amen
Prayers of the People
Everywhere is the green of new growth, the amazing sight of the renewal of the earth.
Thanks be to God.
We watch the grass once again emerging from the ground.
Thanks be to God.
We notice the bright green atop the dark green on the pine, the fir, the hemlock, the spruce, the cedar.
Thanks be to God.
The alder is in leaf. The old plum trees blossom, leaf and give forth fruit.
Thanks be to God.
Everywhere and always the song of birds…bees raiding the orchard, the earthworm tunneling the garden…all the energies of life.
Thanks be to God.
O Lord, may we today be touched by grace, fascinated and moved by this your creation, energized by the power of new growth at work in your creation.
Adapted from The Chinook Psalter
To be of the Earth is to know
The restlessness of being a seed
The darkness of being planted
The struggle toward the light
The pain of growth into the light
The joy of bursting and bearing fruit
The love of being food for someone
The scattering of your seeds
The decay of the season
The mystery of death
And the miracle of birth.
John Soos
26 [Jesus] also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A [person] scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
–Mark 4: 26-34
