By Cynthia Coe
During this late winter season, I have been planting seeds for the future. In my gardening classes with children, we have literally been planting seeds to grow vegetables to share with friends and family in the late spring – vegetables that will provide nourishment to the children themselves, our families, and those to whom we seek to feed through our example and through our community.
As we begin this season of Lent, we might also think of our spiritual disciplines and activities as seeds of our continued and growing spirituality. The time we take to read scripture or devotions, spend time in silence or in quiet, in serving others, or in taking up new disciplines are like seeds. They need space to grow, nurtured and fueled by the water and air of the Holy Spirit. Seeds will absorb water until the hard shells of their coverings burst forth, allowing new growth fueled by the light.
These seedlings of new growth are not meant to wither once Lent is over. They will continue to need nourishment of good soil, light, and water. We may find that these new disciplines need even more room in our lives than we originally planned! We may need to even transplant our new seedlings of spiritual growth to even larger fields of ministry and service.
In order to become fruitful in our lives and work, we have to start with the seeds of spiritual life – self-reflection and examination, the nourishment of spiritual readings, healthy habits of diet and care of our bodies, and constant listening and discernment through prayer. We then need to let these seeds germinate and thrive, reaching for the light. Even when we might see these efforts as stagnant or non-producing of any evident fruit, we may keep in mind that our seeds might merely be dormant, waiting for the exact perfect time and environment when we and our ministries might best thrive.
Resources of the Month:
For those using Abundant Life Garden Project (www.er-d.org/children) during Lent, these resources might be helpful:
- Teaching Gardening to Children, Handy Hints and Helpful Resources, http://blog.er-d.org/ (These are tips for actually working in the garden with children).
- For concurrent adult study, I recommend Michael Schut’s Food and Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread (New York: Church Publishing, 2009). This compilation of numerous stories and essays on food and how we eat and how our food is grown is a treasure trove of material for adults. Study guides for varying time lengths are included.
- For personal study or a small group book club/adult education offering, L. Shannon Jung’s Sharing Food: Christian Practices for Enjoyment (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006) is excellent, with insights on sharing of meals from spiritual and theological perspectives.
And for those looking for something brand new and innovative to “plant the seed” of good health for children in sub-Saharan Africa….
The Truth about Rita Mosquito – a Christian formation module focused on science. Just released by Episcopal Relief & Development, this resource includes materials for small children through high school; free and downloadable at www.er-d.org/children. The theological premise is: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Knowing what causes disease can set you free from it; misinformation and superstition can kill, literally.
Cindy Coe 