| Welcome to the
Biblical Garden! |
 |
at First Congregational Church
of Fair Haven, (Vermont) UCC! |
Prayer Guide to the Children's Biblical Garden
Welcome to the garden!
Young or old, we invite you to pray around the garden today.
As you read about and pray about each plant, you might want to stop and look at the little creation of God.
You may want to use our diagram to help you find them.
Join me now in this reflection and prayer
inspired by the plants God has given us to grow
in our vegetable and herb garden.
1. I am the lentils tricky young Jacob made into a soup. When his hungry brother Esau came home, Jacob talked hungry Esau into trading his special blessing for my soup.
Thank you, God, for lentils that still feed US when we are hungry.
2. I am the hyssop that grew in Egypt. When the Hebrews slaves cried to God to free them the Lord sent plagues to convince Pharaoh to release them, and finally the angel of death. God told the Hebrews dip my hyssop branches in blood from an innocent lamb and spread it over their doors. Covered by the blood of the lamb, death passed over them and a grieving Pharaoh released them.
Thank you, God, for the blood of Jesus that saves US from death.
3. I am the coriander whose seeds reminded people of the manna God provided to feed the Hebrews during their years in the wilderness. When no one could find food, God fed the people just as God feeds you.
Thank you, God, for caring for us when we are in the wilderness.
4. I am the cantaloupe that grows in Egypt. The Israelites loved my juicy sweetness. When they left on the Exodus they missed me. They whined, complained, and sometimes wanted to turn back for me and their safe, though terrible, existence as slaves.
Help us, God, when we choose slavery over the new life you offer us.
Garrett Bauman's "Cantaloupe with Leaf"
5. I am the myrtle whose branches help form the shelter for the Feast of Tabernacles. When our ancestors the Hebrews lived in the desert they huddled in fragile huts made from branches, yet it was GOD who truly kept them safe.
Thank you, God, for homes and friends whom you send to shelter us.
6. I am the barley that grew in the fields of kind Boaz. When the workers harvested the crop they left lots of my stalks behind for the poor and hungry to harvest and eat, including Ruth and Naomi.
Help us, Lord, to share with others who are in need.
7. I am the broad beans from which the people of Manahaim made stews to feed King David's loyal soldiers when David's power-hungry son Absolom and his men sought to overthrow his dad.
Use us, God, to make help people who try to do good.
8. I am the pomegranate whose hundreds of seeds remind people of the Lord's innumerable blessings.
When the priests made offerings to God at the temple in Jerusalem, they decorated their robes with picture of me.
Remind us, O God, of the countless blessings you place in our hands.
Chick peas in a child's hand
9. I am the chick peas who are soaked and salted as a nut-like treat.
Prophet Isaiah promised that when God rules the earth, life will be
good for all of creation. Even the donkeys will receive special treats.
Thank you, God, for the promises you give to us!
10. I am the cumin that must be harvested with tender care. The prophets promise that God also will care for us tenderly at our harvest time.
Thank you, God, for your tender kindness to us.
11. I am chamomile, one of the lilies of the field. I can do no work, but Jesus says that God still makes me beautiful and cares for me. So why do YOU worry if you are good enough for God to love?
Teach us, O God, to find our value by looking into your eyes.
12. I am the violet whose tender blooms last but a short time in the hot sun. The prophet Isaiah reminds me and you that we will wither and fall,
but God will abide forever. I will put my trust in God, not in my strength.
Teach us, O God, to trust in you alone.
13. I am the dill and mint and rue. Anyone would give God ten percent of these unimportant herbs. But when it comes to what is important, to money, power & possessions, we hesitate to offer those to God.
Teach us, O God, to give like you give.
wheat in our garden
14. I am the wheat and barley from which a small boy's mother made five tiny loaves of bread and sent him off with them for lunch. Little did she know that her son would share them with Jesus and he would feed five THOUSAND folks with her son's trusting gift of everything he had to eat.
Teach us, O God, to grow in faith by giving!
15. I am the poppies who bound up with hope and color even in the driest, most deadly times. Like the angel at Jesus' empty tomb I tell the world, Jesus lives! Trust in him. Nothing can hold back his power!
Teach us, O God, how to rise in victory over death every day.
16. I am the earth formed by the word and hands and love of God.
I nourish and sustain everything that grows in this garden of God.
I sustain YOUR very lives.
Hold me in your hands.
Smell my richness.
Love me and care for me,
for if you destroy ME you will destroy yourself and your children.
If you cherish me
I will nourish humanity and all creation till the end of time.
Teach us, loving God, to cherish and tenderly care for your earth!
Spring children gardeners
17. I am the water that brings life to dry seeds,
that quenches the thirst of growing plants.
God sprinkles me from the skies like holy water to bless earth.
You do not command when I will come.
God calls me forth and sends me out.
You need me.
You need God.
Never forget this.
We are the plants and elements of the Garden of God.
Learn how to live in harmony with us, and we will bless you.
In every plant that grows,
in the earth and the waters of life,
you speak to us O God.
Teach us to listen and love
with our eyes and noses,
with our tongues and bare toeses,
with our hearts and open souls.
AMEN!
Nathaniel Bauman's drawing of the Children's Garden
Prayers for the Whole Creation of God:
Before us grows the very Garden of God.
Here are the plants who spoke to us in worship
and who live in Go d's Word and world.
Just as God planted a garden in Eden full of blessings,
God has planted a rich garden of blessing right here.
This circle of life is but one sign of Go d's life thriving here.
We are blessed
Let us come to God in prayer, yet with open eyes and hearts.
Release your blessing today, O God,
on all who stop here and rest.
May they hear you calling deep in their hearts
to draw apart with you.
(Pause.)
Pour out your life to all of the plants and microbes, insects and worms,
and gardeners who together with you weave a tapestry of life in this small garden and throughout creation.
(Pause)
Take a leaf and smell... feel... look... at its beauty as you continue to read and pray.
Robert Ellis' "Lady Bug on a Leaf"
Teach us O God to watch and enjoy the growth you bring around us and within,
to savor the taste and aromas of the varied beings you create around us,
to celebrate the beauty and refreshment you offer us here in your natural world,
to dance and cry, to laugh and embrace all of creation.
Teach us to stop stomping above hard plastic soles,
and start walking gently again with bare feet;
to open our hands to feel and love the earth again,
and relate as open, God-enlivened spirits.
We pray this in the name of gardener of Easter named Jesus,
who walks with us,
talks with us,
and tells us,
"You are my own."
Amen.
Now take one moment of silence to let God focus your memory on one plant,
one message,
one experience of this hour to hold to your heart and mind this week.
Go forth in love!
Root yourself deeply in the earth God gave to your love and care,
Drink deeply of the waters God pours out for you.
Grow through the sun and wind and storms.
And your lives will bear fruit to honor the God who gives you life.
Amen.
Rev. Marsh Hudson-Knapp
The Children's Biblical Garden was established in 1999
designed by Rev. Marsh Hudson-Knapp
installed with Cele Phillips, Mark Hillyer, Susan Beavin
and the children of the church
Manure & peat thanks to John Griffith
Materials donated by Cindy & Marsh Hudson-Knapp
in honor of our parents who have given life to us
Ron & Ellen Knapp, Betty Knapp, Dick & Jean Hudson
Park Bench in Honor and Memory of our grandparents: Jack & Jessie Gird,
Ken & Audrey Loomis, Greta Loomis, Al & Clara Hudson, Ralph & Marcia Knapp, Warren & Mary Marshall
