Last spring, I read Debbie Blue’s book Consider the Birds. Each chapter explores one kind of bird - its diet, its habitat, its cultural significance, its vulnerabilities and what it might have to teach us about God on the move in the world and amidst our humanity. I loved it. I loved digging into supposedly fleeting details in scripture with the assumption that they probably have something to teach me about my relationship to God or the world. I thought it would be fun to try my hand at a similar project focusing on plants. Summer, the season after Pentecost also known as Common Time, would be a fitting season for it. In Minnesota, where I’m writing from, everything is green, the tree leaves and the church paraments. Plus, during the season after Pentecost the Revised Common Lectionary turns its attention to Jesus’ parables and teachings, which frequently feature plants or agriculture.There are resources for eight weeks of preaching written by seven young clergy women starting with the Oaks of Mamre for Sunday, June 18th and ending with the feeding of the 5,000 on Sunday, August 6th. Here is the first guide.
