It is the height of summer in the garden and the plants and harvest show it. The tomato plants are heavy with fruit. The other day a red bell pepper in the little sprouts harvested itself by simply leaping off the plant! We are trying to catch all the zucchinis and cucumbers before they get unmanageably large. And an industrious bumble bee has found a home among the blooming flowers of the green bean vine. It is a time of abundance and gathering.
the act of gathering in and of itself is one of collecting. When we gather tomatoes we are collecting, when we gather together for worship we are collecting ourselves together for a communal activity. This Sunday we are going to spend time "Gathering Miriam." Miriam was the sister of Mosses and Aaron, and the first woman prophetess named in the Bible, and yet there is not a lot on her in one spot. She does not have a book dedicated to her and her story, nor does she have even a whole chapter of one book. Yet she is appears in more books in the Bible than any other woman. So to learn her story and to tell her story we have to gather up the pieces we have and see what we can from what we gather.
This act of gathering shreds of details, is the work of students. It's the work that those in academic pursuits take up as they (and we) try to learn more about our world. Whether it is observing the night sky as part of scientific discovery, or gathering stories from our oldest generation as we try to discover more about our past. Gathering can be an academic pursuit. With the start of the school year around the corner we will have our annual blessing of our teachers and students as they prepare for the school year. The blessing will include backpack tags students and teachers can bring with them into this new school year.
Our church is also very excited to gift Bibles to two of our children who are now excellent readers and ready for their first Study Bibles. This Sunday will also include a special blessing for these two young ones and their new Bibles.
In Faith,
Rev. Amanda
Sunday Rhythm:
3pm Work Together
4pm Worship Together
5pm Eat Together
All Are Welcome
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