You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust. — Psalm 91:2

Jeremiah 32:1-3; 6-15

Grow, by Cynthia Platt (PreK+) & Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff (Grade 4+)

1 Timothy 6:6-19

What Is Given from the Heart, by Patricia McKissack (K+) & Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (Grade 3+)

Luke 16:19-31

The Greedy Python, by Eric Carle (K+)

Note: This week’s resource corner includes texts from both Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) tracks. Typically, we read the RCL Track 2 texts at Trinity on Sundays.

Let’s set the scene for this week’s text from Jeremiah. The armies of Babylon are invading and laying siege to the city of Jerusalem. Things are looking dangerous and bleak. In the middle of all this, Jeremiah hears God’s word tell him to buy some land from his cousin. This is confusing – while most people are preparing to lose their land and their homes in the invasion, Jeremiah acquires land. His prophetic action is intended to be a sign of hope for the future – one day, the siege will be over, and God’s people will tend their land in peace. Cynthia Platt’s story Grow can help us to imagine what it is like to plant a garden in the middle of devastation. Her story is set in an urban landscape of abandoned lots, concrete, and steel. She shows how one girl’s decision to plant seeds is the act of hope that transforms an abandoned lot into a flourishing garden.

If you would like to learn about the power of urban community gardens, you might want to find out about the work of organizations like Harlem Grown, an urban organization which has acquired and transformed ten abandoned lots in Harlem NYC into thriving urban farms. Visit their website to learn more, volunteer, or donate at https://www.harlemgrown.org. To see how some churches are using their urban and rural land to promote food security and health, check out the Black Church Food Security Network at https://blackchurchfoodsecurity.net.

Patricia Reilly Giff’s Newberry Honor book, Pictures of Hollis Woods is written for middle grade readers. Giff tells the story of Hollis Woods, a foster child named for the place where she was abandoned as a baby. Her life in foster care has been one of upheaval, but she refuses to give up hope of one day finding a place to belong. Her tenacious hope echoes Jeremiah’s hope for future flourishing. The art she creates expresses her hope and allows her to dream.

In his letter to Timothy, Paul exhorts his friend to pursue contentment in following God, not in accumulating wealth. In turn, Paul advises Timothy to encourage the rich people in his church to “be generous and ready to share” instead of selfish with their riches. In Patricia McKissack’s book, What Is Given from the Heart, the Temple family loses everything they have in a fire. James Otis and his family want to help, but they are very poor themselves. James gets creative – he writes a book for Sabrina Temple, who is his age, and adds it to the love basket his church is preparing for the Temple family. He shows one way we can practice generosity even if we do not have many resources ourselves. Can you think of other ways to practice generosity as a family?

Grace Lin’s Newberry Honor winning book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, approaches the connections between wealth, generosity, and happiness from another perspective. Lin’s main character is Minli, who lives in the valley of the Fruitless Mountain. Minli embarks on a quest to restore her family’s fortunes. This story combines elements of fantasy with Chinese folklore and is stunningly illustrated by the author. If you like this book, you might want to explore companion books in this series by Grace Lin—Starry River of the Sea and When the Sea Turned to Silver. Has your family ever been in poverty? What did you take with you from that experience? How did it shape your family? Or, has your family enjoyed stability and wealth? How do you think that experience has shaped you all?

Both wealth and poverty have a profound capacity to shape us and our children. Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus is starkly direct about how wealth might misshape us, spiritually. Lazarus lies at the rich man’s gate, hoping to get a few crumbs from his sumptuous table. Meanwhile, the rich man does not even notice Lazarus. The Greedy Python, by Eric Carle, depicts a ravenous snake intent on devouring everything he sees. He seems a bit like the rich man – he does not even notice that his greed has made him eat his own tail! Eric Carle’s signature colorful collage art bring the story to life. You might wonder together: what does greed do in the lives of the rich man and the python? Do they ever change their ways? If you’d like to engage the gospel text in more depth, you might wonder why the rich man is unnamed, but Lazarus is named. What does this detail tell you? If you’d like to do some detective work, you might find where else Lazarus appears in the gospels.