Description
From Eden to Gethsemane to the garden in which Jesus was buried and raised, our story of faith wanders through much fertile soil. But in our current world of fast food and to-go meals, we often do not make time to explore where our food comes from and how we break bread together. Journeying through the season of Lent with this in mind, A Time to Grow encourages readers to slow down, move through the painstaking process of growth, and end together with great feasting and celebration of the resurrection. Themes of soil, water, light, time, fasting, feasting, and more guide the way from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Readers will explore the intricacies of how faith is required to produce food and how that faith can lead us all to feast at the table on Easter morning.
Additional elements are included to enhance communal spiritual practice for small groups or the entire congregation during Lent. These elements include sermon prompts, liturgies with communal responses, altar art ideas for decorating worship spaces, and prompts for children's time in worship.
Product Excerpts and Related Resources
Reviews
“Eidson has written a terrific Lenten devotional. Its thoughtful reflections are deeply meaningful, its simple exercises help readers and congregations to grow. Like Jesus, whose parables and teachings were so often rooted in agriculture and food, Eidson helps readers see the good news of the Kingdom in all that grows around us.”
-Adam Hamilton, author of The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning and Power of the Prayer Jesus Taught
“Tending our souls is like tending a garden. A Time to Grow guides us through the scriptures and themes of Lent in our own soul cultivation so that come Easter morning, the fruit of the Spirit will be evident!”
-Bishop Sally Dyck, Ecumenical Officer of The United Methodist Church and co-author of A Hopeful Earth: Faith, Science, and the Message of Jesus
“With the care of a pastor and gardener, Eidson’s A Time to Grow helpfully introduces a variety of ways in which food intersects with Christian faith. Grounded in incarnational spiritual exercises, this book marks out a Lenten journey of personal growth, rather than denial.”
-T. Wilson Dickinson, author of The Green Good News: Christ’s Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life
“A Time to Grow is a delightful reminder of the value of slowing down as it walks us through the themes of soil, water, light, time, fasting, feasting, and more. The approachable style, digestible daily reflections, and questions for reflection guide the reader from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Her lessons from composting and cultivating food to sharing precious family stuffing recipes that become a connector between past and future speak deeply to the soul.”
-Jessica Maudlin Phelps, Associate for Sustainable Living and Earth Care Concerns, Presbyterian Hunger Program
“This Ash Wednesday, deep in winter, longing for spring, and beset by unprecedented alienation from the soil, is an ideal time to begin reexamining the miraculous processes that feed us. Eidson’s thoughtful Lenten Bible study offers timely wisdom for reconsidering our daily dependence on farming, farm workers, and farm practices.”
-Patricia K. Tull, author of Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis