Lectionary Links (NL): September 8, 2019

13th Sunday After Pentecost

Year 2: September 8, 2019

Best Friends: We are Better Together by Roger Priddy

(Written for ages 1-3)

Comment: The creation story that opens this year of the Narrative Lectionary ends with the creation of Eve, a “suitable partner” for Adam, who has already named all the animals. God affirms that “it is not good for Adam to be alone.” While this passage is often used to talk about marriage, the concept of two people who “become one flesh” will be difficult for children to grasp. We might do well to focus on God’s creation of humanity in community and the call to us to partner with others in making something greater than ourselves. In We are Better Together, Priddy gives examples of how multiple different things come together to make something new and, potentially, unexpected. Eggs, milk, and flour combine to make a cake while various colors of yarn are knit together into a hat using needles. The story can spark conversations in the home or in worship as we ask children what things needed to come together to make their pillows, the kitchen table, the car, or the baptismal font. The next step would be to wonder about what we can create as subjects of a creative God and siblings in humanity – wellness kits for the local homeless shelter, back-to-school packs for the elementary school, cards for members who cannot make it to church. Kids will likely have ideas of their own. This story can help us affirm the heart of this passage: that God created humankind to be in relationship with one another.

We are happy to welcome Joshua Andrzejewski back as our writer for the Year 2 Narrative Lectionary Links. In addition to being a Union Presbyterian Seminary alumnus, he serves as an instructor in the Department of Patient Counseling, College of Health Professions, and as a chaplain for the pediatric and women’s health units in the VCU Medical Center. There, he provides pastoral care to patients, families, and staff.

Lectionary Links (NL): September 8, 2019 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.