Share the Word

Ezekiel 17.22-24

Ask people to think about a tree that they know. Ask them to imagine touching the bark; looking up into the branches; seeing the leaves; birds in the branches – and perhaps other creatures that live in or on the tree. Ask them to imagine themselves becoming the tree.

Alternatively, have a few volunteers mime for others to watch – their bodies become the trunk, their feet become roots reaching down into the ground, their arms stretch up to become branches.

Imagine the tree in the different seasons and weathers – all the time being held in being by God.

Ask people to listen to the reading, mindful of the special place that trees have in displaying God’s loving nature in and for creation.

Mark 4.26-34

Cut up an apple. Ask for a volunteer ‘mindfully’ to eat a segment, describing the experience as if they had never eaten an apple before. Show some of the apple pips, using or adapting these words to introduce the reading:

‘From these small seeds, more huge apple trees could grow, eventually producing more fruit and seeds. We can cooperate with the process: we can plant the seed; we can provide a good environment. We can also enjoy the process: the growth, the nesting birds, the blossoms, the flavours and nourishment of the fruit. But we cannot make it grow. God, through nature, does that. And so it is in so many areas of life.’

Invite people as they listen to the reading to think about what would be good ‘seeds’ to sow, and how they might give those seeds a good growing environment.