Six New Things – Week of March 28, 2022

Spiritual Growth is what it’s all about this week: growing in care and connection; in listening and love; in imagination and meeting the impossible.

ONE

The Parable of the Fig Tree is fodder for Amy-Jill Levine‘s latest children’s book, The Good for Nothing Tree (Flyaway): the author’s note about the parable’s New Testament origins and a recipe remind readers that, “patience, care, and love can change everything”.

TWO

Apple and Magnolia (Flyaway) unveils “the extraordinary connections between trees and the wondrous bonds between all living things” as it explores the beauty and importance of cultivating diverse friendships. Author notes offer facts about how trees communicate with one another; a discussion and activity guide are also available.

THREE

Help energetic young ones put down deep roots with Sing, Wrestle, Spin: Prayers for Active Kids (Morehouse).

Find additional approaches to Prayer with Children and Prayer with Tweens and Teens in our lib guides.

FOUR

Nurture the spiritual life and formation of every generation with ideas from Faith Practices: Holy Habits that Help Us Love God and Our Neighbor, Listen to the Spirit, and Become More Like Jesus (FaithAlive) and/or Traci Smith’s self-published 50 Days of Spiritual Practice from Easter to Pentecost.

Find additional family Spiritual Practices in our lib guide.

FIVE

Encourage the fertile imaginations of your youth and young adults – and inspire them to bear life-giving fruits for our futures – with The AOC Generation: How Millennials Are Seizing Power and Rewriting the Rules of American Politics (Beacon).

Find further inspiration for Developing Young Leaders in our lib guide.

SIX

Deepen your own and other congregational leader’s rootedness in the Divine through Sacred Conversation: Exploring the Seven Gifts of Spiritual Direction (Upper Room).

If you’re serving in a rural or smaller context and feel that bearing good fruit is verging on impossible, Recovering Abundance: Twelve Practices for Small-Town Leaders (Fortress) may nourish your soul.

Find more Leader Renewal resources here.

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I hope somewhere in here you find rich soil in which to root, grow, and bear fruit!!