Resources for Rituals
The Potting Shed
Draw In Prayer
Draw In Prayer
Resources for Rituals
The Potting Shed
Draw In Liturgy
Draw In Liturgy

The Samaritan Woman at the Well

“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”

Neil Thorogood (British b. 1960s Australia), Jesus and the Woman at the Well (In the Heat of the Day), 2008, oil on canvas.

Bible Passage: John 4:3-42

My Big Story Bible: Pages 168

Calming the Sea

“A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Lord, Lord, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm.”

Ivan Aivazovsky (Russian, 1817 - 1900), The Wrath of the Seas, 1886, oil on canvas.

Bible Passage: Luke 8:22-25

My Big Story Bible: Pages 172

Feeding a Crowd of Thousands

 “‘Send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But [Jesus] answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ … And all ate and were filled…”

Paul Cox (1974) & Micha Bradshaw (1989) founders of Nottz Garden Project, Gamble Street Corner, 2023.

“Pointing towards a stretch of grassy land beside a busy road in Nottingham, Paul Cox says ‘We want to bring forgotten green spaces like these back to life.’

‘We took over Gamble Street as it was near the food bank and was left in a state - full of rubbish and syringes. These areas of the city are often overlooked - but we saw this as potential to grow produce on and host gardening workshops for people.’

They now grow fruits and vegetables on the land all year round, including non-native vegetables like callaloo, for both the food bank and community to use for free.” Miya Chahal, BBC News, Nottingham

Bible Passage: Mark 6:30-44

My Big Story Bible: Pages 170

 

Momma used to say

That when Jesus turned the

Loaves and fish

Into a picnic

For those hungry folks

In the wilderness

The God blessed victuals

Tasted like mouth watering

Mississippi catfish

Deep fried in the best store bought meal

Served with a healthy side helping

Of iron skillet cornbread—

Bread so fine that

No one asked for butter or honey

And nary a crumb hit the ground.

She grew up an orphan

In the Great Depression,

Where low cotton prices

And bad weather

Killed farms and families—

Times, she remembered, so hard

That sometimes even dinner

Was a miracle

And prayers offered

At the evening meal

Wafted in the air

Thick as coal oil smoke

In the fragrance of gratefulness.

This poem by Tom Darin Liskey was originally published June 16, 2019, on Kelly Belmonte’s All Nine blog.

Who Do You Think I Am?

“‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. …

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.”

 

Soichi Watanabe (Japanese, 1949–), You Shall Laugh, 2011, oil on canvas. Kwansei Gakuin University Chapel, Kobe, Japan.

 

Bible Passage: Matthew 16:13 - 17:13

My Big Story Bible: Pages 174 - 176

Entrance of the King

“Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey…

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’”

 

Phyllis Stephens (African-American, b. 1955), High and Lifted Up, 2020, quilted using cotton fabrics.

 

Bible Passage: Matthew 21:1-11

My Big Story Bible: Pages 196