03/30/2020
Park Hill UMC
March 30
Children
Eventually a temple is built for God by the Israelites. Similar to yesterday, this is an opportunity to think about what is special, where is God, and how we remember the values that should mean the most.
*Read along in Whirl Kids Story Bible pages 82-97, and especially 90-93.
Youth/Students
These videos can also be used with children, but they still do a decent job of summarizing King David. The Childrens Story deals with the temple, but this video deals with the leader who wanted the temple. This is the fourth video in a series, so you can watch the previous three if you have any interest. King David is mentioned a lot in the Bible, even in the Gospel stories of Jesus. However, King David is quite different than Jesus in some ways. I think it's hard to be a politician. How do you know if a king/president/principal/CEO is good, and good at their job? Can you be good at your job and "good"?
Parents/Adults
"The Stories That Shape Us" (Chpt. 12 in We Make the Road by Walking) - a reflection on Judges and Kings in the Bible.
Here's a quote from page 54:
"How will we deal with political and economic systems that are destroying the planet, privileging the superelite, and churning out weapons of unprecedented descrtion at an unprecedented rate?... How will we grapple with complex forces that bread down family and community cohesion and leave vulnerable people at great risk - especially women, and especially the very young and the very old? How will we face our personal demons - of greed, lust, anxiety, depressio, anger, and addiction - especially when people are spending billions to stimulate those demons so we will buy their products?"
Sobering reflection, even today, after more than two weeks distancing ourselves from each other. I have hope that we can encourage each other to be the better versions of each other, and I value the politicians and influencers that are asking us to be better versions of ourselves, regardless of what "wealth" and the "market" do. We are each others' wealth, and the most important markets are the ones we can touch, that include food from the farms that feed us. A daily reminder that the "Temples" we worship should always lead towards justice, connection, and the values we say we hold dear.
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