Bringing It Home

These are the days when we shout, “Spring has Sprung!” The azaleas are bursting with blooms and the mornings are filled with bird song. The pollen is in full flood-creating the annual renewed promise of runny noses and itchy eyes but also renewed life for our plants and trees. It is a time of transitions from the dark to the light; the cold to the warmth, and from death to resurrection. A time of paradoxes.

It is a perfect time to literally stop and smell the roses and to witness the beauty in this season that our children so easily see and embrace. Their spirit reminds us to keep alive our spark of inquisitive learning and constant probing into the unknown. In their wonder and awe they remind and offer us the gift of our 1^st source- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life. All delivered with sparkling eyes and tiny hands. This…this is the promise of spring.

Family Discussion: Spring, Sprang, Sprung!

Spring- Notice the changes around you in spring. Young plants poke through the hard earth. Ducklings swim in a row behind their mother. New buds fatten and burst into bright, green leaves. Spring is the beginning of many lifetimes. What signs of new life do you see, smell, hear, or feel?

Sprang:The new life all around us makes us feel happy, and full of life, too. So, we go places and do things…we let loose and we celebrate. What do you and your family do to make merry in Spring?

Sprung: In Spring, we celebrate new life, but we remember that death is a very natural part of life. When things die, they make room for new life on our small planet, and minerals and nutrients from their bodies replenish the soil. Look around you. Do you notice signs of living things that have died: dead flowers, the smell of rotting leaves, empty sea shells on the beach? What signs of death and decay do you notice?

Every living thing has a beginning and an end. It is always sad when things we love die, but it helps to remember that death is a natural part of life.

Get Outside and Go on a Super Leaf Scavenger Hunt!

Every leaf you find on your scavenger hunt is a SUPER-LEAF because it takes in a gas we exhale, carbon dioxide, and gives back oxygen, so we all can keep breathing. Leaves really are super!

Can you find:

1. a leaf with a very smooth edge?
2. a leaf with a zigzag edge?
3. a leaf that feels fuzzy or rough?
4. a leaf that could catch a lot of sunlight? (The bigger the leaf, the more sunlight it can catch.)
5. a leaf like a needle?
6. a leaf that has a flat stem? (That kind moves easily in the wind.)
7. a leaf shaped like a hand with the fingers spread out? (It might have three, four, five, six, or seven fingers.)
8. a leaf with more than one color?
9. a leaf shaped like a heart?
10. a leaf that is your favorite?

Have you thanked a leaf lately?

Chalice Lighting

We light this chalice to remember

there is a beginning and an end

for everything that is alive,

and what is in between

is our living.

Family Grace:

Loving spirit, be our guest,

Dine with us, share our bread,

That our table might be blessed

And our souls be fed.

-Gary Kowalski