What do you do when you’ve just been caught breaking and entering, not to mention nearly murdering a tarantula? I had to talk to someone. Not my brother, he’d rat me out to Mom and Dad immediately. Friends? It was hard enough trying to fit into Belliacre Junior High. A potential criminal record would only make things worse. Then I had an idea: Jealous Plant. Jealous Plant belonged to Pastor Susan Basil. When she’d first started at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Belliacre, the congregation had gotten together and bought her one of those potted plants with the trailing vines for her office. And it seemed like a nice gift, but there was something odd about the plant. It looked normal and all, but it never managed to stay in Pastor Basil’s office. The custodian would find it in the garden shed, vines wrapped around a shovel. The quilters kept discovering it in the middle of their different projects, usually with a big pile of dirt rubbed into the fabric. The altar guild was alarmed to find it sitting in the sacristy with a bottle of wine upended in its pot. A motion was even made by the church council to dump the plant in the compost bin while the quilters all signed a petition to have the bishop come to perform an exorcism. But Pastor Basil put her foot down. The plant, she insisted, wasn’t bad or possessed, as the quilters insisted, just jealous. It didn’t like being left out of anything. So Pastor, in front of the whole congregation, lighting a candle and everything, baptized the plant and named it Jealous Plant. It was the least boring service ever! Then she started taking Jealous Plant with her on visits and including him in different meetings. She even let him sit next to her during worship. Jealous Plant was a regular at Sunday school, and I had discovered that he (Pastor insisted it was a he) was a good listener. Since Jealous Plant was already known to be jealous and a troublemaker, I never worried about him judging me. He just sat there, as plants do, but I always got the sense that he heard what I had to say and paid attention. Not even grownups always do that! Jealous Plant, I thought, I need to talk to Jealous Plant. To Be Continued Luke 7:44-50 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jealous Plant does little to ingratiate himself to the members of St. Mark’s. How does Pastor Basil’s welcoming of Jealous Plant change his behavior? What is it about Jealous Plant that makes the narrator so ready to trust him? In what ways has forgiveness and hospitality changed how you treat others? A reading of chapter 4 by Amelia Corbett
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I would have stolen that eyepatch too, except the operation didn’t quite turn out as planned. Having accepted my brother’s dare, I slipped out of the house and headed down the street toward the edge of town. My mom always calls Mr. Skink’s trailer an “eyesore.” She’s kind of right. Our town may be relentlessly boring, but it is very clean and very orderly. The lawns are so well manicured, it almost hurts to look at them. The sidewalks are spotless and the houses practically identical, each one as neat and annoyingly cheery as the next. Besides such perfection, Mr. Skink’s trailer sticks out “like a sore thumb,” as my dad likes to say. When I arrived, the trailer was silent. Creeping up to the front, I pressed my ear against the door. Nothing and then, the faint sound of snoring. I was in luck! No way Mr. Skink would keep his eyepatch on while he was napping! Slowly I wrapped my fingers around the door handle, giving it just the slightest turn. More luck, it twisted with only a faint creak. Barely breathing, I slipped through the door and took one step into the front room. Still no sound except for the faint snoring coming from somewhere in the back. I raised my foot to take another step and nearly put it down on the biggest, hairiest spider I had ever seen! I shrieked and immediately heard a yell from the now very awake Mr. Skink, “who’s that!?” I turned, slammed the door behind me, and took off down the street running as fast as my legs could carry me. To Be Continued Luke 12:39-40 “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he[g] would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Did Jesus just compare himself to a thief? Jesus probably has little interest in breaking into our homes and stealing our eyepatches, but as human beings there are all sorts of other things we hang onto: grudges, guilt, grief, the list goes on. If Jesus is going to come to us like a thief, what might he steal from us? What memories, feelings, and habits get between us and loving God and our neighbor? Chapter 3 read by Amelia Corbett
Now, I know what you’re thinking. How could a town as relentlessly boring as Belliacre have a reptile house? Reptile houses are full of interesting animals, fascinating trivia, and trendy gift shops. The thing is, our reptile house is just a private home with, well, reptiles, and a couple spiders thrown in for variety. My parents say that Mr. Samuel Skink showed up when we were still small in a rusty green pickup truck pulling a trailer just teeming with snakes, lizards, and even a couple tarantulas hanging out the windows. He parked that trailer on the edge of town and he and all the snakes, lizards, spiders, and God knows what else, have been there ever since. Mr. Skink keeps himself to himself most of the time. Sometimes we’ll see him at the grocery store, talking to an orange and black tarantula perched on his shoulder, or riding his bicycle through town with a great big python draped around his neck. He rarely smiles or says much of anything that isn’t directed to a snake or spider. Then there’s the eye patch. Nothing wrong with an eye patch, except Mr. Skink can’t seem to decide which eye it belongs on. Some days it will be covering the left, other days the right. My brother had the idea that the thing was magic, which is why he came up with the dare to steal it. To Be Continued Matthew 25:40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Jesus places himself among “the least of these.” He builds community with outsiders: women and men with bad reputations, people pushed to the side because of illness, as well as beggars and foreigners. What would Jesus have to say and do with someone like Samuel Skink? What about the narrator? A video recording of chapter 2 by Amelia Corbett
Nothing ever interesting happens in this town. Every single day, we do the same thing. Nobody else really seems to mind doing the same thing every day. My mom and dad tell us that routines are good, well routinely. Our church always sings the same songs, prays for the same things, and stands and sits at the same time. It’s no wonder Jesus hasn’t come back yet, he’d probably be bored stiff. The relentless predictability of small town life in Belliacre, MI is probably why my siblings and I are so into Truth or Dare. You never know what is going to happen in a good game of Truth or Dare. Secrets are uncovered, terrifying deeds are done...no wonder the grownups are always telling us to play something else. In fact, the most epic thing to ever happen in the history of Belliacre was all because of a Truth or Dare game. It was my little brother’s fault. Most things are probably the fault of somebody’s little brother. But to be fair, I was the one who picked dare over truth. The dare in question was to sneak into the town reptile house and steal Mr. Samuel Skink’s eye patch. TO Be Continued Mark 13:32-31 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” Have you ever been bored in church? What made worship boring? How can we balance the comfort that comes from routine with the need to keep alert and seek Jesus in our day to day lives? Chapter 1 as read by Amelia Corbett
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About the Blog
Journey through the season of Advent with daily updates on the adventures of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Belliacre, MI as they attempt to cobble together a Christmas Pageant with an unlikely cast of characters. AuthorsAmelia Corbett Illustrator
Stephanie Dubbs
Stephanie is an art educator and a landscape/portrait artist. Her inspirations come from the amazing people she meets and the gorgeous state of Michigan as well as her home state of Florida. She and he husband love nature. They are out in the water during the summer months and on the snow in the winter enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Archives
December 2021
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