Gardening has always been more than growing food — it is a form of prayer, an act of resistance, and a practice of resilience. Rooted in Mary Oliver’s poem “Praying,” this week we’ll reflect on how tending the earth reconnects us with the land, with each other, and with a kind of security that doesn’t depend on the systems we’re told to trust. From refugee camps to reclaimed city lots to neighbors who simply share what grows in their own backyards, growing traces a thread of communal, hands-in-the-dirt resiliency running through history. When the world feels like it’s dissolving, we already know how to respond: plant something, tend it, share it, and pay attention — together.
Laura Marsala, is the Executive Director of Living Earth Center, a local nonprofit that focuses on bringing people together to share common ground centered around education, community agriculture, and connection.
2026.0816 OOS – Rooted Prayer, Resistance, and Resilience in the Garden
Children’s Programs ( Nursery and Children’s Chapel) are up and running.
Join us after the service for in -person hospitality downstairs in the Fellowship Hall.
Click this link to join the service: https://zoom.us/j/99358411229?pwd=eGU2RUNiS0lFNjdyZlFMOVZITEhCdz09
Contact our Worship Tech at: tsuufm@gmail.com if you have trouble accessing the Zoom worship service.