Meaningless (Proper 13C)

Hosea 11:1-11
The caring parent image of God in this passage is one Christians don’t usually associate with the “Old Testament God.” Sit with the photo of the sculpture First Steps by Karl Hultström, the Vincent van Gogh painting “First Steps, after Millet,” and Eugene Delacroix’s “The Natchez” for a little while.
Find images of yourself as a baby and create an image of God caring for you as described in the passage.
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
This psalm is both a literal description of the Exodus and a metaphorical description of those who sometimes feel lost in the wilderness. Rewrite the psalm in the first person and include specific details fro when you have felt lost until you cried out to God and were delivered.
Colossians 3:1-11
Paul occasionally writes “vice lists,” which are addressed to the community receiving the letter based on descriptions of problems the community sent to him in an earlier letter. Imagine you are one of those communities and write  a letter to Paul for advice on how to deal with problems in your faith life. Then set the letter aside for a day and using this passage as a guide, write Paul’s response changing the vice lists in verses 5 and 8.
Luke 12:13-21
To do this project, find pictures of barns and get out a piece of paper. Divide the paper in half by drawing clouds around the middle of the page when it is held in portrait (tall or vertical) position.
Reflect on your past week and the work you have done that only has earthly benefit. Create a barn in an earthly landscape on the right side of the bottom of the page and surround it with haystacks that are labeled with your earthly toil.
Reflect on work you have done that has heavenly benefits. Don’t just consider volunteer efforts but how you interacted with people that wouldn’t affect your earthly status. Create a heavenly barn on the top left of your page and surround with haystacks for your heavenly toil.